Cutting-edge software to drive down your print costs

Ever wondered how much time and money you could be wasting on excess printing?

PaperCut MF is a globally acclaimed software package that helps organisations to maximise efficiency in the printroom… and minimise their carbon footprint.

It’s a powerful accounting and management tool that we at Allied Office Machines are proud to offer – and it’s just got even better with the release of the latest version.

In a nutshell, PaperCut MF enables user and device level control for all your printers and multifunctional devices. User access rights, copy quotas and print costs can all be monitored and managed in the minutest detail, thereby delivering potentially significant savings over less efficient practices.

And PaperCut doesn’t just encourage the responsible use of company resources – it also helps to create an environmentally friendly workplace. Developed originally for the education sector, PaperCut has been expanded and fine-tuned over the past decade to embrace everything from SMEs to government departments.

Recent improvements have included ID number auto-generation to reduce overheads, email-to-print enhancements, more flexible user group management, and upgraded search facilities.

And now the latest version (14.3) introduces an option to release all print jobs with a simple card swipe – a boon for staff who are visually impaired or have limited mobility. Simplified print queuing and easy guest printing from mobile devices are among a raft of other enhancements now available.

For further information about PaperCut MF, drop us a line on 01794 526088 and
we would be happy to talk it through with you.


High fives for the super sambas

Okay, it might not be just like watching Brazil, but the Samba Boys are certainly making their mark on the Hampshire five-a-side football scene. The Sambas – who include Allied Office Machines technical manager James Stride and field service engineer Jamie Paulton – are riding
high in their section of the JD Fives league and chasing their second title.

Formed five years ago, the team play at Wide Lane in Eastleigh and are among nearly 200 sides who contest more than 30 different JD Fives leagues across the county.

It’s a glorious grassroots celebration of The Beautiful Game, a million miles removed from the riches and razzmatazz of the Premiership.

No surprise, then, that the glass trophies which marked the Samba Boys’ first title triumph last time out were accompanied  not by vintage champagne but a humble crate of beer – though no doubt it tasted every bit as sweet.

Alongside James and Jamie in the Sambas’ squad are, in alphabetical order, Pete Bowl, Tommy Fletcher, Matt Lewis, James Markwell, James Screen, Shaun Swift and David Trathan.


ALLIED REACHES THE GOLD STANDARD

Ricoh awards Allied Office Machines its highest service award

Allied Office Machines has joined an elite band of companies to be granted Gold Partner status by global business technology giant Ricoh.

Customer service has always been integral to Allied’s business model, and this unswerving commitment to quality has now been recognised by the electronics industry leader.

In making Allied a Gold Customer Service Certified Partner, Ricoh has bestowed on the company its highest possible service award.

To achieve the coveted accolade, Allied has been able to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to a number of key practices including:

* Achievement of industry best practice
* Highly skilled staff who are trained continually on the latest products
* Use of only genuine Ricoh parts and consumables
* Regular customer surveys and continual development through feedback
* Minimum call procedure to ensure all equipment is checked and serviced as necessary
* Fully documented call escalation process to ensure fast, comprehensive resolution of faults and problems

Allied Office Machines MD Steve Drayson said: “When I started Allied 20 years ago it was because I felt a lot of companies in our industry generally delivered a poor level of service.

“I was determined to change that, and delivering a consistently high level of service together with good communications through staff and customers alike has been central to our business ever since.

“I am delighted that Ricoh has recognised this commitment with this award.”

Eddie Hall, Dealer Sales Manager for Ricoh, said: “Clients are constantly demanding more from their suppliers.

“Ricoh Gold Partner status is awarded only to those dealerships that achieve the most exacting and advanced levels of customer service across the full span of products.

“All of our Gold Partners are subjected to a rigorous audit and vetting process to ensure that their customer service and technical knowhow is at the highest possible level.”


Allied Office Machines brings 26% cost savings to Europe’s biggest Hyundai dealership

Where is Europe’s biggest Hyundai dealership based?  Germany? France? Maybe even Spain?

Richmond Motor Group

The answer is, right here in the UK; and what’s more it is right here in the South of England, in the form of Allied Office Machines’ newest customer, Richmond Motor Group.

Catherine Brown, Richmond’s Office Manager said: “In the auto trade, the ability to print a lot of documents, often in colour, is very important.  And for staff in the showroom, a printer not working properly sometimes resulted in customers having to wait for sales documents.”

Richmond Motor Group had a large number of older, different brand printers across the group which were causing problems.  After getting good recommendations from some of our existing customers, Richmond Motor Group called us into undertake a ‘Print Audit’.  This provided them with a free appraisal of the company’s print requirements as well as looking in depth at the way their staff use printers.  “As a result of the Audit, we were able to make recommendations on a new energy, time and cost efficient print  solution, based on Ricoh @remote technology” said Steve Drayson, Managing Director of Allied Office Machines.  “The solution included 21 colour and mono Ricoh Multifunction Printers and a small number of other brand print only devices.”

And the new solution is already paying dividends.  By better understanding the company’s usage requirements, Allied have managed to reduce the number of devices and Richmond Motor Group now make better use of the energy efficient Multi-Function Printers which have been installed.  As a result Richmond Motor Group have realised savings of 26% year on year.

To find out more and get a free copy of the full case study, call us today on 01794 526088 or email printaudit@aomltd.co.uk 

 


How Secure is your Printer??!

Recent hacker intrusions into the customer databases of some of the biggest on-line organisations have highlighted the growing problem of cyber crime.

We all know that our computers and laptops have Hard Disk Drives (HDD), but did you know that printers and copiers also have an HDD?  These are used to store network data, e-mail addresses and print and scan files; all useful information in the wrong hands!

We at Allied Office Machines have experienced this problem when we once collected an old machine from a customer, which we later found contained police records!  Naturally we deleted this data as soon as it was discovered.

With this in mind, Allied Office Machines is very pleased to find out that our Business Partners, Ricoh, have introduced a new set of security features as standard on all their latest generation products.  These features include a Hard Drive Encryption Unit, which encrypts the data so that only authorised users can access it, as well as a new Data Overwrite Security System, or DOSS.

As the name suggests, DOSS overwrites the data on the HDD, after the completion of each job, thus destroying all data and preventing recovery by any cyber thief.  It also provides an option to overwrite the entire hard drive up to eight times during its working life, a feature that can be used at the end of each lease or office relocation.

If you would like some free advice on document security and keeping your print data safe, please call us on: 01794 526088

 


Allied Office Machines launches Ricoh’s new range of AirPrint enabled Imaging Products.

There is no denying that Apple devices are becoming more and more popular. The growth of BYOD (Bring your own device), where employees make use of their own personal phones, tablets
and laptops at work, means businesses need to make sure their print and imaging solutions can cope with Apple’s print protocols.

Allied Office Machines’ business partner Ricoh, has introduced a range of AirPrint enabled solutions which can easily deal with printing and imaging for any Apple devices. AirPrint is a new printing protocol from Apple which allows any apple device to link to an enabled printer, scanner, etc, via a hard wired or wireless network. With a few taps, AirPrint makes it possible for people to wirelessly print documents, photographs and images directly from an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch or Mac, without the need to install individual printer drivers for each printer.
It is particularly useful for executives and mobile business people to print tickets, photos and emails safely and quickly from their mobile phones or tablets. There is no software to download or cables to connect as the Apple device will automatically find the AirPrint enabled printer and link seamlessly to it. Further information about Ricoh’s AirPrint enabled devices can be obtained by contacting Allied Office Machines on 01794 526088.


Don’t Forget to Put Out Your Empties

With the earth’s natural resources getting rarer, and subsequently more expensive, greater
emphasis is being placed on re-cycling and reusing materials. Take for example the humble
toner cartridge. More and more companies are collecting them as part of their environmental
policy; but have you ever wondered what happens to them after they are put into the
recycling bin. There is a lot of useful material in an old toner cartridge, so long as they are recycled correctly and don’t end up in a landfill site. Some, of course, can be re-filled and sold again but the
majority of them are broken up and the materials made into a multitude of new items.
Some, we have heard, are even made into lobster pots!

We at Allied Office Machines like to do our bit for the environment and have been recycling our toner cartridges for many years. As part of our service to you, we can collect the empty cartridges from the printers we have supplied, and then  arrange for them to be sent off for proper recycling.

 

So if you are thinking of how you can recycle more, we can definitely help. Give us a call today on  01794 526088 and we will tell you what you need to do. At the end of the day it means that better use is being made of our natural resources and less waste is going into land fill, which has got to be good.

 


Ricoh Launches A New Series of Wide-Format Multi-Function Printers Aimed at the Building Sector

Another area of economic activity that is hopeful about the “green shoots of recovery” is the
Building Sector. Vital to growth in our economy as a whole, the sector is famous for being the
focus of much political debate and speculation. However, Allied Office Machine’s business
partner, Ricoh, believes that there is great potential for growth in the sector and is
supporting this confidence with the launch of a new line in wide format multifunction printers.

These productive document centres do more than just print the detailed plans and designs
needed by the construction industry, they also offer scanning and copier options along with
document finishing capabilities. The latest new machines to be launched are the
Ricoh MP CW colour wide-format multi-function printers, machines aimed squarely at the
Architects, Engineers and Construction market.

MP-W7140

To find out more about these new printers and to arrange a demonstration, contact us today on:
01794 526088


ALLIED OFFICE MACHINES WINS MARY ROSE TRUST CONTRACT

Nick Carter and Steve Richmond at the new Mary Rose Trust Museum Allied Office Machines has won a contract to supply six new multi-functional printer / copiers to the Mary Rose Trust.

The new equipment is being supplied as part of the business infrastructure for the Trust’s brand new museum in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Mary Rose Trust

Nick Carter MBE, Accounts Manager for the Mary Rose Trust said: “We ran a stringent competitive
tender for the supply of these new machines and Allied Office Machines emerged as clear winners
against some very tough competition. We were particularly impressed by their levels of on-going
service and back-up as well as the keenness of their prices.”

The Trust’s brand-new museum is part of its £35m project to provide a new home for the
Mary Rose and to complete the conservation of the 500 year old flagship of Henry VIII. The high
-tech building has been specially designed and built for the purpose and the Multi-Function
devices being supplied by Allied Office Machines must perform efficiently within the highly
controlled environment.

Nick continued: “The pioneering building design has created a special environment to protect the
unique and priceless 16th century artefacts and hull whilst the drying and preservation process is
completed over the next 4 to 5 years. It also displays the hull and artefacts in a manner that
enables visitors to experience them in the best possible way. As a result, any office machines
operating in the museum must be energy efficient so as to help keep our energy costs
down” Steve Richmond, Regional Sales Manager from Allied Office Machines said: “We are delighted to
have won this contract and are very proud to be part of such an important historic project. We
wish the Mary Rose Trust every success with their new museum and are looking forward to a
long working partnership, maybe even for the next 500 years!”


Allied Office Machines Win 3 BLI Pick Awards

Celebrities everywhere are dusting off their designer frocks and tuxedos and are chattering about the awards season; and we at Allied Office Machines are joining in!

We are very pleased to announce that our technology partners, Ricoh, have done particularly well in the imaging industry’s own equivalent of the Oscars, the BLI or Buyers’ Lab awards.

Twice a year, the ‘BLI Pick Awards’ give special recognition to imaging products that provided the most outstanding performance in several categories. To achieve this accolade the machines must undergo a series of strenuous tests over a two month period that pushes them to the limits of their stated performance. They are then evaluated on categories such as ease of use, media handling, productivity and value.

In its most recent series of awards, Ricoh collected 3 ‘Outstanding Achievement’ awards. And the winners are…

 

The Ricoh MP C4502 series for outstanding achievement in energy efficiency.

Click here to read the full adjudication

 

The Ricoh MP C4502 series for outstanding 41 to 50 ppm A3 Colour Multi-Function Printing.

Click here to read the full adjudication

 

The Ricoh MP C5502 series for outstanding 51 to 60 ppm A3 Colour Multi-Function Printing.

Click here to read the full adjudication