With over 80% of Internet users surfing on smartphones these days and mobile device usage growing nearly 60% year over year, there’s no denying that technology drives our actions. Once seen as a distraction in the workplace, mobile devices are now advantages to companies with field sales and other positions that need quick access to information on the fly. This digital transformation is also being aided by the adoption of BYOD policies and fuels the need for mobility.
The downsides to digital mobility include complications associated with printing on the go. Laptops, phones, and tablets have an advantage in the field but when it comes to printing a contract for signature or a document needed to bolster a sale, print has been a recurring obstacle. Until recently, field staff and other mobile employees or those who prefer tablets to laptops lacked print capability options; but not anymore.
There’s an app for that!
While there are plenty of mobile apps that make document reading, creating, and sharing simple, printing is a different story. Not knowing where to find a printer and lack of access to a printer are the biggest barriers to printing on the go. However, apps, especially those that are operating system agnostic, bring new flexibility to printing. For example, with Samsung’s MobilePrint, printing is as simple as opening the app, selecting the document, and auto locating the nearest printer.
Like most Enterprises today, you’re likely considering mobile print options for your organization, so let’s look at why other companies have made the shift:
Clients meetings
Imagine a top client arrives at your location for a quarterly review with their Account Manager. During the meeting, they want to print a document from their tablet. No problem. Since your printer is mobile ready your client can use the app to send the document to a nearby office printer. This type of scenario happens everyday. Another common situation is the need to scan and share documents via mobile. The app works for that, too – scan a document with a networked or Wi-Fi connected multi-function device and send the scan directly to email, shared drives, or a server on the network.
Hardware cost reduction
Going paperless is a collective dream we’ve been talking about for years but it’s not yet come to fruition despite the popularity of digital documents. Most organizations reach towards paperless solutions as an opportunity to save money on print costs but there are other ways. Sales and service teams out in the field can downsize to tablets, reducing spend by eliminating the need for heavy, more costly laptops. Now, an invoice created or a contract negotiated and signed off in the field, can easily be sent to a nearby printer via the mobile app.
The traveling workforce
Executives and other employees who travel frequently are highly dependent on their mobile devices for their jobs. They’re the ones feverishly replying to emails before boarding a plane, reviewing documents on tiny screens, and suffering because printing MS Office documents via mobile apps is notoriously difficult. In such cases, having the option to locate and print to a nearby printer makes a big difference in productivity, especially during idle time. Thus having a mobile print app that works with MS Office increases productivity and saves frustration.
No longer just a piece of hardware, printers are full-fledged members of the IoT evolution. In fact, the ability to print on the go via mobile devices pushes printing one more step in that direction. If your print and mobile print strategy isn’t working, a print audit is a great place to start assessing print policies and develop a strategy to optimize your network.
TIG works with enterprise organizations of all sizes, worldwide. We are experts in managed print services, print solutions, including the Samsung MobilePrint app, and other services and solutions that help businesses streamline and manage IT functions to save costs.
Interested in learning more about reducing print spend and adopting mobile print solutions? We’re here to help.