Devices and fleet
The equipment itself, and how a collection of it is planned and looked after.
- Multifunction device (MFD): a single machine that prints, copies and scans, and often sends scans by email or to a network folder. Also called a multifunction printer (MFP).
- A3 and A4 devices: A4 devices handle standard letter-size paper and are usually smaller desktop or workgroup machines. A3 devices also take the larger A3 size and are typically floor-standing office machines with more paper capacity and finishing options.
- Mono and colour: mono devices print in black only, while colour devices can print both. Many organisations use a mix, with colour available where it is genuinely needed.
- Duty cycle: the maximum number of pages a manufacturer says a device can handle in a month. It is a ceiling, not a target; the recommended monthly volume is usually much lower.
- Page volume: the number of pages a device or fleet produces over a period, usually counted per month and split into mono and colour.
- Fleet: all the printers and multifunction devices an organisation uses, across every site, brand and contract.
- Fleet right-sizing: matching the number, type and placement of devices to how people actually print, so there are neither idle machines nor overloaded ones.
- Consolidation: replacing several small or underused devices with fewer shared ones, usually as part of right-sizing.
- Device lifecycle: the stages a device goes through, from selection and installation to service, upgrades and removal at the end of its term.
- Firmware: the software built into a device that runs its functions, controls and security settings. It needs updating, like any operating system.
Costs and billing
The terms that appear on quotes, invoices and contract schedules.
- Cost per page (CPP): the cost of producing one printed page, usually quoted separately for mono and colour. Depending on the contract it may include toner, parts and service.
- Blended cost per page: a single average cost per page across mono and colour, weighted by how much of each is printed.
- Consumables: items used up through printing, mainly toner or ink, plus parts that wear out, such as drums and fuser units.
- Toner yield: the approximate number of pages a toner cartridge produces under the manufacturer's standard test conditions. Real-world yield varies with how much of each page is covered.
- Meter reads: readings of a device's page counters, used to bill for actual usage. They can be collected automatically or submitted by hand.
- Fleet assessment: a review of every device, its volumes and its contract, to establish what printing costs today and where it could be simpler.
Service and support
How devices are kept running, and how that is measured.
- Service level agreement (SLA): the part of a contract that sets out the service you can expect, such as response times, and how performance is reported.
- Response time: how quickly a provider acknowledges and starts work on a service request. It is not the same as the time taken to fix the problem.
- First-fix rate: the share of faults resolved on the first visit or contact, without a return visit.
- Uptime: the proportion of time a device is working and available to use.
- Remote diagnostics: checking a device's status, errors and settings over the network, so many problems can be identified or fixed without a site visit.
- Predictive maintenance: using device data such as error history and part wear to service a device before it fails.
Security and privacy
Terms that come up when printers are reviewed alongside the rest of your IT environment. Our guides to secure print and the Privacy Act and printing cover these in more depth.
- Secure release: holding a print job in a queue until the person who sent it identifies themselves at the device, so pages are not left in a tray. Also called pull printing.
- Audit trail: a record of who printed, copied or scanned what, on which device and when.
- Encryption: scrambling print data so it cannot be read if intercepted between a computer and the device.
- Data purge or overwrite: clearing document data from a device's storage, either routinely after each job or before the device is removed, so copies of documents do not remain on it.
- Network segmentation: placing printers on their own part of the network so that only the systems that need them can reach them.
- Essential Eight: a set of eight mitigation strategies from the Australian Signals Directorate, designed to protect organisations' internet-connected information technology networks. It was not written for printers, though some of its principles can be applied to them.
- APP 11: Australian Privacy Principle 11, security of personal information. The OAIC summarises it as requiring an APP entity to take reasonable steps to protect personal information it holds from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
- Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme: under the Privacy Act 1988, organisations and agencies the Act covers must notify affected individuals and the OAIC when a data breach is likely to result in serious harm to an individual whose personal information is involved.
Printing workflows
How people send, collect and route their documents.
- Follow-me printing: sending a job to a single queue and collecting it at any enabled device, rather than choosing a specific printer in advance.
- Print server: a server that manages print queues, drivers and job routing for an organisation's printers.
- Cloud print: managing print queues and job routing through a cloud service instead of on-site print servers.
- BYOD printing: letting staff or visitors print from their own laptops, phones or tablets, usually through an app, email or web upload, with access still controlled.
- Scan-to-email: scanning a document at a device and sending it straight to an email address. It is usually restricted to approved destinations, such as the user's own address.
Sources
- Australian Signals Directorate, Essential Eight explained(opens in a new tab)
- OAIC, Australian Privacy Principles quick reference (APP 11, security of personal information)(opens in a new tab)
- OAIC, About the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme(opens in a new tab)
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.