Remote monitoring of your networked printer fleet has been possible for several years now and the software is well proven. A good data collector will allow your print fleet consultant as well as selected associates within your company to have access to a host of valuable current and historical information about your print devices available on demand all the time.
But what is this valuable information and what are the benefits? Here are a few:
Never run out of toner again. The Data Collector Agent (DCA) will show you the toner level via a gas gauge for any networked printer built in this century, and many from the late 90’s. You can monitor this yourself via the online portal and your print fleet consultant can monitor as well. A feature of the B2B Direct managed print system is to automatically send toner reports via email that track low toner levels and in some cases either automatically send toner or confirm needs with the client prior to shipment. Either way, you should never be caught short.
Reduce downtime and service costs. The DCA will receive and compile displayed messages and errors, making it possible to troubleshoot proactively. It will also track the status of consumable parts, such as maintenance kits and drum units so that these parts can be replaced on time. By virtue of the DCA, many service calls can be expedited and downtime can be reduced by letting us know what parts are needed prior to arriving on site.
Reduce your paper usage. We have all found that we get what we measure. The problem is, historically companies have not been able to easily measure the number of prints made by devices in their fleets. This is not the case with a good DCA. Usage reports can be obtained for any period of time on any monitored devices. You can also see how many prints were copies vs. faxes vs. printed output, and color vs. black. This is invaluable information when implementing policies to reduce paper usage.
Manage your assets intelligently. All good machines eventually need to be replaced. By monitoring your fleet you gain the information needed to purchase the perfect device for the job at hand. We also find that by looking at the usage of the fleet in its entirety, we save clients money by redeploying underutilized assets without the need to purchase new equipment.
This is a cost free business tool. B2B Direct offers its DCA monitoring software at no charge to current customers. Contact us today to learn more.
Is it safe? We occasionally receive concerns about loading the DCA on a client’s server. This is an extremely safe service, takes up little space on the server and transmits data approximately the size of an email about every 30 minutes. The data transmitted is printer specific from the fleet that you define. The service sits safely behind your firewall and is not accessible by others.
There are currently hundreds of thousands of printers being monitored with the software we use. We have several pieces of documentation detailing the specifications, safety and security of the DCA on our MPS page. The .pdf documents are listed on the sidebar of the page. There is also a live demo of a DCA site accessible from the bottom of the page.