If you work with confidential information you don’t want to leave it where it could be seen by others. This includes in the office printer tray. That’s why we include pull printing software in the Sharp Optimised Solution Portfolio.
Normally, in a small office with a shared printer, you press the button for Print and, unless the work is urgent, you collect the pages at some later point. During this time the printed information, which might be confidential, is lying there, at risk of being seen by anyone.
It is common that information is left unattended. In recent research that Sharp carried out with 6,000 office workers across Europe, 55 per cent of people said that their colleagues leave printed documents in the printer tray.
If you are printing something on a group printer that you do not want others to see your only option might be to press Print and rush to the printer, which could be on another floor, to make sure it is not intercepted.
Thanks to Sharp’s Optimised Printing software there is an easier way. We have brought together a selection of software tools that offer pull printing and help you and your business make the most of printing in a more secure environment.
Pull printing or Follow Me printing is a feature where the documents you have printed are held on a server (server-based pull printing) or on your PC (serverless pull printing) until you press a button on a connected printer.
This is how it works:
- Press print at your computer.
- Walk over to your multifunction printer of choice – it can be the one on your floor, or if that’s busy, the one the floor above or below.
- Log in using your username and password, or with a swipe card or fob.
- Select whether to print any or all of your documents, leave some for later, use Document Filing to archive them, or delete them if you have changed your mind. All features are available.
- Logging in also unlocks the copy and scan functions to give you one-touch access to any Single Sign On-compatible Sharp OSA (Open System Architecture) application that is installed.
This network authentication makes it easy to keep your sensitive information secure and means that client documents remain confidential.
The Sharp Optimised portfolio is a bespoke range of solutions which can be tailored to meet the needs of your business. So, in addition to offering key security benefits, we also have packages that can help improve efficiency and reduce running costs.
We also offer a reporting feature, useful for understanding how your MFPs are being used around the company. For example, if you find that one MFP is used less than others, you might want to move it to a busier area, or you might be able to reduce the number of printers you have and save money.
This auditing and reporting of how and when your MFPs are being used can also enhance the security policies within your business and is a good way of knowing how different departments use paper. Once you know this you could start to charge this paper use back to the departments or to your clients.
When security matters, use Sharp’s Optimised Printing software to ensure your documents are secure and compliant. To find out more, Get in Touch.