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Print.IT Reseller
mobile printing
According to new survey findings
from IDC (www.idc.com), 39% of
respondents say they travel for
work, which represents a large and
evolving workforce that has new
requirements for print. Those who
travel, clearly need to print and the
IDC study found that moderate travel
is most associated with increasing
print volume. The research also found
that 52% of respondents who use
smartphones for work said they
cannot currently print from their
device, but want to.
“We are on the verge of a mobile print
expansion and business users will demand
and eventually expect print capabilities
from their mobile devices,” said Jonathan
Bees, Research Director, US Hardcopy
Device Usage Trends. “This shift away
from dependence on desktop PCs and
laptops for printing will provide users with
the access and mobility they're looking
for. Furthermore, mobility is driving print
volume.”
As the mobile workforce continues
to expand, so too do the opportunities
for increased efficiency and productivity.
An updated forecast from IDC reports
that by 2015, the world's mobile
worker population will reach 1.3 billion,
representing 37.2% of the total workforce.
With mobility continuing to be a critical
part of the workforce, the demand from
businesses for mobile printing solutions
is set to increase and therein lies an
opportunity for resellers to add value and
increase revenue by selling in printers and
MPFs with cloud printing solutions. After
all, any technology that drives print volume
should be embraced.
Cloud printing
Cloud printing solves the problem of
accessing documents while on the move by
providing an on-demand printing solution
via a networked device, regardless of the
user’s location. It can also enable them to
scan and capture documents on cloud-
ready printers and MFPs, upload them to
the cloud, where they can be accessed,
edited or printed, or simply stored for
future use.
New services designed to link cloud
computing, printing, scanning and mobile
devices are available from Toshiba.
Through its membership of the Cortado
Cloud Printing Alliance, Toshiba devices
support secure on-demand mobile printing
from iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android or
Symbian devices.
From the users’ perspective adoption
is easy; they simply download the Cortado
Workplace app onto their mobile device
for round the clock access to files and
documents, regardless of file type and
without needing access to a PC.
Because this is a cloud service, all the
drivers required to print are stored within
the Cortado Hosting Centre. Printing
takes place directly on a printer or MFP
connected to their mobile device by
Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and all mainstream
file formats are supported, including
Excel spreadsheets, PDFs, PowerPoint
presentations and a wide range of image
formats.
www.toshibatec.co.uk
Mobile-ready
Canon’s new imageRUNNER ADVANCE
range (page 10) offers a scale of solutions
that integrate with cloud-based workflows
and support mobile working.
The imageRUNNER ADVANCE platform
features a set of simple, serverless mobile
solutions that are ideal for smaller
businesses. In addition to Canon Mobile
Printing application, its mobile PRINT
& SCAN solution adds scan-to-mobile
functionality.
Canon is also certified as Google Cloud
Print-Ready, thanks to a new software
application for imageRUNNER ADVANCE,
which makes it possible to print from a
variety of web-enabled devices. In addition,
Canon’s Cloud Connect feature allows users
to print from and scan to Google Drives
using an imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFP,
while eCopy Scan to Cloud allows customers
to scan, convert and send to cloud-based
services such as SalesForce.com.
eCopy Scan to Cloud and Canon
Mobile Printing, will be available in Q4
and December respectively.
www.canon-europe.com
EveryonePrint from Develop (
www.
dsales.co.uk
) is a server-based software
solution that allows organisations to
establish a private hosted cloud printing
environment. EveryonePrint offers platform
and device independent printing of
documents and is compatible with any
brand of smartphone and other mobile
devices, with no software installation on
the user’s mobile device required. Using
the authentication functionality, Everyone
Print can be flexibly configured for
employees and even external users. Guests
enjoy the benefits of driverless printing and
can easily generate their own printouts
by sending an email to a preconfigured
address or up loading their documents via
a web browser.
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Mobile printing
On-demand printing anytime, anywhere
Mobile technology such as smartphones, BlackBerrys,
PDAs and tablet PCs, are set to have a significant impact
on print volumes, as more people accessing information
through their mobile devices are demanding the ability
to print.
“We are
on the
verge of a
mobile print
expansion
and business
users will
demand and
eventually
expect print
capabilities
from their
mobile
devices.”