Printing management is a booming concept as businesses and copy shops need to reduce operating costs to increase profitability. It also serves as a line of defense to prevent sensitive business files from falling into the hands of bad actors. But finding the best print management software is a daunting task as it requires a lot of research.
Read on to learn more about print management and the best apps you can use without wasting time on market research.
What is print management?
Print management is the utilization of different practices such as printing machine tracking, computing device tracking, print output tracking, sensitive data security, print cost optimization, and print analytics. The latest smart software developers combine all these functionalities in one place to build a print management solution.
Start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses at least use a basic tool to manage print operations. Rather, companies deploy a full-featured print management solution on-premises or in the cloud to manage global print activities.
Benefits of print management
The following are the reasons and benefits of implementing a standard print management solution:
#1. Reduced printing costs
Businesses pay huge annual bills for printing in the form of devices, toner replenishment, and paper. Research shows that an organization can save a lot by using a print management system to prevent unnecessary Printing Near Me by employees.
#two. Protection of confidential documents
You can’t allow employees to print confidential business documents whenever they want. You must document the printing of secret files to establish proper responsibilities for shredding once the job is done. Print management software allows you to ensure data security.
#3. Printing operation optimization
Managers and supervisors often witness employees wasting time queuing to pick up their hard copies. You can avoid such unproductive practices by streamlining your printing operations. Your employees will also thank you at the end of the day.
#4. Enable remote printing
Employees working from home can send print commands through cloud-based print management solutions. You can pick up the physical copy at your place of business. These printing solutions also ensure the security of business data by encrypting data packets in transit.
#5. Reduction of paper waste
Human beings produce paper by cutting down trees, which in turn harms the environment. You can install a robust print management system that will efficiently control paper waste and do your part to save nature.
PaperCut
When it comes to efficient print management tools for small and large businesses, PaperCut is without a doubt one of the biggest names. The tool and its cloud-based services help businesses of any size minimize waste. At the same time, business owners can stop worrying about data security by printing confidential reports.
With PaperCut, your printing experiences become delightful. Your employees must carry multiple devices at work, such as smartphones, tablets, Chromebooks, laptops, etc. It could be a challenge for IT system administrators to make sure all drivers are in place for effortless printing when there are multiple devices.
PaperCut solves this effectively with its Easy printing services, such as sending a print command to a queue and getting the print from any printer, a common MFD touch screen for all different printer models, etc.
You can also implement highly secure business printing using their services. PaperCut employs three-way print protection:
- It allows you to secure the printing infrastructure before someone prints things like what can be printed, who can be printed, etc.
- During the printing process, you can use 2-factor authentication and card-based secure print release.
- When the print is out and the copy is in the office space, you can implement measures like watermarks, audit trails, digital signatures, and print-to-file to keep sensitive data safe.
You also get some free tools with PaperCut, like a Google Cloud Print alternative tool, PaperCut Mobility Print, QRdoc for stamping business documents, and PaperCut Views for print analysis.
Print Conductor
You can print over 90 different types of documents without even opening the file if you try Print Driver. It comes with a fast and reliable print engine along with a simple and easy-to-use interface for mass printing. Plus, you can collate print documents, preview your print document, control batch print jobs, and make quick adjustments to print settings, all from a single application.
The tool supports all types of modern printers on local networks, wide-area networks, or cloud networks. Also, in addition to physical printers, you can use this tool to manage printing tasks on virtual printers like PDF printers and OneNote printers.
Like its competitors, Print Conductor offers a print analysis module. Helps you estimate paper and ink requirements before undertaking large batch print jobs. Estimates are available in the Detailed Report and on the Report page.
uniFLOW
Another tool to take control of the printing infrastructure in the workplace is uniFLOW. Large organizations and printing companies running various advanced printing equipment like Canon, Xerox, Epson, Brother, Konica Minolta, etc. use this tool to handle printing, scanning, and document management tasks.
It has on-premises and cloud-based applications for print management. Both cloud and on-site tools work as one integrated portal to scan, print, and manage devices with ease and absolute security.
uniFLOW’s Secure Print and Universal Driver features are notable developments that you should know about. Secure print technology allows you to assign individual accounts for each employee. Employees must submit the hard copy using their own identification card or PIN. In addition, the user must be present at the machine to pick up the printout.
The Universal driver ensures that the application is compatible with various devices and printing machines. Users can send print commands to any network printer from any computing device, such as mobile phones or laptops.
AirPrint InfinityCloud
UniPrint InfinityCloud is another popular tool for Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) and enterprise print management with a scalable solution. Since it is a vendor-neutral tool, the app can seamlessly communicate with all modern printers and computing devices for printing purposes.
UniPrint’s solution is perfect for businesses of any size, from start-ups to multinational conglomerates. It also offers specialized on-premises and cloud services for industries such as banking and finance, insurance, managed service providers (MSPs), cloud service providers, government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and healthcare.
Its featured print management solution includes standard features such as a flexible consumption model and tool licenses, serverless printing, print analytics, print tracking, print from anywhere, and contactless printing.
PrinterAdmin
You can also give Printer Manager a try if you need a convenient print management solution for an educational institute or business. Their tool allows you to monitor everything related to printing, such as users, printing machines, workstations, and chargebacks.
It also comes with a standard print reporting tool or analytics module that tells you about your business’ print volume, ink usage, and total cost of printing.
Print Tracker Pro
Print Tracking Pro comes with a one-click install feature so you can get started with print management in minutes. Since the setup and operation of this tool are easy, your employees or customers experience the best service.
Its robust tracking system offers all the detailed information related to printing, such as toner levels, counters, page counts, printer installations, and service alerts. Plus, you can set the tool to send you ink replenishment reminders or factor printer meter readings into invoices easily.
final words
Find a curated list of popular, enterprise-ready print management software above. You can use any of these apps for your home office, workplace, retail, publishing, or copy shop.
