Are you still looking at copiers as either too expensive or incapable of adding enough value to your business? You might be surprised just how much you can gain from using a copier in the office instead of running around town paying for top-dollar services or forcing all clients and customers to subscribe to paperless communications. There are at least five ways copiers can add value and boost your business.

Reducing Cost per Copy With Copiers

How often do you send employees to a commercial copy facility? Perhaps you’ve made a few runs yourself. If you make a habit out of this, the high price plus time lost compounds on each visit.

While office copiers may seem like substantial investments initially, they can be massive money-savers in the long run. Copy facilities charge for the supplies and the service, and time away from the office could be better spent doing something productive.

When using your own copier, the service costs alone help you recoup the investment. The price of your own supplies is much lower than the premium prices you’d otherwise pay for toner, ink, and paper.

No matter how you look at it, copiers more than make up for their initial investment.

Accurate Budget Planning

Using in-office copiers is not only about reducing overhead. It’s also about making sure you can create more accurate budgets across all departments and spending.

For example, businesses without a copy machine have to use copy facilities. They might not use the same one every time, meaning the prices can vary wildly. Quality can also vary too. And if you have highly confidential documents, they’re put at risk every time you take the printing offsite.

Time spent traveling back and forth between the office and copy facility is time an employee isn’t dedicating their energy toward more high-value business tasks. Then you must factor in any travel costs, like using a company car or reimbursing employees for cab fare, subway tickets, etc.

These expenses aren’t noticeable daily, but add up to a lot when you draw the line at the end of the month or quarter. Due to how much copy facility expenses can fluctuate, it’s challenging to plan next month’s budget. Allocating too little could force you to dip into other funds. Setting aside too much for copier expenses might put a financial strain on other departments and areas of the business.

Using in-house copiers is a great way to eliminate one of the most stressful budgeting issues many companies face today.

Having an in-office copy machine gives you complete control over how you use it, what supplies you buy, and how much inventory to hold based on various projects.

Some Advantages Are Underrated

Copiers can contribute in many ways but still go unnoticed as vital pieces of office equipment. Here are some great examples.

Information Security

Why would you use a copier if you’re trying to go paperless? As tempting as being completely paperless may be, it’s not sustainable or safe for a business. Hard copy documents are still necessary in many industries.

Digital documents are more susceptible to theft than physical copies.

For example, online data can be intercepted in many ways, whether in transit or by breaking into an encrypted device.

One form of communication isn’t hackable. Faxing may seem antiquated these days due to its slow speed, limited transfer volume, and annoying sound. But rest assured that it’s one of the safest ways to send important information and entire documents from point A to B.

An in-house copier/fax machine is a great way to take advantage of this more or less hackproof communication technology.

Customer Satisfaction

Pleasing customers is one of the keys to business success. But doing it is a more complex process than you think. Offering great services and providing excellent solutions at good prices are just some of the ways you can satisfy customers and clients in any market.

Interactions with customers and clients often involve paperwork and document transfers. Think of all those signature forms, duplicate files, invoice copies, etc. It’s bad enough that laws and regulations seem to complicate matters. It gets even worse if you can’t respond to document requests quickly. No one wants to wait for paperwork, whether they’re communicating online or sitting in front of your desk.

Quick access to a copier and a scanner in the office is vital to maintaining customer satisfaction.

Employee Satisfaction

Customers and clients aren’t the only ones you must keep happy for your business to flourish. Employees do better and remain loyal when they aren’t faced with constant disruptions that could’ve been avoided.

An in-house copier increases the speed and efficiency of office document and paperwork management. Employees will spend less time leaving the office to use slow and expensive copiers in a different facility and more time doing what they’re great at – helping you build your business.

It’s a win-win situation.

Copiers Aren’t Going Away Anytime Soon

You can’t avoid creating or scanning hard-copy documents. There are too many hurdles at the moment to transitioning to a completely paperless business environment. The security reasons alone can keep you awake at night.

You have to consider that not every business can afford to rely so heavily on technology. Some of your clients and customers will still deal with invoices, receipts, business plans, and other documents the old-fashioned way, with hard copies.

Copier technology will keep improving and remain relevant to many industries for a long time to come. Using your own copier is better than trying to go completely paperless, and much cheaper, safer, and less time-consuming than using outside copy centers.

If you’re worried about configurations, resupplying, or maintenance for your Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, or Mansfield business’s copy machine or fleet, contact Modern Office Methods today to discuss options.