1. Automatic Toner Ordering
Reordering toner is one of the things that is easiest to forget to do when you get busy. Unfortunately, the finale of that tale always involves you trying to read a paper in the palest shade of grey imaginable while your entire office is without printing for days.
It’s simple to forget or lose the toner number and letter combination you need to reorder the right type, even if you’re conscientious and plan ahead. You do not have time to look up that information and order it online. A quick, easy method that guarantees you have toner on hand when you need it is automatic toner ordering.
2. Adding ‘The Trimmings’
Copying documents is easy, but scanning and editing in order to reprint those documents with some small changes can seem like an inordinate amount of work for so little payoff.
To make life easier, many copy machines now have a function that allows you to add simple things like page numbers and dates to your copies automatically. Some copiers can even store your watermark on their hard drive.
3. Auto Duplexing
Auto duplexing simply means a document automatically printing on both sides of the page (as opposed to turning the paper over manually). You probably already knew this existed, and you know it saves money by using less paper.
Still, there’s often that one person in your office who’s done things the same way for years and never used this option. You can easily cut back on time and printing cost by taking 30 seconds to show them where to find the “Print on Both Sides” box to click, or have it set up as the default setting.
4. Copy Part of a Page
There may not always be a need to waste toner by duplicating unnecessary text and images, and there may be instances when a page contains private or sensitive information that you would prefer not to share with two dozen employees and the construction workers who can look over your shoulder.
Once more, scanning and editing are tedious processes with too many steps. Because of this, the majority of copy machines in use today let you choose a certain piece of your document to copy or scan to email before you proceed.
5. Scan to Email & Scan to File
In case you hadn’t noticed, the vast majority of these features are designed to help you skip steps in an everyday process and work more efficiently. Scan to email and scan to file (typically .pdf or .docx) functions are part of that pattern. Use your copier or printer to scan a document, and it will save it as a PDF or a document, which you can email to yourself or a co-worker.
The benefit of scan to email and scan to file is that you essentially can do right from the copier what you used to do from your computer.
6. Collate & Staple
In past decades, people used to spend hours every month putting together printed handbooks or packets for presentations. And no matter how sure-handed they were with a stapler, it was a time-consuming task for busy employees.
To be blunt, if your copy machine doesn’t let you collate and staple printed booklets, it’s time to get a new one. Having a machine that can print booklets, as opposed to just documents, is a massive time saver. Some can even do binding and hole-punching.
7. Print from Mobile
The act of emailing something to yourself has always felt kind of silly. That’s why the ability to print from your phone or tablet is hands-down the best modern copy machine feature.
As an added bonus, mobile printing allows you to print from anywhere in the office without first having to walk back to your desk. In addition to saving you time, that also offers you the safety net of being able to do it before you forget (which is a true gift, if you get distracted easily).
