Many schools mistakenly believe that colour printing is prohibitively expensive and restrict its use, possibly to the detriment of the learning process. With a professionally specified and managed fleet, colour printing can become a feasible option for all.
When choosing the right printer for the job, consideration needs to be given to print volumes, the type of printing that will be done, ease-of-use, quality, reliability, running costs and after-sales-service. Until recently there was a clear technology divide between home and business printing; inkjet for home users and lasers for work. The launch of the Epson B-500DN business inkjet printer designed to give high volume colour printing for the same cost as monochrome laser prints offers an alternative to lasers printers. In fact the B-500DN offers a cost per page for mono of 0.47 pence and 1.89 pence for colour.
The Epson B-500DN is a serious contender when considering printers for schools, especially for use by students with a variety of requirements. It can handle a broad range of media from standard document paper through glossy photo paper to fine art media and card, so reports, art and design work can all be produced for maximum impact. Laser-like quality documents can be printed at up to 33 pages per minute and with two paper sources offering a combined capacity of 650 sheets, the Epson B500-DN is capable of handling the most demanding workloads.
The high-yield individual ink tanks mean only the colour that is used needs to be replaced and with a capacity of up to 8,000 pages, time lost replacing a cartridge is kept to a minimum, an important consideration when an entire class is waiting to print off their work. The use of Epson's DuraBrite Ultra inks ensure excellent print quality and produces work which is water and smudge resistant.
Reliability is an important consideration in a demanding, time pressured environment which is why the Epson B-500DN has been produced with high quality materials that allow a maximum print volume of up to 20,000 pages per month.
Deciding whether inkjet or laser printing best meets your needs and then which model is the most suitable can be time consuming. Understanding the printer fleet and such factors as page usage/coverage, ink or toner usage or even user requirements can be challenging but the impact of inappropriate hardware can be an imbalance in price and performance. A proper print management strategy can address these issues, providing higher productivity, lower cost per page, simplified service and even lower stock holding of ink or toner cartridges. Epson is renowned for its flexibility in providing a tailor-made service to end users and can assist in the implementation of a print management strategy. The first stage in implementation is a print audit to understand the usage, print volume and coverage generally printed. This can be done by a combination of audit software to interrogate the printers and Epson's end-user sales team interviewing users to understand their needs. Recommendations would then be made as a second stage to ensure that the print fleet is suitable. Generally this involves standardising and reducing the number of printers and providing higher speed workgroup or departmental printers which have the capacity to generate the required output volume at a low Cost Per Page (CPP). The third stage is the supply and installation of hardware. This can either be done on an outright purchase basis, via a hardware lease, or possibly even fully included in a monthly click charge. The majority of Epson resellers offer lease options which can assist with cash flow planning. There is no capital outlay, keeping cash within the school or college and the regular fixed costs makes budgeting and planning easier.
The final stage is the implementation of Epson's software monitoring capability. This is able to monitor the printers regularly to check their page count and coverage, whilst also checking toner status and service alerts. This information can be combined with a print managed service, enabling a channel partner to carry out service visits and to deliver toner without the need for the school or college to book a service call or place an order.
With a well specified printer fleet, and a managed print strategy, schools and colleges can offer the option of colour printing with confidence, ensuring students work is presented in the most professional and impactful manner.
