But these devices aren’t immune to hardware issues which can potentially stall productivity. That’s certainly the case if your company has purchased or leased a multifunction printer – office-grade equipment that combines a scanner, copier, fax machine and document management software into one easy-to-use device. All-in-one machines are utilized often and, when they’re knocked offline, business grinds to a halt because so many employees rely on their capabilities throughout the workday.
Plenty of these issues, however, are simple fixes and don’t require a trained technician from your locally-managed print services vendor to make an emergency office visit! Reduced image quality on scanned or copied documents, in particular, is a common problem that you can tackle yourself by following a few easy steps! These tips help you avoid tapping into valuable maintenance funds factored into your company’s annual budget, which is another topic discussed in this blog post!
1. Dirt degrades print quality
Lines and streaks on output, copies and scans are a typical issue associated with all brands of multifunction printers. In most circumstances, this problem means the scanner glass is dirty and may need to be cleaned. If you place a document into the printer’s feed, and streaks are present but none appear when making a copy on the glass, it’s likely that grime buildup is the issue.
2. Cleaning isn’t time-consuming
Cleaning the scanner glass isn’t a time-consuming process, either! A microfiber cloth, which many multifunction printer bundles even include, is needed to wipe off the dirty area. An alcohol or mild glass cleaner, applied directly to the cloth, effectively cleans the surface of debris.
3. Don’t assume there’s one scanner
Your multifunctional printer likely has two scanners – a top and bottom – that create a clear image of whatever important document you’re copying, so remember to look for and clean both pieces! It's important to remember that these areas need to be thoroughly dried as well to prevent spots from appearing on the glass, a problem which can place you back at square one!
It's a quick fix that doesn’t require a service call. And, at the end of the day, this simple trick is saving your company money, valuable time and quickly getting your business back online!