Copier King’s guide to buying a photocopier
Things to consider when buying a new photocopier; Copier King are a family run business that started off in Tunbridge Wells, Kent in 2010, we now supply and service nationwide. We strive to be the best UK photocopier and printer supplier; we always try to sell the correct machine for each and every customer and importantly make sure they are using it for maximum efficiency. In the rest of this blog are the things that we ask and consider that ultimately will save our customers money.
Brand awareness: This is a huge consideration, just because you know a brand such as Canon, Toshiba or Xerox, it doesn’t mean that it will be the best copier for you or the most flexible machine for your office. Every brand will have the edge over another manufacturer, whether this be print speed or how you produce scanning. Simple things like the menu screen may be able to make your office staff work more efficient when producing everyday documents.
Speed of printing: Most people when asked what’s important for printing answer “a fast photocopier”, but think of it like buying a car, if you have the biggest, fastest printer, ultimately there will be a lot more capital cost when sometimes it’s really not needed for the volume of printing produced. For most everyday offices a 25 page per minute photocopier is more than adequate.
TOP TIP WHEN CHOOSING A PHOTOCOPIER: Give as much information to a salesperson you can regarding your day-to-day printing and scanning needs and think outside the box if you are advised on a brand you may never of heard of like Develop, Kyocera or Ricoh, these are industry related companies will not be high street brands and invest millions of pounds every year to make a quality product that is more complex than a motor car!
Financing: Just like a car, there are many ways that you can buy a new MFD photocopier so explore the options. At Copier King we offer copiers to buy out-right, leasing and in-house rental. Buying a new photocopier cash is good but run it by your accountant first as leasing may give you a better tax offset for the years taken, rather than just the first year. Leasing is a popular choice, some copiers and printers have a big capital cost and its nice to spread it over a longer period, it also helps after the initial term to upgrade to a newer printer MFD, making sure your business always has a newer, up to date machine, this being more important from protecting your network security for cyber criminals. The third option listed is an “in-house” rental, this is an option Copier King offer if you are a new start up business that haven’t been trading for long enough to obtain leasing or you don’t have a big cash reserve to purchase out-right and money can be used better elsewhere, Copier King offer low copy count machines at a competitive monthly cost and the agreement is between us and you. We all started out in business once upon a time, so we try and help you achieve the equipment you need, when you really need it.
TOP TIP FOR LEASING A PHOTOCOPIER: When taking a photocopier lease, make sure who is offering the lease is FCA regulated and also consider the amount of time to take the lease over. Too short, you will pay an arrangement fee and a lot of interest. Too long, you will have an old unreliable piece of equipment which you will have to upgrade early.
Delivery of your new photocopier: Very important! Firstly, is the delivery and installation included in the price you have paid, or will you receive another bill? Copier King includes everything within our installs so be prepared for us, this will be discussed prior to your delivery date but we understand and are prepared for every eventuality.
Things to consider; placement of copier, will you be able to use your new printer and open all doors and draws to remove any paper jams or refill any consumables. Network, this is important as most photocopiers are not just the copy machines of old, they take care of all of office printing and scanning so make sure you get setup to use the machine to its full potential.
Firstly, if the machine is not wifi (a lot are not for network security), make sure there is a network point to plug into in close proximity. Once connected choose an IP address, this maybe something you need to speak with you IT provider on, Photocopiers are best set static to one IP address and not roaming around the network such as your laptop or phone would do, we advise to put them up the upper end of the IP range to avoid conflict with other network devices. The photocopier predominantly will stay on a fixed IP because all other devices must talk to it and for seamless operation be able to communicate when needed.
When booking a photocopier installation, make sure all staff are present if possible, not only can their computers be setup to print, but they can also be shown the copier and ask questions to aid them in the future, everyone thinks they know how to use a photocopier but these new devices are capable of airprint and a whole host of apps you can use with mobile devices.
Scanning, this is a whole subject which is sometimes "make or break” for an office, these devices nowadays often scan more then they do print. You can scan to email, scan to file or with different options that would need to be purchased in the buying stage, scan to dropbox, onedrive and so on. Depending on the scale of your business, a lot of this is carried out by your IT provider, but it’s a lot easier for them if there is a photocopier engineer on-site.
TOP TIP FOR PHOTOCOPIER INSTALLATIONS: Make sure you are happy with the equipment and that every feature is working for you and your staff before signing off!
Well, that’s it for the Copier King guide to buying a photocopier and we hope this helps you in the sometimes-daunting process. If you have any questions or need a quote for buying or leasing a new photocopier, speak to our friendly staff by calling 01892 597150 or email info@copierking.co.uk