Most businesses do not have a printer problem. They have a printer-administration problem. The machine works fine; it is everything around it that costs time and money – the toner that runs out on the wrong day, the service call that takes three days, the spare cartridge nobody ordered, the second machine nobody uses but still needs supplies.
Managed print is the answer most businesses arrive at eventually. Here is what it actually means, what it includes, and how to tell whether it suits your business.
What managed print is
Managed print is a service, not a purchase. Instead of buying a printer and then paying separately for toner, parts, repairs and someone's time to manage it all, you pay a single monthly fee that covers the machine, the supplies, the maintenance and the support. The supplier owns the running of the printer; you just use it.
The core idea is that you pay per page – a fixed rate for every black-and-white page, a slightly higher rate for colour – and everything else is included. The cost becomes predictable, because it scales with how much you actually print, not with how many emergencies come up.
What is included
A proper managed print agreement covers the things that make printers expensive and annoying:
- The machine itself. Provided as part of the plan, and replaced or upgraded when the term ends.
- Toner and consumables. Supplied automatically, so nobody runs out and nobody stockpiles a shelf full of spares.
- Maintenance and repairs. If it jams, streaks or stops, a technician comes out at no extra cost.
- Support. A number to call when something goes wrong, rather than searching the internet for error codes.
- Monitoring. The supplier tracks usage and supplies remotely, so toner arrives before you need it.
What you give up is the freedom to buy whatever printer is cheapest this week. What you gain is a printer that just works, with no surprise bills.
Why the monthly cost is predictable
The appeal of managed print is not that it is cheaper than buying – sometimes it is, sometimes it is not. The appeal is that the cost becomes known. Every month you pay the base fee plus your page usage at the agreed rate. There are no $400 toner orders, no $300 service calls, no "the fuser needs replacing and it's not covered".
For a business that needs to budget, that matters more than saving a few dollars here and there. You know what printing will cost next month, and the month after, without guessing.
Automatic supply replenishment
The single most useful part of managed print is that the supplies look after themselves. The supplier monitors the toner levels remotely – most modern printers report them over the network – and ships a replacement before the old one runs out. Nobody has to notice the toner is low, nobody has to order it, and nobody has to remember which cartridge the machine takes.
This sounds minor until you have been the person who ran out of toner on the day of a big print job. Once you have lived with automatic replenishment, going back to ordering your own supplies feels like a step backwards.
Less downtime
A printer that is out of action is worse than an expensive printer. When the machine is down, work stalls, people queue, and deadlines slip. With managed print, the supplier has a reason to keep it working – they are paid for the pages it prints, not for the repairs. That means faster response times, proactive maintenance, and a machine that is looked after rather than run until it breaks.
For most businesses, the reduction in downtime is worth more than any saving on toner.
Who it suits
Managed print suits businesses that print enough to make the per-page rate worthwhile – generally somewhere above a few hundred pages a month – and that would rather not spend their time managing printers. A small office printing fifty pages a week is better off buying a modest laser. A business printing a few thousand pages a month across several machines is almost always better off on managed print.
It suits growing businesses too. Adding a staff member no longer means buying a printer and figuring out the supplies; it means adding a device to the plan. And when a machine needs replacing, the supplier handles it as part of the agreement, not as a crisis.
What to check before you sign
Not all managed print agreements are equal. Before signing, check the minimum monthly page volume (you pay for it whether you use it or not), the cost per page for both black and colour, the length of the term, and what happens if you want to leave early. A good agreement should save you money and time from the first month, not lock you into something you regret later.
Bold Media Group supplies and manages printers and copiers for Australian businesses, with managed print plans that include toner, maintenance, support and automatic supply replenishment. If you are tired of ordering your own toner and paying for surprise repairs, have a chat with us and we will show you what a plan would look like for your business.