Why Managed Print Services are Key for Successful School Re-Entry

As schools begin to reopen or make plans for reopening next academic year in the post-pandemic world, educators and administrators are busy switching their attention from an online schooling model to a more traditional in-person environment.

With the hustle and bustle of a full classroom, many important processes and systems are often pushed to the wayside. However, schools that proactively implement crucial systems, like a managed print service, can save time, money, and future headaches so educators can dedicate their attention to what matters most; keeping their students safe and learning.

A robust managed print service for education will go beyond print management and include value-added features that enable students and educators to print responsibly, safely, and efficiently each and every school day. Educational institutions that partner with a managed service provider (MSP) to implement a custom all-inclusive managed print service will save time and money without sacrificing productivity, and most importantly, provide a reliable and accessible secure print environment for all students and faculty returning to the classroom.

What Should a Managed Print Service for Schools Look Like?

The foremost priority of every educator is to facilitate learning, so shouldn’t they be equipped with the tools and technology to enable students? When educators’ valuable time and bandwidth are spent on attending to print problems, the quality of education decreases and students are left at a disadvantage. A comprehensive print management system can quickly provide any school environment secure print workflows that grant greater accessibility and enhanced data security for students and faculty.

So what key elements and features make up a robust print management service?

The service should include:

• Free On-Site Trial Implementation - An experienced print management solution architect will install and test features on-site to increase customer satisfaction.
• Easy-to-Use Dashboard - An intuitive web-based dashboard makes it easy for administrators to keep up with equipment repair and maintenance schedules even across the largest educational institutions.
• Print Policy Management and Rules-Based Routing - These tools shape the printing environment based on the organization’s user behavior. For example, a school district can implement an eco-friendly print policy that encourages users to take responsibility for their printing habits by discouraging users from printing emails or web pages in color.
• Find-Me Printing - This feature provides the ability to deliver one logically named print queue to staff and students, increasing confidence that the print job is being securely printed.
• Badge Release - Faculty and staff can utilize their access control cards or fobs to securely release print jobs at their convenience.
• Touchless Release - In this post-pandemic world, organizations should limit the number of physical touchpoints in their environment. Touchless release allows staff members to walk up to a single or multifunction printer and use their phone to quickly and conveniently scan a QR code to immediately see the print jobs that they have readily available within the print system.
• Print Deploy - IT managers in school systems receive a consultation and a team of experienced print management specialists to assist in the implementation of the right print drivers in the right queues at the right time, minimizing printer deployment time.
• Mobility Print - Securely and easily print remotely or print outside the network by sending print jobs over the internet.

Benefits of a Comprehensive Managed Print Service for Schools and Education

Educational institutions that partner with an MSP to implement a custom print management solution can expect to see immediate advantages. The benefits of a comprehensive managed print service include:

Data Security and FERPA Compliance - Educational institutions are charged with protecting important data like FERPA-protected K-12 student information and proprietary course materials. The security features that come with a comprehensive print management service such as authorized pull printing, end-to-end encryption, watermarks, and digital signatures provide classrooms, school districts, and college campuses confidence that sensitive documents are kept private and secure.

Drastically Reduced Costs and Waste - Print management solutions can provide fixed monthly billing for clear budget planning and accurate forecasting of print costs for a streamlined approval process. Schools can further reduce unnecessary waste by implementing eco-friendly print policies such as black and white printing.

Greater Accessibility - The right print management solution will provide teachers, students, and IT staff with innovative technology without sacrificing usability and accessibility. School districts with multiple locations and a fleet of printers have the capability to print documents from anywhere using the network or send print jobs remotely over the internet via mobile print for maximized accessibility and productivity.

Serverless Printing Infrastructure Transition - School districts and college campuses that leverage a custom managed print service can initiate the transition to serverless printing to eliminate unnecessary and expensive server costs. Servers have become less essential with the majority of educational institutions moving to a hybrid learning environment where segments of their student population are at home.

An Extensive Print Management Service for Your School

The right print management service for your educational institution should be an all-inclusive solution that reduces costs, improves accessibility, maximizes productivity, and ensures data security and regulatory compliance. However, a truly extensive print management service will also address safety concerns associated with COVID-19 protocols through advanced added features such as touchless release to provide peace of mind for all students and faculty during these uncertain times.

Schools that partner with a managed print service provider to implement a custom print management system are investing not only in the productivity of their students and faculty but in their safety as well. This all-encompassing, systematic approach to print management will ensure the successful implementation of their back-to-school strategy.