As technology sees the world advances rapidly, it has become quite apparent that the modern office is very different top the one from twenty or thirty years ago. For a start the modern office has computers everywhere. Cell phones or VOIP solutions are ubiquitous. Fax machines are in museums and there is constant talk about cloud computing and paperless offices. So, with this in mind the question is frequently asked, do modern offices need printers or are they headed the same way as fax machines and other, now obsolete, technology. Well, if this is something that you have or are pondering, here are a few things to consider.
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Is the need to print still there?
The short answer to this question is ‘yes’. Unlike fax machines, which have been rendered redundant by email and computers, there is still a need to print. And quite a regular need at that! For a start there are lots of documents that require physical signatures to be attached to them. Biometrics and digital signatures are slowly becoming more of a thing, but there is a long way for them to go. And, until tablets are everywhere it is almost essential for an office to have a production printer on site to satisfy the printing needs.
Have options
In the same way that some people like to read books on Kindles while others prefer actual paper, the same applies with material that is produced in an office on a daily basis. There are always going to be people who want hard copies of material – be it legal, financial, contractual or training documents. If you ended up having to go to a copy shop every time you needed to print something, then you would probably discover that you were popping out almost daily!
Move with the times
Printers are no longer just about words on paper. In a way that fax machines were not able to, printers have moved with the times. So, while we may well reach a situation in a decade or so where old-school printers are no longer required, the world of 3D printers is only just opening up. This is technology that is being explored and developed rapidly and we may well find that it is not too long before most offices are equipped with 3D printers for the making of all sorts of essential daily items.
Smart solutions
As technology has advanced so too have printing solutions. The days of the dot-matrix machine that could do a page in thirty seconds have long gone. Modern printers are able to produce around 60 pages a minute (or one a second if you prefer). They are also combined with copiers and scanners to create a one stop machine that caters to a range of needs. In fact, if you needed to fax, these modern machines can probably help you out with that need as well. So, while you might feel that you don’t need any one of the above-mentioned items more than once or twice a week, you will probably find, that when combined into one machine that the asset is worked hard on a daily basis.
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