I’m often asked what the best copying and printing equipment is. My answer: Almost all brands of equipment could be ‘the best’ in any given circumstance. How can this be? Let’s take a closer look at the question. Your organization may need to communicate educational materials to school-age children, keep records of a critically ill patient, or have an on-ramp for a content management system. Whatever your needs, finding the answer to the question of ‘what it the best equipment?’ starts with establishing your own internal expectations for the next 3 to 5 years based on your organization’s strategic goals. (I believe that these standards and expectations are in place, whether they have been clearly articulated or not.) Read the rest of this entry »

Well, technically, it’s: ˈäp-tə-ˌmī-zən. Less technically, start with ‘optimize’ and add ‘un’ (as in run) – optimize-un.

The root of our name, optimize, is a well-known verb. According to Miriam-Webster Online, the definition of optimize is ‘to make as perfect, effective, or functional as possible’. Since our goal is to help each of our clients create Ideal Contracts for their copier and printer fleets that are as perfect, effective, AND functional as possible, we coined the noun, Optimizon, to refer to our company.

You can read more about us by clicking on the Company link at the top of the page. If you’re not already a part of our story, we look forward to getting to know you soon!

The 95% and 98% Uptime Guarantee for Copiers. Sounds good… Gives me warm fuzzy feelings… But what does it really mean? A friend of mine told me that people shouldn’t be allowed to do math publicly so please bear with me for a minute. An average month has 4.33 weeks. An average month has 173.2 business hours. If we multiply 173.2 hours by the 95% Uptime Guarantee, we find that the equipment is guaranteed to be operational 164.5 hours per month. Continuing this train of thought, if we subtract 164.5 hours from 173.2 hours we find the 95% Uptime Guarantee means the device will be unusable 8.66 hours per month and still meet the Uptime Guarantee. If your prospective supplier is offering a 98% Uptime Guarantee then the device will be inoperable about 3.5 hours per month. Read the rest of this entry »

If one of the goals of your organization or district is to maintain an accurate asset list, here are some things to keep in mind when deciding what information will be kept up-to-date. It’s important to know what equipment you have and where it is located, so you’ll want to start with a list of the current location, make/model and serial number of each device. If you want to determine the cost of the equipment, then you’ll also need to track the installation date, acquisition method (purchase or lease) and cost, and service contract base and overage amounts. For any leased equipment, it is especially important to track the lease end date and the date the letter of intent is due to the lease company. Read the rest of this entry »

We notice that quite often, when a client of ours is incorrectly charged for property tax on a lease agreement and has tried unsuccessfully to have the charges removed, they’ll let the incorrect charges continue to accumulate, paying only the charges that are correct each month. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you longing for really good customer service from your digital imaging supplier? Is excellent customer service even a reasonable expectation? I attended a lecture last week in central California. The topic was ‘Extreme Customer Service’. The speaker, a very successful entrepreneur, told the professionals in attendance that extreme customer service is revolutionizing the way we do business. He predicted that consumer-demand for excellence in service will drive suppliers to excel in this area or be left behind. What is ‘Extreme Customer Service’? In a nutshell, it’s about customer delight rather than customer satisfaction. Read the rest of this entry »

You probably already know that returning leased equipment at the end of the lease is the lessee’s responsibility. So, how much will this “responsibility” cost? You can plan on paying about $300 to $500 per device to a shipping company to transport the equipment back to the address(es) the lease company specifies. To keep these costs at a minimum, here are few things to try: Read the rest of this entry »

We hear this question often, and the answer is: Yes. If you asked your vendor to include certain terms and conditions while you were negotiating a new contract, put those terms in writing and ask the vendor to sign your contract before you sign theirs. Then, when you do sign your vendor’s contract, make sure none of the terms of their contract negate the terms in your contract. If you find any that do, ask the vendor to strike them out and initial the changes. Read the rest of this entry »

How willing is your vendor to provide you or a consultant that you hire with information about your fleet? Have you ever asked? Recently, we requested fleet information on behalf of a school district in central California. Our client had hired us to give them an objective evaluation of their document production fleet. The vendor, who has been managing the account for 20 years, would not provide us with information unless we agreed to sign a confidentiality agreement. Read the rest of this entry »

Do the serial numbers on your lease invoices match up with the actual serial numbers on the assets? If there have been any asset exchanges in your fleet (for non-performing devices or upgrades), make sure the serial numbers on the lease invoices are correct. If they don’t match up, contact your vendor and ask them to submit a request to change the serial number on record with the lease company. (The vendor will have to be the one to initiate the request with the lease company.) Read the rest of this entry »