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MOBILE PRINTING
There is no ignoring the increased
use of smart devices within the
workplace and, as a result, we are
seeing a rapid growth in mobile
working across a wide range of
business environments. In fact,
this year, the world’s mobile
worker population is expected to
reach 1.3 billion
[1]
, helped along
in the UK by the legal right of
employees to make a request for
flexible working
[2]
.
Smart devices are becoming ever
more popular and, with this in mind,
businesses do not want employees
to be bound by location and are
encouraging them to be out and
about on a daily basis, or working
from home. It is a growing trend
for workers to have no designated
desk and some businesses are now
only supplying a tablet, rather than
a laptop, meaning the traditional
connection between a PC and a
single printer just isn’t an option any
more. Employees are steadily being
able to work from locations outside
the office.
In order to effectively leverage the
convenience and versatility of smart
devices being used by the mobile
workforce, businesses need to look
at how documents and images can
be printed as safely and as easily as
in the office using a secure network.
Cutting out the middleman
The growing number of mobile
workers who spend their time
between a number of office locations
are now demanding the same level
of access to company documents,
infrastructure and equipment as
office-based colleagues. Printer
manufacturers are moving fast to
keep up with this demand.
If a mobile worker is only visiting
an office location for a meeting or
catch-up, having to email documents,
PDFs and presentations back to a
colleague’s PC or having to connect
a laptop to a new network to print
wastes many precious working hours.
It is an unnecessary task for this
modern, cloud-based age and in a
recent survey by Ricoh, almost one
in 10 workers cited IT and printing
issues as the biggest waste of time in
their company
[3]
. Employees should
have access to a speedy, flexible
and secure solution linking their
smartphones or tablets to the office
printer.
Manufacturers are rapidly
establishing solutions to resolve this
issue and the key development has
been the creation of smart device
applications (apps) for those wishing
to print web pages, presentations,
pictures or documents direct from
a mobile device. These apps allow
for easy printing of the data residing
in cloud storage systems, PDFs,
images, photographs and documents
that can be hard to read on a small
screen. Cutting out the middleman,
or the PC in this case, and directly
printing from a smart device can
increase workflow and speed
processes up. Such apps are also
of benefit to clients and visitors to a
company who may require physical
output prior to a meeting.
Secure printing
Mobile printing does come with
security risks. For example, hackers
are now turning their attention to the
humble office printer as a possible
weak link that can help them capture
sensitive data. Also, employees
themselves are notorious for leaving
documents on the printer increasing
the risk of physical data theft.
However, security features to
combat such incidents are available.
Printing apps now let users define
passwords for documents that
should not be seen by others. Prints
are held in the printer’s memory
until released by a PIN unique to
each job. This eliminates unclaimed
documents and reduces the risk of a
data breach.
Thinking smarter
Businesses have faced many
challenges in the last few years
caused by the influx of mobile
devices in the workplace. Being able
to seamlessly connect these devices,
not only to email and cloud services
but also to office equipment like
printers, is a major consideration.
Printer manufacturers have
responded quickly to this demand
with solutions that make the mobile
workforce a reality.
For further information on
Ricoh’s range of printers, visit
/
index.aspx
Steven Hastings, IT Distribution Channel Director
at Ricoh, highlights the growing need for mobile
printing solutions
Printing in a
mobile world
[1]
-
Population-Reach-1.3-Billion-2015#.VEjMHovF95o
[2]
[3]
Steven Hastings,
IT Distribution
Channel Director,
Ricoh
