How can I find out who prints the most in my office?

Most networked multifunction devices produce a usage report by user or department from the device's own web interface or embedded accounting. Pull ninety days of data — in a typical office a handful of users account for the majority of pages.

How much can default duplex printing save?

Setting duplex and black-and-white as driver defaults commonly reduces total print spend by 15 to 30 percent, mostly by eliminating unintentional color and single-sided output.

Why are we printing so much?

What's actually going on

Print volume is almost never spread evenly. In most offices a small number of users and one or two recurring reports account for the majority of pages.

Color is where the money goes, not volume. A single color page can cost eight times a black one, and most color printing is unintentional.

Nobody sees the cost, so nobody changes the behavior.

What to do in the next 48 hours

1Pull a usage report by user or department from the device for the last ninety days. Most modern multifunctions produce this natively.
2Identify the top five users and the top recurring documents. That is where your volume is.
3Set duplex and black-and-white as the defaults in the print driver. This alone typically removes 15 to 30 percent of spend.
4Publish the monthly page count and cost per department. Visibility changes behavior faster than policy does.

The honest tradeoffs

Restricting color saves real money and generates real complaints. Allowing color by exception rather than by default is the compromise that usually holds.
Print quotas work but cost goodwill. Default settings and visibility get most of the saving with none of the resentment.

Your next step

Rather just talk it through with someone local?

203-777-0011 Or request service

Questions people ask next

How can I find out who prints the most in my office?: Most networked multifunction devices produce a usage report by user or department from the device's own web interface or embedded accounting. Pull ninety days of data — in a typical office a handful of users account for the majority of pages.
How much can default duplex printing save?: Setting duplex and black-and-white as driver defaults commonly reduces total print spend by 15 to 30 percent, mostly by eliminating unintentional color and single-sided output.

Elsewhere in the answer library

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