Managed Print Services: Tips for Hybrid Print Environments

An employee sitting on the ground typing on a laptop, while surrounded by papers on the ground and a cat.

In a hybrid print environment, employees work at home and in the office, which means they use technology in both locations--sometimes at the same time. Here are a few quick managed print services tips to make hybrid printing easier and safer.

Managed Print Services: Challenges and Solutions

Although hybrid work environments present new questions and challenges, the good news is that plenty of tools--like managed print services--are more than capable of presenting fresh solutions. Here are just a few examples:

Challenge: Home Printers Aren't Secure

Most home printers don't have the same level of security that you might expect from enterprise-grade machines. Unless you want to pay to buy a new printer for every home office, you need some creative workarounds.

Solution: With help from managed print services, hybrid printing gives at-home employees access to on-site machines. That means they can print to your office's network without having to rely on their own. (Encryption and VPNs go a long way, too.)

Challenge: Questions Go Unanswered

When everyone was in the same place, it was easy enough to have someone from the IT team come over and review a printing issue. Now, however, employees feel like they have to troubleshoot on their own.

Solution: Managed print services provides 24/7 support for users no matter where they are. This takes the burden off your IT team, who likely don't have the resources to troubleshoot remotely when they're still managing on-site tech.

Challenge: Habits Get Out of Control

Print habits may change--for better or worse--when employees are working at home. It's difficult to track and manage these habits, which means your print budgets can get out of control.

Solution: Work with your managed print provider to create "print rules" and remotely monitor company device usage. This helps you build accountability and provide support for employees who may not know when to print vs. when to use another solution.

Conclusion

Hybrid print environments may present challenges that you've never even considered, but there's good news: Managed print services has equally novel solutions. You just have to be ready to think outside the box.

Ready to improve your hybrid print environment? Contact us today for help from managed print services!