Managed Print Services

Documents are the lifeblood of business. Whether they are digital or paper, documents are the integral part of all business processes. Controlling documents can be a very complex endeavor. I have written a few blog post concerning turning paper into a digital format and applying workflow, security and many other aspects of these digital docs. Most printing is wrapped up into a wider business process. This post addresses controlling your print output.

Most print output is produced right there in your office, it could be produced at multiple sites or even across a broad regional base. Most cost are invisible as a total spend from companies because it is usually wrapped into departmental budgets. Lets look at some ways to control the most critical area of print output, right there at the local environment - printing right there in the office. This is often the most fragmented and, good news, usually the easiest to control. This is also the area where the most money and workflow efficiency savings are derived from.
By taking on a fresh, strategic approach, you can add many benefits such as increased sustainability, cost savings and enhanced security. Lets face it, poor management results in costing time and money.
Increasing security and streamlining processes does not have to be complicated. Your biggest challenge is probably going to be finding a trusted partner. A partner that will help you set a baseline and achieve goals for greater governance and enforcing compliance that will fit into your business's culture.

DTS's Print Management Solution is a total print management system designed to provide the consumer with a cost effective single point of contact for managing their entire print environment anywhere in the United States.

Guaranteed Uptimes and hot swap programs ensure no disruption in your mission critical workflow.

• Utility Software Detects All Network Printers, IP Addresses & Meters
• Monthly Reporting Done Automatically Without IT Intervention
• Automatic Maintenance, Service & Supply Replenishment Based On Usage 

For more information, click HERE

Saving Money - BIG TIME

Real simple idea, simple to implement and the saving are guaranteed. Hunh? Read on.

Just the facts.

Printing, according to the Gartner Group and other studies, companies spend 1 to 3% of their total revenues on printing. In my experience, most companies consider printers a cheap item to purchase and easy to throw away. Most toner ordering and supply tracking is haphazard at best.

42% - amount of global wood harvest dedicated to paper production

5.4 million tons – office paper consumed annually by U.S. companies

16.3 million – number of printers and copiers sold to U.S. companies in 2007

$800 - $1000 – annual per-employee expense of printing/copying/imaging

10,000 sheets – number of pages printed by the average employee each year

$150,000 – How much it would cost to fill up the tank of your car with inkjet ink




The Situation


The customer is a large faith-based organization known world-wide. Operating a busy office with over one thousand employees, the organization originally relied on hundreds of color HP convenience printers paired with a smaller number of black-and-white only multi-function peripherals (MFPs) for their printing and copying needs. Although their employees enjoyed the convenience of their HP color printers, the organization was needlessly losing money each time workers printed color documents on these high-cost devices

Paying for 88,000 color copies produced on the convenience printers each month, the organization was
searching for a solution that would reduce their costs while preserving a corporate culture that allowed their
employees to have personal printers.
In their new printing environment, employees would be guided by the software to make the most cost-effective printing decisions. An employee who attempts to print a large color document on the older, more costly printer would be reminded of the new cost-saving color MFP down the hall through a popup message. At the same time, a worker who is printing a quick one-page black-and-white memo could easily retrieve his or her document at the printer around the corner, which assures optimal workflow is preserved.
We give a unique competitive advantage by not only offering our clients a complete picture of their printing environment, but also letting them take action to reduce inefficient printing habits.
Before implementing the software, the client was averaging 88,000 color prints on HPs each month. Six months later they average only 10,000 – with the rest of the volumes being transferred to the MFPs.

By migrating large print jobs from older printers to new low-cost devices, the organization is saving $15,000 per month in printing costs, which is a total of $180,000 in annual savings.

Create cost and eco-conscious users by informing users of job costs and environmental impact before they print.

Ensure your most efficient printers are being used by redirecting jobs from high-cost to low-cost devices.

Maintain document security and regulatory compliance by implementing rules that can prevent confidential documents from being printed or inform you when they are printed.

Control color costs by limiting color usage by the user, computer, printer, number of pages, application and much more.

Reduce abuse by encouraging or forcing users to print on both sides of the page.

Hey, shoot me an email. After an analysis and setting a baseline, the savings are garuanteed, this is what I do.

Lets go Paperless! A really short blog.

Statistic are proving that we are NOT eliminating paper, but quite the opposite. 

This looks like fun!

At DTS we don't encourage clients to go totally paperless, but that we focus on is streamlining the processes that have been dependent on paper.  Paper usually follows a path through a company.  There are usually processes and rules for how that paper is routed and what is done with it.  The benefits of “going paperless” are in relying less on paper and more on repeatable processes.
So when it is smarter or needful to use paper, use paper.  What we challenge is whether a business is focused on their paper or focused on their processes.  “Going Paperless” means being focusing on your business process rather than on shuffling paper work around.

Here are some great tips on saving paper...

• Use document scanners to convert paper documents to electronic format then shred them – if allowed by law and industry – and send the shredded paper for recycling

• Do not print or copy any documents unless absolutely required. Send all documents via e-mail or electronic fax as the preferred method to your customers

• If you do have to print, be sure to spell/grammar check before you print to eliminate reprinting

• Use Web 2.0 technologies like wikis and blogs for internal communication and collaboration

• Use single source repositories and shared digital workspaces to develop, manage and refine documents like contracts, marketing materials and any other type requiring review and refinement

• Use web interfaces and forms for online applications and order placement

• Sign up for e-bill delivery or online billing from your suppliers rather than paper statements, and pay your bills electronically

• Map, design and manage all business processes electronically. You can begin by mapping the processes and assessing how they can be improved as they are, then address process automation using what you currently own and/or may purchase

Picture yourself jumping into a company's network and getting things a bit more paperless.

Electronic Signatures - Answers!

Often, I get asked about electronics signatures and the requirements of keeping paper documents. I am writing this clear clear up many questions. While I live and work in Minnesota, but the UETA standard has been adopted by almost all states with the exception of 

What is an electronic signature, a digital signature?

 Good question! Hey, what do you expect, I asked it.

An electronic signature is any legally recognized electronic means that indicates that a person adopts the contents of an electronic message. The U.S. Code defines an electronic signature as "an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record. It may be an electronic transmission of the document which contains the signature, as in the case of facsimile transmissions, or it may be encoded message, such as telegraphy using Morse code. Increasingly, encrypted digital signatures are used in e commerce and in regulatory filings as digital signatures are more secure than a simple generic electronic signature.

A digital signature or digital signature scheme is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to believe that the message was originated by a known sender, and that it was not altered in transit. Digital signatures are commonly used for software distribution, financial transactions, and in other cases where it is important to detect forgery and tampering.

Properly implemented digital signatures are more difficult to forge than the handwritten signatures!

There are 3 main points to the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act.

A record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form

If a law requires a writing, an electronic record satisfies the law

If a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law

The first important principle of UETA is that a record or signature cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form.

The world of business is moving away from paper to electronic media.  It is incumbent on the law to acknowledge and provide for this, otherwise the law becomes a hindrance instead of a tool for economic development.
Thus, from this first principle naturally evolves the second principle of UETA: if a law requires a writing, an electronic record satisfies the law.
In addition, if a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law.
It is important to keep in mind what the statute does not do. It does not give legal validity to electronic records if they would not have validity if they were paper records. The barriers that are removed from electronic commerce does not alter the outcome of the dispute-whether the parties use electronic or paper media, the dispute is subject to the same legal principles.
One must look to the underlying law to determine whether the record would have validity. UETA merely provides that just because a record is electronic, it cannot be invalid for that reason alone- but to have legal validity the record would have to have such under the existing law if the record were a paper record.
It is also important to note that UETA very specifically does not mandate any specific electronic technologies- it simply allows for electronic transactions using any type of technology the parties choose.
On June 30th, 2000, the ESIGN Act was signed into Federal Law and thereby established the validity of electronic signatures for interstate and international commerce.


Retention of contracts and records
Section 101(d) of ESIGN provides that if a law requires that a business retain a record of a transaction, the business satisfies the requirement by retaining an electronic record, as long as the record "accurately reflects" the substance of the contract and is "accessible" to people who are entitled to access it "in a form that is capable of being accurately reproduced for later reference, whether by transmission, printing or otherwise."


The most FAQ that arises out of the thought of an electronic signature is, “Will this document hold up in a court of law?”  The answer is -  yes.
There are applications out there that can adhere to laws and make paper signatures a thing of the past.
Business process automation can further the benefits of electronic signatures by automating workflows that can route the signed document to the appropriate party, who then can archive the document in a repository within a matter of seconds.  Another helpful incentive of combining automation with electronic signature verification is the ability to automatically start a process as soon as the document is signed and completed.  There is no waiting for a CSR or company rep to enter in information manually, which saves both time and money.
Keeping compliant with the law is an important aspect of many businesses.  With an electronic signature system in place, a business can show that they have adhered to laws, just as they would with paper documents.
Lets put a logical system in place and ditch all those boxes that take up valuable space and much time to find specific documents in. Now, replace it with a solid digital workflow process that won't break the bank.
You know who to call...

Silly Sharp won't stop it!

SHARP WINS BLI’S 2009 MFP “LINE OF THE YEAR” AWARD

Sharp honored with coveted award for the second time in past three years

Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA), a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, today announced that it has received the 2009 “Line of the Year” Award from Buyers Laboratory, Inc. (BLI), the leading global provider of information and testing services to the digital imaging industry. BLI’s “Line of the Year” is awarded once a year to the vendor whose product line is determined to be the best overall based on its cumulative test results in BLI’s rigorous two-month laboratory evaluation. Among the many factors considered are reliability, image quality, productivity, ease of use, scanning, a host of connectivity attributes and overall value. Also considered is the breadth of each vendor’s line.
“We are honored to once again receive this award. We believe it to be the result of our continued focus on where the market is heading, not just where it is today," said Mike Marusic, vice president of marketing and service, Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. "In doing so we work closely with end users to understand their needs and where their business is moving, and then design products that will help them work more efficiently and ultimately improve their bottom line. The result is our award winning line of MFPs – from A4 to production class - that are customizable, easy to operate, secure and reliable.”
Several of its A3 MFPs have received Fall 2009 “Pick” Awards from Buyer’s Laboratory Inc. (BLI). The awards acknowledge “outstanding performance” and excellence “in areas of importance to IT professionals” in a number of different Sharp A3 MFPs, including the MX-M283N (Outstanding 21- to 30-PPM Monochrome MFP), MX-M363 (Outstanding 31- to 40-PPM Monochrome MFP) and the MX-M453 and MX-M503 (Outstanding 41- to 50-PPM Monochrome MFPs).
“We are proud to accept this year’s BLI Pick Awards because we believe Sharp’s best of breed engineering has reached a new level with these products,” said George Grafanakis, senior manager, Product Planning and Marketing, Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. “All of the newest Sharp innovations can be found in these MFPs, from the durable, standard pull-out keyboard, to the 8.5” touchscreen display, to our Sharp OSA development platform that features a growing number of certified and customizable applications. We would like to thank BLI for this award and will continue to develop products that meet our customers’ needs as we head in to the new year.”
In addition to award-winning Sharp features such as a large color touchscreen; standard retractable keyboard; and the Sharp OSA development platform, Sharp’s MX monochrome and color series models broke new ground by incorporating a common architecture among all models, minimizing the need to stock two different sets of options.
Each model features a true multi-tasking controller that delivers copy, print and fax jobs continuously, and can also process network scanning jobs while outputting existing jobs. Other standard features include automatic duplexing, electronic sorting and integrated offset stacking; an on-board paper capacity of up to 5,600 sheets; and a 100-sheet duplex single pass document feeder with color Scan2 technology standard. Sharp’s award-winning Scan2 technology enables users to scan two-sided documents in a single pass, speeding up workflow, reducing misfeeds and improving reliability.
In total this year Sharp’s A3 MFPs have earned eight “Picks,” covering the entire spectrum of color and monochrome. Sharps current A3 product line offers a total of 17 “Pick of the Year Award” winners, more than any other copier vendor. “Pick” awards recognize the outstanding combination of high reliability and above average ratings for all aspects of connectivity, including feedback to workstations, administrative utilities, and print drivers. Sharp products also score very well for ease-of-use, with a high-resolution color touch-screen display that is customizable to allow commonly used features to be placed on the main screen for each function.
“While all of the dynamics driving change may not be clear, what is clear is that dealers must expand their business model beyond focusing exclusively on selling higher-priced ledger/A3 hardware,” said BLI Managing Editor Daria Hoffman. “With A4 MFPs that are just as robust as traditional A3 MFPs in this important segment, Sharp has a leg up on its competitors.
The “Line of the Year” Award also recognizes the exceptional scanning capabilities of Sharp A3 devices, including the ImageSEND function; Sharpdesk, “a favorite among BLI technicians;” and dual-head scanning, which leads to less wear and tear, less chance for misfeeds and quicker scan speeds. BLI goes on to mention that Sharp devices “set the benchmark for programming LDAP destinations.”