6 key school printing challenges and how we can help

In any school, printing is key to daily operations both in the classroom and for administration. So when school printing services aren’t running smoothly, it can cause widespread disruption and frustration amongst staff.

That’s why your school printing solution needs to be streamlined, user-friendly and reliable. Here are some of the common challenges you may be facing with your school printing and how to solve them.

Too many printers

Perhaps you’ve had to add different devices to the network over time as printing needs changed or certain devices were replaced. Maybe staff members have their own desktop printers while others share network devices.

This can cause all sorts of complications as you try to manage devices with different methods of operation, service contracts and consumables. Not only are you wasting your own valuable time, but your print network is also likely to be less user-friendly, less secure and more expensive to run.

A Print Audit will analyse your costs - even the hidden ones - and propose a customised solution to reduce them. It will identify costly and inefficent devices and help you to create a print and copy network to meet the specific needs of your school. 

Uncontrolled printing costs

It can be difficult to maintain oversight of your printing costs when you have lots of devices in your network. Without good oversight - including of user behaviour - these costs can quickly spiral out of control.

Document solutions are a clever way to control output and monitor users. Simple to implement and to use, they encourage more thoughtful use of print resources by staff and pupils alike.

Managing consumables

It can be difficult to manage consumables, particularly when multiple providers are involved. Too much toner for one printer takes up storage space - and leaves less money for other needs - and too little results in downtime when consumables run out.

Remote monitoring effectively manages your devices and consumables. We’ll monitor your toner, and automatically top up your supply when you’re running low, taking this task off your to-do list and limiting downtime.

User issues

Staff may have difficulty connecting to individual devices across the network; they may struggle to use certain devices, as they all operate slightly differently; and you may find staff and pupils gravitating to the ‘good’ printers in the network, causing bottlenecks and long wait times.

Standardise devices on your network to improve the user experience and reduce printing issues.  By choosing devices that have a common interface, connecting to printers becomes a breeze and training users much easier as they only have to learn how to use one type of device. Our dedicated user helpdesk and key operator training ensures that users feel confident in using any MFP or printer in the school. 

Device issues

If you’re managing old and inefficient printers and mfps, you’ll know first-hand how many frustrations they can cause. Slow print times, breakdowns and service wait times all result in disruption. Once you add in the challenges of multiple service contracts, different maintenance cycles and service requirements for different printers, and varying levels of reliability between devices, the potential for disruption only grows.

Choose one provider for service and support. You'll no longer need to manage multiple types of devices, different servicing issues and multiple contracts. Our managed print solution is a streamlined way to get control of your network.

Overworked IT team

Whether it’s user or device issues, your IT team is usually the first port of call when things go awry. This means they may be spending time connecting staff to devices, teaching them how to use different printers, troubleshooting issues and replacing and ordering consumables. This valuable time could be spent on more important tasks.

Outsource your service and support. We’ll look after the maintenance and repair of your devices in a timely manner, so you can free your IT team from the burden of printer issues. We'll support your users directly so that everyone can securely and confidently use your network.

Speak to our friendly team about how we can help