How to make your business green: Print-management software

Posted on 2 Sep 2008 at 16:56

A quick guide to using print-management software to reduce your business' costs and ink wastage

In the previous page we covered how to reduce the amount of paper business' waste when printing, but print-management software can also bring down costs.

The basic level of print-management software from big manufacturers is usually free and allows monitoring and configuring of printers - handy if you want to set up every printer in the office to print duplex, for example.

The more sophisticated software is capable of ensuring somebody is waiting to collect the printout before churning out a 60-page document that was printed by mistake.

It can also route print jobs to the printer best specified for the job, ensuring 60-page documents aren't printed on the energy-hungry desktop printer but the more efficient departmental printer. The result is that you save money on paper and ink, while doing Mother Nature a favour.

However, print-management software isn't right for every company, as it needs a dedicated IT department to install and maintain, and may need a significant initial outlay.

Work out the potential savings before you make the investment.

Next: Recycling paper and printer cartridges

Feature index: How to make your business green

Author: Stuart Turton