Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/50188
not be exotic or strategic, but savings and payback are measurable and, when done right, they advance the quest to be a conscientiously greener organization. COST VERSUS CONVENIENCE When users are legal professionals, convenience has a payback all its own. Anything that makes work processes more convenient has an economic benefit. But at what point is the cost of this convenience prohibitive? For example, when is the convenience of printing deskside too costly (at two to four cents per page) versus a trip to the MFD at less than one cent (typical cost) per page? For an organization printing one million pages per month, a modest five percent shift of printing to the lower-cost devices is worth $60,000 a year. RULES ACTUALLY INCREASE THE POSSIBILITIES Application-enforced, rules-based functions that encourage users to move print jobs to lower-cost devices can encourage employees to comply with established firm guidelines. This can modify print behavior with the result being reduced costs. Print management and rules-based printing allow a firm to: • Redirect (or at least influence) large print jobs to the most cost-effective device. For example, all documents over 20 pages are printed on an MFD; all documents over 100 pages are printed in the central print shop. • Redirect color jobs to ensure they are printed on a color device, eliminating monochrome mistakes and subsequent reprints. • Enforce duplex printing for certain applications or users. • Enforce monochrome printing for certain applications or users. • Direct certain applications, users or departments to a specific device. Tracking changes made to a print policy through reporting tools ensures that effectiveness can be monitored. Good reporting tools are preconfigured to display a breakdown of prints by: • Application • User • Device • Color or mono print • Number of pages This then allows an analysis of print costs, giving a detailed picture of the results of a print policy and helping to identify changes that can be made to further reduce costs and improve efficiency. By configuring reports, this process control lets an organization discover the effectiveness of print rules. With a good rules engine, efficiencies are limited only by the imagination ( ., a midsize law firm in Dallas is eyeing a one-execution print command to print a document and simultaneously make a PDF file copy that is filed in the document management system). www.iltanet.org Tech Potpourri 43 e.g