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Xerox offers printer management service for small businesses

By | December 12, 2011, 7:58am PST

Summary: The cloud-based eConcierge service alerts IT or office managers when it is time to replenish suppliers or call for service.

Sick of forgetting to order toner or cartridges for your company’s printers and multifunction devices? Xerox has created a managed service that reminds smaller companies when its time to replenish supplies.

The free service, called Xerox eConcierge, works with networked devices — and its doesn’t matter whether that hardware comes from Xerox or another printer hardware vendor. The application can be downloaded to either a Windows or Macintosh system. Once set-up, it seeks compatible devices on the network, captures the part numbers and starts keeping tabs on the state of all the consumables that printers and all-in-one multifunction devices use on a regular basis.

If you DO happen to use Xerox equipment, you might be able to save some money on services, according to Xerox.

One small business, Citrus Motors, reports that it has saved both time and money by using the eConcierge service. In a press release about the service, Citrus Motors IT Director Phil Collett said:

“The program allows us to shift our focus away from maintaining our printers to spending time with our customers. The savings, both in time and money, are definitely a plus for our dealership.”

Of course, there is also a price to pay in information. I’m sure that Xerox would love to help your small or midsize business move over to its hardware when it notices aging models within your company’s printing and imaging fleet.

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Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues.

Disclosure

Heather Clancy

Writing publicly about what the high-tech industry is actually doing to help itself and the world get greener or more sustainable is one way I figure I can contribute more meaningfully to said effort. I am also a big OMG-kind-of-fan of smart leadership, which is why the goodly folks who publish this blog let me go on about this topic and why I am always on the hunt for forward-looking business management ideas.

My daily writing is focused on looking for topics for my blogs, GreenTech Pastures and Business Brains. I also write often about emerging technology trends such as mobile computing, unified communications and cloud computing. Occasionally, I will pop up at an industry conference in some sort of speaking capacity. In cases where a speaking engagement involves a sponsor that may be covered in this blog, that fact will be disclosed in coverage as appropriate.

My corporate writing work usually consists of crafting research white papers about some aspect of technology. In the event that my commentary (in written, audio or video form) mentions a company for which I have provided consulting advice, I will disclose that fact. However, there is no connection between these projects and the topics that I'm covering in my blog.

Biography

Heather Clancy

Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues. Her articles have appeared in Entrepreneur, Fortune Small Business, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times. In a past corporate life, Heather was editor of Computer Reseller News, where she was a featured speaker about everything from software as a service to IT security to mobile computing.

Heather started her journalism life as a business writer with United Press International in New York. She holds a B.A. in English literature from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and has a thing for Lewis Carroll.

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