OT: Printer Suggestions

[bill-CIZd1d4GmLheoWH0uzbU5w at public.gmane.org (Bill Horne)]

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On 2/26/2010 10:56 AM, Jack-rp9/bkPP+cDYtjvyW6yDsg at public.gmane.org wrote:
> Sometimes toner levels can be checked remotely or the printers can email
> alerts when something is wrong.  Set up all the bells
> and whistles so it reduces printer management load.

It's a good idea to have the printers email their alerts to an
"attendant" address which then forwards to whomever has the duty:
managers like the flexibility of being able to rotate the chores or
juggle assignments during vacations. I like to use google addresses,
and I leave a detailed instruction sheet that tells the manager how to
change the forwarding: that way, you won't have to keep track of each
printer's change procedure, and (as often happens) if the manager in
question wants you to do it, it's a matter of a couple of minutes,
instead of a big affair that requires a visit to the customer premise.

> I think you will still have a few that insist on inkjets on their
> desk.  You might find a way where IT or 'shared services' pays for the
'shared printers' and
> user departments get stuck with a bill for all the 'desk' printers. 
Managers
> like to keep their dept budgets down while using 'others' resources. 
But make
> sure that upper management sees that this is reducing overall cost to
> the organization, not just empire building.

There are lots of ways to induce people to change, but that's not a
task that a technical person needs to get involved with. If the
organization's management decides to phase out the inkjets, then
they'll be responsible for "selling" the new environment: the most
effective tactic I've seen is to simply stop buying supplies for
them.  Some users will purchase their own, but that peters out after a
month or two.

> But changes like this all depend on your corporate culture.

You're right: a non-profit would be a different challenge than other
firms. When you have an environment with lots of "island" resources,
the least painful way to retire them is to convince managers to
install uniform new computers, and then order machines which don't
support the printers in question. I've dealt with firms where the
honchos told me "Just do it", and the employees came in the next day
to find their inkjet printers gone, and I've worked with some that
wouldn't consider /any/ change until a parent organization approved
it. It all depends on the organization; I still recommend giving
management a clear choice, justified by cost estimates, and then the
orders come from above, not from "the evil techie".

FWIW. YMMV. See you tomorrow!

Bill
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