When Was the Last Time You Named your Printer or Copier?

"Can anyone come up with a fun and creative name for a Canon copier/printer? It's my job to name it since the office just got a new one the other day and I'm the new work study employee. All the other ones were named by previous work studies and were good like a leased Canon was Lisa Canon...since they leased a Canon. Thanks!"

Whoa, this was a thread I picked up the other day in my google alerts for a yahoo forum.  After 32 years in the industry, WTF,  I now find out that office workers actually give a name to the copier?

I have to admit that the old name for the Canon for Lisa Canon was pretty creative! Of course everyone could use the Lisa for Ricoh, Xerox, KonicaMinolta and the rest. So, I thought I would try my hand at thinking up some names for copiers.

Here we go ( I took these names that were popular in the Victorian Era:

Hope Xerox (hoping it works all the time)
Lottie Ricoh (we make a lot of copies)
Lulu Kyocera (our copier is a loser)
Benedict Arnold Toshiba (the copier never works right)
Dick KonicaMinolta (our copier sucks)
Nimrod Sharp (odd name for an odd copier)
Owen Savin (we owe a lot of money on this copier)
Pleasant Muratec (we like our copier)
Zebulon Xerox (it's our prized copier)
Newton Ricoh (we just got it)
August Kyocera (the month the new copier was purchased)
Merlin Toshiba (our system is amazing)
Avis KonicaMinolta (we're only leasing this system for a short time)
Beaton Sharp (we beat on this system all the time)
Charity Savin (a hand me down)
Eustace Muratec (our system is useless)
Faithful Xerox (always works well)
Hercules Ricoh (our system is a workhorse)
Marmaduke Kyocera (our system is huge)
Patience Toshiba (it'll work just give it time)
Postumus KonicaMinolta (our last copier died unexpectadly)
Temperance Sharp (sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't)
Thurstan Savin (our system is always going through toner so fast)
Wy Muratec (why did we ever get this system)

I'm done, my favorites would be Hope, Benedict Arnold, Dick, Owen, Avis, Charity and Marmaduke.  But maybe we can name copiers and printers after rock stars right, these copiers and printers keep the wheels turning at the office everyday and with out them the paper process does start.  Think about Bruce, Billy, Mick, Ringo, Frank (I'm aging myself), and another thought might be to name them after songs like Sweet Home Alabama, Stairway to Heaven, Under My Thumb, Wild Horses.  

So, the next time I sell a copier, I will ask the new owner what name they would like to use for their new copier or printer, and I'm sure I'll get one of those strange New Jersey looks and be escorted to the door. Hey!  If you've got any really cool names drop them here in the response section!!

-=Good Selling=-

This History of Fax "According to Art"

Go ahead, you can do it, no one will see you. It's ok to hug your fax.

Facsimile "make similar", "make a copy" was invented in 1843 by Scottish mechanic and inventor Alexander Bain. He received a British patent for “improvements in producing and regulating electric currents and improvements in timepieces and in electric printing and signal telegraphs”, and the fax was born, well not entirely.

Alexander Bain's fax machine transmitter scanned a flat metal surface using a stylus mounted on a pendulum. The stylus picked up images from the metal surface. An amateur clock maker, Alexander Bain combined parts from clock mechanisms together with telegraph machines to invent his fax machine.

I can remember one of the main applications for fax was that of military use, when we demonstrated the technology we also spoke of how it was first used by the military. In fact the military adopted faxing in 1943 to transmit maps, orders and weather charts during World War II.

The Worst Copier Web Sites in the World Contest!

This was a recent thread that we posted on the Print4Pay Hotel forums. It all started the other day with a Press Release from Sharp USA that they had signed on another new Copier/MFP Dealer.  Over the last six months Sharp has been issuing Press Releases about the signings of these new Copier/MFP Dealers, the Press Releases about signing new MFP dealers is something that Sharp had not done in the past prior to an analysts report that Sharp may sells it's MFP/Copier business.

One bold Print4Pay Hotel member has been researching these new dealers and visiting their web sites. In a recent Sharp Press Release our Print4Pay Hotel member posted a link the new Sharp Dealers web site. Which lead us to probably one of the worst copier dealer web sites we've ever seen. If the web site is indicative of the Dealerships technical capabilities and solutions, then.... well better to read the thread from our Print4Pay Hotel Member,

"Another technology giant and world power of copier dealers that doesnt even put there name, phone number or address on the web site, let alone that they handle sharp. That will turn it all around".

With that one thread our Print4Pay Hotel members launched a campaign to post links for the "The Worst Copier Web Sites in the World".  We then added a contest that would allow our members to vote for the "The Worst Copier Web Site in the World".  In just one day we've had 13 threads and 6 Dealers web sites listed.  Another Print4Pay Hotel member made this comment,

"BAAAAAAAHHHHHHAAAAAA LMFAO! Is that a sorter?

If you have a copier dealerships web site that you'd like to add, then go here for the Print4Pay Hotel forums, post your link, and then take a gander at the sites that are listed. At the end of the month we'll open up the polls so every one can vote on the "The Worst Copier Web Site in the World".  Hmmmm, seems to me I mentioned "contest", what will the winner get?  You'll have to tune in to the forums to find out.

As an added incentive for new members to join, after you've registered here (it's free), I'll send you one of my Print4Pay Hotel Publications at no charge. You can have your choice for one publication. They are located on the eight side of this blog under Print4Pay Hotel Publications. Make sure you send me and email about the FREE publication! art@p4photel.com

-=Good Selling=-

A Great Voice Activated Copier Prank

It's always fun to have a laugh with the office copier.  In this you tube video, a prankster makes up an official looking document that states the existing copier was upgraded to voice activation and the legacy keys have been disabled, thus you need to give the copier "verbal commands", which makes a whole lot of fun when the copier does not react.

A traditional prank around our office on the newbie reps is to give them a lead for the local zoo (we make it look real official though), type in what system they are interested in the phone number and the name of the contact person. The contact person is either Mr. Gee Raft or Mrs. Eli Fant.  It's a dam riot in the office and we have a lot of fun with it.

See the video on the side for some additional laughs.

Top Ten MFP Copier Industry Predictions for 2013

2012 a not so good year for the MFP copier industry or a good year for the MFP copier industry.  

I'm thinking that most will answer a not so good year at least for the industry as a whole. I guess the biggest question that will need to be answered in 2013 is related to Sharp.  Will Sharp continue as it once was, or will they be forced to sell off divisions to remain in business.  Lately there's been a little good news with the investment from Qualcom. 

Another question is how many more dealers will make the jump to managed services and will managed services live up the hype?  Anyone you slice it I can see that 2013 will be another year of change in an industry that is in turmoil.

Last year we posted this blog Top Ten MFP & Copier Predictions for 2012, and it seems we got a few of these right such as: 

• Kodak files for Bankruptcy or is bought
• Ricoh USA finally comes clean and announces that Ricoh Corp USA is headquarter is Malvern, PA
• Managed Print Services...the hype continues
• Xerox announces additional layoffs in the US
• USA MFP Copier manufacturer sees the introduction of the first A4 Segment 5 MFP (Lexmark MX812 & there was also an announcement of an HP 70ppm color A4 device for 2013)

5 out of 10 is not so bad since some of the predictions are off the wall and meant to be lighthearted. 

Without further ado listed below is our Top Ten MFP Predictions for 2013

UDOCX and Scan2Fax "Eric the Office Worker"

When we last heard from Eric "the office worker" he was was our featured office worker in these blogs:  Eric the "Office Worker" Gets a Supra Wide Format!, Print Audit Green with "Eric the Office Worker" and Ecopy Desktop & "Eric the Office Worker" along with Ricoh's PPDM enables an Epiphany for Eric the  "Office Worker"

The last we heard of Eric, he was working for DigDug Systems in Frostberg, MD, since then Eric the "Office Worker" has moved back to New Jersey (home of Rhutts Dogs) and found a job with GigaHertz Power System in Wannakopier, NJ.

Over the years Eric has developed into a techie guru of sorts.  Eric's new job was to process order that were faxed to the company daily. He was one of 12 people that gathered the incoming order, entered the order in the system and then made of copy of the order for filing.  Eric alone (cause he was on top of his game) would process almost 100 orders per day and keep in mind that he was one of 12 users gathering documents from the three fax machines that were dedicated for inbound faxing.

Did I ever tell you Eric's last name?  It used to be Betterbid (sounds like a copier sales person name to me) and he got tired of that and had it changed to Sakash (whoa, sounds like another copier salesman's name too), but enough with Eric's name.  With three fax machines and 12 users there was a lot of jam ups at the fax machines, orders were getting mixed up, misplaced and lost!  Eric was also having a hard time with Wanda (you know Wanda, large girl, ornery and quite intimidating at the fax machines), Eric always waited for Wanda to finish getting her documents and then he'd meander and slither to the fax and lift his documents.

After many months of gathering faxes, processing, misplacing and losing faxes, our "Office Worker" that would be Eric make a mental note that there's gotta be a better way! So Eric went on a mission to see if there was a better way so he didn't have to deal with Wanda anymore.  Eric started search for all sorts of fax terms on the Internet, on one particular search Eric found this link MFP's can now Scan2Fax with UDOCX .

"Whoa" he thought, this could be the holy grail that he was looking for.  Eric in the past had some knowledge of MFP's, and by the looks of the video he figured he check out what MFP's were in use by GigaHertz.  Eric discovered that GigaHertz was using Xerox and Ricoh MFP's (Multifunctional Product) and with additional research realized that each of these machines were capable of adding a "browser" module to the MFP. 

Geesh he thought, if this technology could be added to the MFP's, well first he wouldn't have to deal with Wanda anymore and he wouldn't lose a fax, misplace or have to copy incoming faxes anymore! There'd be no more lines, no more mixups and no more Wanda.  It's sounding like a win win for our boy Eric right?

Well, kinda, Eric knew that technology is not cheap, and what would be the cost and would management go for it.  No one's spending additional money nowadays unless they can get an immediate ROI, right?

On the sly Eric made a few calls and found out from a UDOCX dealer that all three of the fax lines could be eliminated which means no line charge, no call charge, no long distance, no taxes, no fees to pay anymore.  Along with that for an additional few dollars every user (remember the other 11 workers) could have their own "Cloud" fax numbers! Imagine that everyone having their own dedicated fax number!  No more going to fax machine (yeah), no more butting heads with Wanda,  (yeah), no more lost faxes, no more misplaced faxes and no more copying of faxes. Plus Eric could use Scan2fax from the MFP and always have a digital paper trail!! 

When Eric did the math, GigaHertz could eliminate all of the fax lines, increase productivity and save money each month.  The beauty was in the ROI and the fact that the Scan2fax service was a monthly subscription, thus there's no lay out of cash, no IT people or resources needed because the software is running in the cloud!!

So, what did Eric do??  Well as all good workers Eric made a mad dash to the Controllers office with information in hand, on the way he ran into Wanda, fell, broke his pelvis and had to go to the hospital.  Wanda felt so bad for Eric that she delivered the information on UDOCX scan2fax to the controllers office. 

Wanda called Eric a few days later see how he was doing and told Eric that when he comes back to work at GigaHertz in Wannakopier, NJ that he would have his own cloud fax number!!!

-=Good Selling=-