Your Copier Is a Data Vulnerability Risk

If you copy and print documents with sensitive information, such as credit card or social security numbers, you could be running a massive risk of getting that data stolen. Your copier may have a hidden piece of hardware inside of it you may not be aware of, and it could leave you open to potentially millions of dollars in liabilities.

How Could Someone Steal Data From Your Copier?

The most likely way this nightmare scenario could happen is if someone breaks into your business and steals your hardware. You may have done everything right:

• You backed up your data on secure servers
• You encrypted the information on your computer drives
• You placed extra security protocols on your network

However, there is one liability you may have missed: your copier’s hard drive.

Not all copiers come with a hard drive, but If yours had one and it got stolen, you now have sensitive information sitting on an unsecured hard drive. Anyone with passing technical knowledge can access that information and make life a living nightmare for you and your business.

Business owners never want to deal with calling up all of their customers or clients to tell them how your negligence led to their credit card information getting stolen.

How Can You Prevent This Nightmare Scenario From Happening In The First Place?

The best way to keep the data on your copier’s hard drive from getting stolen is to get a copier that doesn’t have a hard drive in the first place. If you’re leasing or buying a new copier, check if your copier comes with one. If you have no use for a hard drive on a copier, look for another copier that handles your needs without the additional liability.

However, if you are willing to keep the hard drive or have a specific reason to have a hard drive in your copier, I highly recommend that you get a data security kit installed onto your copier. This item will cost you no more than $400, and it will wipe the hard drive with every copy you make.

Your copier rep may not tell you about this data security kit because they don’t want to include a piece that will raise the cost and increase the risk of losing out on a sale.

Keep Your Data Safe From Thieves.

Now you know of two ways to protect your copier’s data:

• Get a copier without a hard drive
• Invest a security kit for a copier that has a hard drive.

Use the information in this article to make informed decisions about your copier’s data security.

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source https://www.copierleasecenter.com/your-copier-is-a-data-vulnerability-risk/

How “Two Clicks” Is Doubling Your Tabloid Print Costs

Do you use tabloid paper in your business regularly? If so, you’ll need to understand what “two clicks versus one click” is and how not knowing this can punch a hole in your monthly copier budget.

Why Knowing About 2 Clicks Is Important to Your Bottom Line

A tabloid page is exactly twice the size of a typical letter copier. Because of this, many copier companies set their copiers to register tabloid copies as two “clicks,” meaning they count that one tabloid sheet as two prints. Some copier manufacturers will count all prints, regardless of size, as one “click” or print.

If you regularly produce tabloid prints, not knowing about this distinction could double your monthly print costs. If your copier manufacturer sets your copier to count all of your tabloid pages as two clicks, and each color print you produce usually is $0.075, each tabloid print would instead cost you $0.15.

If you print 1,000 tabloid prints a month, you will spend an extra $75 a month on your prints, which adds up to $4,500 over five years.

How Do You Keep From Paying Double For Your Tabloid Prints?

The only real way to keep yourself from paying double for your prints is to do your due diligence and ask whether your tabloid prints get counted as one click or two clicks. If you find a copier from a manufacturer that subscribes to the “one click for all” philosophy, take that copier.

You might also accidentally pay double for your tabloid prints by using too much color toner for each print.

Another Sneaky Way You Might Pay Double for Tabloid Prints

Using a copier that counts tabloid prints as two prints each isn’t the only way you could be paying double (or more) is through your color coverage.

Look at your contract and see what percentage of color coverage you are allowed (the standard allowance is 20%.) If you use tabloid prints, the amount of toner you use doubles. To stay under the allowed color coverage, you will need to use no more than 10% color coverage.

To stop from paying double for your prints from the start, find a copier where tabloid sheets get counted as one print. To keep from paying double for your color prints, use only 10% of your color coverage. Follow these two tips to keep your tabloid print costs from skyrocketing out of control.

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Leasing Copiers for Home Users

One of the interesting things we are finding with this COVID economy is there are many professionals who are working from home and who need small units at their home to stay productive, but do not necessarily want to buy a unit from the big box stores because those units break and it is hard to get set up help and the necessary functions.

We are working with a law firm that has 100 attorneys, and the IT department does not like the idea of every user going out to get themselves a unit. Just as scary is them buying 100 users and trying to remotely set up each user and manage ink and repairs.

We have a team that helps with remote installs. So the basic format would look like this for them.

• Spend under $500 per unit for a copier that works and can be covered cheaply.
• Service cost is roughly $5 per month
• Supplies cost is about 2 cents a page

We do the rest for them. We get the devices to report meter reads. We send techs when needed.

That’s it. No crazy burden on IT, no dealing with 100 different printers and copiers that users buy, no spending 5 cents a copy or 25 cents a color copy for inkjet the users go out and buy on their own.

Do you have dozens or hundreds of important professional users you would like on a program like this? We can help!

Do you really want the professionals buying something for their home office your team will have to support or would you rather work with a company who has a solution to keep the headache away from IT all about the same cost as if you buy from one of the Big Box stores but with actual people to help with the install, reporting and maintenance of your fleet?

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Copier Speed and Warm Up Time – Why the Difference Matters

If you are looking at a copier, you may be overwhelmed at all the data your copier reps are throwing your way. They tell you about the “speeds and feeds.” You don’t know what to do with the data laid out in front of you.

However, in this gigantic data pile dropped in your lap, one item exists that copier reps neglect to share with you. The funny thing is, it can easily be the most critical specification in that entire information sheet.

The Most Important Copier Specification That’s Frequently Ignored

Copier reps will share the copier’s speed, but they forget to share the specs that translate into actual productivity. What is that one spec that they ignore?

That magic specification is warm-up time, and it means far more for office productivity than copier speed ever could.

Copier speed is how fast copiers can produce prints once the copier is warmed up. Warm-up speed is the amount of time a copier takes to warm up and spit out a copy, starting from the time a user presses the copy button.

Why Does Copier Warm Up Time Matter More Than Copier Speed?

In a typical office, a copier gets used once or twice every few hours. This gap in usage time allows the copier to cool back down. Once someone needs to use the copier, it needs to restart the entire warm-up process.

If you stand two copiers side by side, one could technically have a much faster copier speed. However, if you start the copying process on both machines simultaneously, the copier with lower speed could finish printing before the “faster” one starts. Why? The other copier warmed up faster.

Take the Fastest Copier For Your Job.

If your workers use your copier several times an hour, every hour? If so, then the copier won’t have a chance to cool down; it will run at peak efficiency for the entire day. In this situation, grab the copier with the higher copier speed.

However, if your business operates the same as almost every other business, and you have long gaps between usage, warm-up time will mean a great deal to your productivity. If your daily situation matches this scenario more closely, grab the copier that warms up faster.

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source https://www.copierleasecenter.com/copier-speed-and-warm-up-time-why-the-difference-matters/

How to Decipher the Mystery of a Copier Quote

You’re buying a copier (possibly for the first time), and all the numbers you are seeing are overwhelming. Understanding all the information these reps throw your way feels like an impossibly daunting task. Every step of the way, you wish that someone could make this entire process easier to comprehend.

Suddenly, you speak to a sales rep that has a simple quote that’s easy to understand. You pay $324 a month for everything. You feel as if the heavens have parted, and your long journey is finally over. The quote isn’t the cheapest one out there, but every other deal you heard has these overage fees and other copier jargon to worry about when all you want to know is how much you’ll pay every month.

Satisfied with the deal, you sign the lease. You know, without a shadow of a doubt, how much you owe every month on your copier bill. All’s right with the world.

Or is it?

The Hidden Costs of the Simple Monthly Quote

Copier reps know that quotes get complicated. They know the average prospective customer doesn’t have the time or patience to dig through every line item that makes up a copier quote.

So, what do they do?

The copier rep, out of the goodness of his heart, boils down all the numbers to a single number and adds 20-30% to that number. You pay far more for the copier every month than you would have had you taken the time to get your quote itemized.

How Do Copier Reps Inflate Your All-in-One Quote?

One way a copier rep will pad your quote is to add items you don’t need. Did you need a finisher? Do you know what a finisher is? If not, you have plenty of time to learn because it comes with your purchase, whether or not you wanted it.

An unscrupulous copier rep will inflate your monthly bill to set you up on a monthly page plan that’s far higher than any regular business would ever use. In theory, this plan sounds good, but your unused prints don’t roll over to next month; what you didn’t that month is gone forever.

How Do You Prevent Being Tricked Into Paying Extra For a “Convenient” Quote?

The only way to keep from paying extra on your copier bill is to get your quote itemized and go through it line by line. If you are buying your first copier, this process will take more time than you would like. However, taking the time to understand your itemized quote will save your business hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars down the road.

Itemize your quote, dig through each item, and watch your patience get rewarded with a lower quote.

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source https://www.copierleasecenter.com/how-to-decipher-the-mystery-of-a-copier-quote/

Is Your Copier Slowly Killing Your Employees?

Virtually every copier on the planet produces what are called Volatile Organic Compounds, and they can cause your workers to develop serious (and sometimes permanent) respiratory problems.

This article will help you identify the compounds your copier likely produces, and how to keep your workers safe from these compounds.

Which Compounds Does Your Copier Most Likely Produce?

The most common compound that copiers produce is ozone. Ozone is excellent for the atmosphere, but it’s not safe for humans for humans to breathe, especially daily.

The easiest way to figure out if your copier produces ozone is to ask your copier rep: “How much does a corona wire cost on this copier?” If the rep tells you a price, or that it’s included, your copier produces ozone.

Which Health Problems Can Arise From Regularly Breathing Ozone?

According to WebMD, these are the many health risks we face when breathing ozone daily:

• Ozone can irritate and inflame the lungs, in the same way that sunburn can affect the skin.
• Consistent ozone exposure can cause pain when taking a deep breath.
• Daily ozone exposure over months or years can permanently damage the lungs.
• You are far more vulnerable to pneumonia, bronchitis, aggravated asthma, and reduced lung capacity.

How Do You Prevent Ozone Produced By Your Copier From Damaging Your Workers’ Lungs?

When you have a copier in your workplace, you run these risks more as time goes on. However, you can mitigate these risks immediately by taking these quick measures.

Place your copier in a well-ventilated room, preferably far away from your employees’ workspaces.

You sacrifice some efficiency when you follow this safety measure. Still, whatever you lose from efficiency, you gain in not having to pay workers’ compensation for making your employees sit next to an ozone-spewing copier all day, every day.

Replace your ozone filters frequently.

If you place a copier next to a wall, you will most likely notice some black marks build up on that wall over time. That black stuff is ozone, and your employees breathe a little of it every time they use that copier. Replace your filters to keep your employees healthy.

Find a copier that doesn’t create ozone.

Applying this measure is a difficult task. Copiers that don’t produce ozone are rare, and you’ll pay a premium for it if you do locate one in the wild. However, following the two previous measures should be enough to keep your employees safe from the damage that repeated ozone exposure causes.

We live in a world where it appears that everything is out to kill us. Though your copier won’t strike you dead from using it only once, repeated usage can have adverse effects over the years. Follow the measures listed above, and you will help ensure that your workers stay healthy and productive for the foreseeable future.

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Do You Need a Copier that Does Tabloid Printing?

Here are some simple facts to consider about A3 tabloid prints:

1. Less than 3% of printed pages use tabloid sheets, though 24% of unit placements are tabloid capable.
2. Industry averages say you’ll spend more than 40% over three years (close to $7,000) if you buy a tabloid copier.
3. A tabloid copier will take up more space and use more power. It will also print slower than a standard A4 letter copier.

Copier companies are always trying to sell A3 tabloid copiers when typical A4 machines work fine for most companies.

What Is the Difference Between an A3 Tabloid Copier and an A4 Letter Copier?

An A3 tabloid copier will produce 11”x17” prints in size, whereas an A4 machine will do legal letter size of 8.5”x11”.

Tabloid copiers are built with more durable internals than an A4 copier. If you need to print 30,000 pages a month, a tabloid copier will be able to hand that kind of volume. However, most companies don’t produce the number of prints to justify the added expense of a tabloid copier.

Also, as we mentioned before, tabloid copiers are much larger than their letter copier counterparts. Sometimes people take a tabloid copier because the smaller variant “doesn’t look like a real copier,” even though that smaller copier would do the job just fine.

Let’s take a look at how much money using an A3 tabloid copier would cost compared to using an A4 letter copier.

Tabloid Copier with Print/Scan/Fax & Finisher

Average Monochrome costs (40 printed per minute) – $7,500

Average Maintenance Costs – $0.006 per print

Average Toner and Other Costs – $0.006 per print

With these numbers, a typical 48-month contract would look like this:

Equipment – $180 per month

Supplies and Maintenance – $120 per month

Total Cost – $300 per month all included ($0.03 per print)

A4 Copier with Print/Scan/Fax & Finisher

Average Monochrome costs (50 printed per minute) – $4,500

Average Maintenance Costs – $0.006 per print

Average Toner and Other Costs – $0.007 per print

With these numbers, a typical 48-month contract would look like this:

Equipment – $108 per month

Supplies and Maintenance – $132 per month

Total Cost – $240 per month all included ($0.024 per print)

Compared to buying an A4 letter copier, the A3 tabloid copier costs $2,880 more over 48 months, and it prints slower than its A4 counterpart.

If You Don’t Need Tabloid Prints, Buy an A4 Letter Copier Instead.

An A4 copier is 97% guaranteed to be all you need for your copying and printing needs. Take the smaller option, and you’ll save yourself thousands of dollars each year over a tabloid printer.

The post Do You Need a Copier that Does Tabloid Printing? appeared first on Copier Lease Center.

source https://www.copierleasecenter.com/do-you-need-a-copier-that-does-tabloid-printing/

The True Cost of “Free” Copier Upgrades

A fundamental misunderstanding exists that costs customers thousands of dollars. Their lease expires in a little more than a year, and their copier rep tells the customer that they’ll give them a free upgrade if they change now.

How Copier Reps Use the Word “Free” to Scam You Out of Thousands of Dollars

In the marketing world, there are few words more powerful than “free.” Unfortunately, copier reps use this word to scam customers out of their money.

Here is what’s happening behind the scenes of a “free” upgrade.”

A copier company needs sales, and the leasing companies want new contracts. With this mutual desire, a partnership is born to relieve you of your money.

The leasing company tells the copier company they will forgive a payment or two if they can get another long-term contract signed, as a promotion. Now and again, they will also defer payments.

A copier company will look at the equipment portion of the lease (which works out to half of the total) and see if they can wrap that price into the next contract and remain under retail price.

They go to the manufacturer and see what specials are happening. Instead of giving you the financial incentive the manufacturer provides them, they take this savings and use that to make the remainder of the payments, or close to it.

Why Is This Deal Terrible For Your Company?

You have three reasons why you shouldn’t take a “free” upgrade:

1. If this discount was available for you, you could’ve had the copier for much less had you not had the current lease. Your long-term costs could’ve been much lower.
2. This process is easier to wrap into a five-year lease, which is necessary to make the finances look right. The technology for copiers changes quickly, and you’ll want to upgrade in year four. The liabilities go up over time and had you rode out your original lease, you could’ve been paying a lot less per month for years.
3. This deal gives all the leverage to the leasing company and the copier company. You eliminate your competition, which removes all incentive to provide you with a better deal on your next lease.

Save Money on Your Next Lease by Waiting Out Your Original Lease.

When your lease is up, you can start to shop around and see what your original leasing company’s competition has to offer. In the end, you may decide to renew your contract with your first leasing company, but at least you have the power to shop around and get a better deal for your next lease. Be patient, wait out your contract, and you will be in a far better position to negotiate a better deal.

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source https://www.copierleasecenter.com/the-true-cost-of-free-copier-upgrades/