Changes to printing and copying

Use of the PaperCut printer/copiers in the Department has declined sharply over time – and especially since the pandemic. Their total cost to the Department is substantial, but the printers with the lowest page counts are now hardly being used at all.

The current printers will reach End of Support this year. That gives us an opportunity to review them, not least as part of University initiatives to make best use of our resources – whether it’s space, energy or finances.

After discussion with the Head of Department, and with his support, ICS is beginning a project to review and replace the Department’s printers. The key objectives of the project are to:

• Introduce new, more reliable printers for staff and student use
• Significantly reduce the overall number of printers, while maintaining reasonable access to printing (including A3 printing) across the Department
• Adopt the UIS’s print management service, which may already be familiar from its use in Colleges

In addition, there will be a significant update to the charges for printing and copying. The Head of Department has agreed that use of the new printers will be free by default. As currently, users will need to ‘log in’ to the printers with University Cards, but, within reasonable limits, there will be no longer be any charge. This will remove the administrative overhead of the current charging system (which largely consists of moving funds from one Department cost centre to another), and it will greatly simplify use for members of the Department.

For those who wish to do personal printing, it will still be possible to pay for that from a personal account funded by online top-ups.

The result of the project will be a printing service that is better aligned with our changed needs, more efficient to run, and easier to use. Discussions are beginning now with groups and offices where printer usage has been particularly low, and the project is due to be completed this year. Printing and the availability of printers will be kept under ongoing review after completion, and anyone with concerns at that point can contact either Paul Taylor (Head of IT) or the Head of Department.

 

Information about the new service will be published on this site as work progresses.