The Datamax Thinking Blog

Copiers break and need to be repaired. Here are 9 ways we ensure maximum uptime for your copiers and other office equipment.

When we buy equipment – whether it’s personally or for business – we all just assume it’s just going to work.

But should we?

Take cycling for example; a cyclist doesn’t just hop on their bike and cross their fingers that the ride goes smoothly. They make sure they have the correct air pressure in their tires, they oil their chain, run through their gears to make sure they’re switching correctly, and then bring along a spare tube for their tire (just in case) and THEN they head out for their ride.

And that’s just for a solo bike ride. If you’re in the midst of a peloton during a race, you’ll need to fuel up to prevent the bonk (like preventative maintenance for your copier), watch out for potholes, and practice good etiquette in the pack (don’t hog the draft!). 

To bring this around to business, paying attention to equipment is necessary to ensure that it’ll work when you need it to work.

That’s uptime – the total amount of time the equipment is available to be used for its intended purpose. 

A bike ride isn’t going to go so well if someone gets a flat tire and they have no spare or if they’re climbing a steep hill but can’t switch to an easier gear – this wastes time and energy. 

When it comes to your office equipment, how well your service partner enables uptime for your business’ copiers and printers should be a key element when you choose a copier service provider to work with. 

It’s simple. The more time the equipment is available to use, the more productive you are.

9 Steps to Copier Uptime

Office equipment will require repairs and maintenance – that’s just a fact. But when it comes to copier repair, there are steps you can take to ensure maximum uptime. Here are 9 ways that we achieve uptime for your copiers and printers. 

Accurate service starts with making sure we know what the problem is. We make sure to log your issue correctly so our service technicians know what to expect. And, we don’t lose anything in the shuffle between ClientCONNECT Support Center and technician because there is no shuffle – we have a streamlined handoff of information, which enables us to log service requests promptly and accurately.

We know you don’t like to wait. And when your copier isn’t scanning, copying, or printing as it should; you can’t get your work done. Our average response time is 2 hours and 42 minutes. Even MORE important, our average response + resolution time is 4 hours and 17 minutes. After all, it doesn’t do you any good if we respond quickly, but it then takes us 24 hours (or longer) to resolve the problem.

After every service call, our service technicians check over the equipment for other things that could need repair – such as the rollers that move paper through your equipment. Preventive and routine maintenance prevents problems from happening.

We invest in our product experts. We train our service technicians on the models of the copiers we sell, not just on copiers. In fact, Datamax is the only technology provider in the Dallas/Fort Worth marketplace to hold collectively Canon ATSP, Microsoft Gold Partner, and Konica Minolta PRO-TECH advanced training certification and recognition for 2015-2016. For the past 5 years, Datamax has invested 20,800 hours and $1.1 million dollars in manufacturer and company-provided technical training to enhance our service delivery responsiveness. 

Because of our investment in our experienced technicians and partners, we resolve 88% of ALL Datamax Service Calls in a single visit. 

Sometimes the chain on your bike breaks and sometimes so does your copier/printer. We can’t always fix equipment onsite – sometimes it may need major repairs. But if we can’t, we don’t leave you hanging. We’ll loan you a machine until you’re up and running again.

Our service technician’s vans are well-stocked with parts and supplies. We also maintain a large inventory in our warehouse. For the last 12 months, we’ve averaged $960,000 in local parts and supplies. This is a key factor in enabling us achieve an 88% first call resolution for copier/printer-related service calls.

Would you plug your computer, printer, copier, or other office equipment directly into a wall socket? Or have you even thought about it? Our Digital Quality Control eliminates dirty power, protecting your system from damaging transients and disruptive noise. Clean AC power equates to more uptime, less operator involvement, and prevents logic lock-up.

And, of course, copiers from Canon, Konica Minolta, and Lexmark are highly rated for reliability to begin with. Add in our expertise and regular maintenance and you’ll be the envy of your peers (well, maybe not, but you will have the smoothest-operating office equipment around). 

You wouldn’t expect to win a bicycling race by jumping on your bike and pedaling furiously for 50 miles. Instead, you’d train properly, ensure you had the right equipment (road race or trail race?), and understand the nuances of riding in the peloton.

Similarly, you need to “train” to ensure maximum uptime for your copiers. If you’re in the process of choosing office equipment and/or a managed print services partner, be sure to include uptime in your considerations and be sure your partner is serious about it – you want your partner to be “all in.” Simply trying to pedal faster without understanding what you’re doing or where you’re going won’t get you to maximum uptime.