The idea of the “paperless office” has been circulating for the last forty years. And while Simmons, like many workplaces, has drastically reduced the amount of printing we do, there will always be documents we need printed, and printed documents we need to scan so we have digital copies.

With this in mind, Simmons Technology has conducted an in-depth assessment of our aging on-campus fleet of printers and replaced them with new multi-function devices (MFDs) that will support the future printing, copying, and scanning needs of the College. Our team coordinated with each department to install the MFDs during March, and worked to make sure employees are able to print and know how to use the new devices.

The next step in this project will be to activate the ID card readers attached to all MFDs on campus. This effort will provide employee access to printers the same way the CampusPrint project provided networked, campuswide printing to students. ID card access allows you to send a print job and then release it at any printer on campus. This provides flexibility and a layer of security if you happen to print documents containing sensitive information. For example, if you need 50 printed, collated, and stapled packets for a meeting in the Kotzen Room, you can upload the job from your office computer, and then release it at the MFD nearest to Kotzen. Please note that while this feature will be available to all employees, if you have access to an office printer that does not require use of an ID card, you can continue to print there directly.

Because this is a significant change to how employees print, Technology will provide documentation and training. We will work with each department to determine your needs and provide customized training, if necessary.

Once the ID card readers are fully functional, Technology also will conduct quarterly reviews of the MFDs, verifying that each department has a device that meets its needs and continues to provide a long-term solution for printing, copying, and scanning.