Copier, printer, and multifunction printer downtime creates major costs for businesses.
According to Aberdeen Strategy & Research, the average business loses $260,000 per hour of overall technology downtime. Furthermore, 82% of companies have experienced unplanned downtime at some point during the last three years, meaning they can’t even prepare to absorb these costs. While having a copy machine down may not yield losses of $260,000 per hour for your business, it still creates some serious disruption.
Solving downtime issues is a priority for your business. When it comes to your office equipment, you need to find printer and copy machine repair technicians that can help you get your machines up and running again. This article examines five crucial things to look for in Xerox repair professionals to ensure you get quality at a reasonable cost.
Copy Repair Technicians – The Five Key Qualities
Look for these five qualities when searching for Xerox repair.
Quality No. 1 – Experience
While experience isn’t a guarantee of quality, it’s a good indicator that your technician knows what they’re doing. After all, a technician who’s been in business for a long time wouldn’t manage that feat if they provided poor service. Those years of experience indicate the repair professional is good enough at their job to get the repeat business needed to keep their company running.
You’ll generally find that experienced copy repair technicians can also produce certification. For example, Xerox offers training for many of their printers and copiers, with links to those training courses found on the Xerox website. Check if there’s a course available for your brand of copier or printer. Then, ask your technician if they’ve taken the course and if they can provide any evidence of having worked on your type of equipment before.
Quality No. 2 – Speed
With the potential of losing productivity, speed is of the essence when it comes to office equipment repair. At a minimum, you should look for a repair company that commits to responding to your repair requests within half an hour of receiving them. Ideally, the technician should show up within a two-hour window with the tools they need to diagnose your machine’s issue.
If the company you’re thinking of working with is slow to respond to your initial inquiries, take that as a sign they’ll be the same when you have an emergency.
Quality No. 3 – A Clear Contact Method
A high response speed doesn’t mean much if you don’t know how to get in touch with your technician. Ideally, your Xerox repair team should provide you with a dedicated means of contact.
This varies depending on the company. Some technicians have special ticketing systems that allow you to log a repair request quickly online. Others may provide you with a phone number or direct email address through which you can get in touch.
Whatever the means of communication, the important thing is that it exists. If you don’t know how to get in touch when there’s an issue, you might waste valuable time using phone numbers and email addresses that don’t get you to the people you need.
Quality No. 4 – Thoroughness
Some repair technicians turn up at a job, fix the immediate problem, and go home. Or better yet, they are able to diagnose and fix the problem remotely which is even faster. While that will get your copier or printer up and running again, it doesn’t help you discover any underlying issues you need to resolve.
More thorough technicians don’t stop once they’ve fixed the reported issue. They’ll conduct a routine maintenance check on your device in addition to solving the immediate problem. This check helps the technician to see if any smaller issues could develop into major problems in the future. Ideally, the technician will also clean your printer or copier in addition to making further maintenance recommendations based on what they find. The idea here is to get ahead of emerging problems before they cause extensive downtime. The more thorough the repair service, the more likely you are to nip small problems in the bud before they cause equipment malfunctions.
Quality No. 5 – A Warranty on Repair Work
You want to feel confident in the work your repair team does on your copier or printer. A good repair technician creates that confidence by offering a warranty on their work.
Let’s assume the technician replaces a part in your machine. That part has a shelf life, just like all of the other parts in the device. The technician should be able to tell you how long the part will last, what you need to do to maintain it, and provide a warranty for the part so it can be replaced at a lower cost if it malfunctions.
Enduring peace of mind is the key here. Your copiers and printers are the workhorses of your office, meaning they’re in constant use. If the parts used to repair these machines aren’t under warranty, you may be surprised by other issues that create a second large repair bill.
Proactively Manage Your MFP Repair
A reliable repair service ensures your office equipment stays up and running for as long as possible. This minimizes downtime, meaning you don’t have to worry about losing time, money, and potential clients due to faulty machinery.
You now know the five key qualities to look for in Xerox repair technicians to ensure you work with professionals who can fix your devices when they malfunction. But what if you want to get more proactive with your copier and printer maintenance? Getting ahead of potential issues before they cause serious downtime is preferable to waiting for a malfunction before you act.
That’s where Wisconsin Document Imaging comes in. We offer Managed Print Services designed to monitor your copiers and printers for signs of issues. This maximizes uptime and ensures active management of devices so repairs are conducted at times that are convenient to you.
If your company is based in or around Green Bay, Fox Cities, the Lakeshore or Milwaukee, our Xerox, Ricoh and Kyocera technicians (and Managed Print Services) are available to you. WDI- proudly serving the eastern third of Wisconsin! Get in touch to learn more!