Networking a Copier for Scanning — Ughhhh…

It seems that more and more people are wanting to have their copier on the network, for the purpose of printing and scanning.  Of course they should because it makes perfect sense!  The problem we have from the copier side of the world is that no one ever wants to pay to have this done.  It should be “included” because set-up was included last time.  Last time, of course, scanning probably wasn’t set up…  and it can be included, but if it is, the pricing has to be inflated.  So, what is a company to do?  Here are some simple steps you can take to reduce your headaches…

1) Get the important network data and have it ready for the person installing.  What is important?

IP Address you want used, which desktops you want things scanned to, admin passwords, what versions of Windows or OS you use, what restrictions you want placed on the device (for security)…

If you have all of these things and an IT guy ready, it will generally speed us up 2 to 3 times…  Now a job that should take 2 hours can take 2 or 3 or 4 times that amount of time if your expection is that “they should be able to just figure this out.”  Installing a device on a network is not laying carpet…  but if it were, the analogy would still work in that jobs are done faster if you have everything in order (the room cleared) than if you don’t.  Expecting the installer to “just figure it out” is like expecting the carpet installer to “just get the job done” and then wonder why it costs more when he has to move the TV and all the furniture out of the room.  Make things easy for yourself and for the installer by having all of the necessary information ready before they even get there!!

big-Pahoda-C405-Ad-1.19.22