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Print Server versus Service Client: What’s the Difference?

Hernaldo Turrillo — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 17:46:58 +0000

Are print servers really necessary anymore? Print servers are a huge pain point for those who manage them. They are a resource vortex that devours time, money and resources with minimal reward. IT departments and help desk team members would have fewer headaches if print servers were obsolete.

Print servers are a dated legacy technology. They’ve been surpassed by other, more relevant solutions like those that unite direct-IP printing with modern centralized management. As a result, end-users enjoy seamless, secure, and highly available print capabilities from any device. IT admins easily view and control the print environment from a single view.

There are fundamental differences in the design and operation of a print server and emerging server clients. To understand this, it’s necessary to know the basics of print servers.

What is a print server?

A print server is a device that allows printer sharing with multiple computers on a network. A print server’s primary function is to channel the print jobs from those computers into a single, shared print queue. From there, it feeds jobs to the printer one by one.

It’s more complicated than it sounds. The list below explains the complexities that make print servers cumbersome, labor-intensive, and unreliable.

Deployment: Physical print servers have to be rolled out individually and on-prem.
Configuration: Each print server has to be painstakingly set up for its print microenvironment (e.g., users, printers).
Print drivers: As the crucial software interface between clients and printers, drivers can be a significant source of instability.
Print services: These are the printing capabilities that are made available to the computers. They can vary significantly from device to device.
Operating system: Whatever operating system the print server uses has to be licensed, maintained, and updated.
Hardware: Like software, print server hardware has purchase costs, maintenance costs, and upgrade costs.

How does this compare to other options?

A modern solution is not a physical device. It’s also not something responsible for connecting computers to a shared printer or queue.

Ideal solutions provide powerful print-related capabilities, or services, to end-users. These benefits go above and beyond what traditional print servers offer. They include:

Simple badge release and offline print release
Mobile, BYOD, and off-network printing
PrinterLogic Control Panel Application (CPA) integration
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) support

A software component can be managed from a single web-based portal and automatically deployed to end users’ devices. Also, unlike a print server, a software print-based service:

Does not create a single shared queue for a particular printer. This minimizes common print queue errors and increases print security.
Does not require any kind of server hardware, OS, or manual conﬁguration. That speeds up deployment and makes management more efficient.
It does not need print drivers to be manually installed. Those are managed in a central repository via the Admin Console and deployed dynamically to users based on an array of deployment parameters.
Does not connect printers to client computers over the network. That’s done separately by the PrinterLogic instance.

The basis for a serverless printing infrastructure

When considering a transition to A non-server print management option, it’s important to understand how serverless print infrastructure works.

The interplay between a software client and associated support systems creates a powerful combo of distributed printing and centralized management. So, IT admins can quickly deploy printers and apply profiles across the enterprise without resorting to scripts or GPOs. It’s also why end-users can still print as usual when the WAN connection goes down, even with cloud-based solutions.

And some companies are adamant that eliminating physical print servers is the best solution. Moving beyond legacy print solutions can achieve a secure, easy-to-manage, scalable, and robust print environment.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

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The Ultimate Office Essentials Checklist for the Busy Solopreneur

Hernaldo Turrillo — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 12:12:49 +0000

There are very few things in life that give you the same adrenaline rush as launching your business. The journey becomes even more adventurous when you’re trying to make your mark as a solopreneur. If you’ve got the vigor and zeal to bring your ideas to fruition, it’s possible to run a successful business on your own.

Being a solopreneur means you’ll have to juggle multiple responsibilities, from product development and marketing to accounting and growth hacking. You’ll even have to focus on That means you need more than just a laptop and a high-speed internet connection to operate your business.

Whether you’re working from home or renting a coworking space, you must equip yourself with a toolkit comprising the right office stationery, tech, and hardware. It can go a long way to make a lasting impression on clients who visit your workplace for meetings. Also, it’ll help you organize your work and increase productivity.

In this blog, we’ve compiled an extensive list of important office supplies you need to kickstart your journey as a solopreneur. Let’s take a look.

Custom Rubber Stamps

In the age of digital signatures, it’s natural to wonder whether you even need a custom rubber stamp. But if you’re a one-person army running a full-fledged business, chances are you never have enough hours in the day.

Between nurturing active leads and monitoring marketing campaigns, you don’t want to spend your time signing documents and writing your office address on envelopes. That’s where self-inking custom rubber stamps step into the picture.

Whether you want to add the date of shipping or return address on product packages, personalized rubber stamps are just the right solutions. You can even use monogram stamps to spice up the product packaging and make it stand out.

Similarly, custom signature stamps come in handy when you have to sign a bunch of checks or agreements. Modern self-inking stamps even save you the hassle of getting separate ink pads. If you’re planning to launch a business in 2021, it’s high time you invest in a high-quality custom rubber stamp.

Checks & Envelopes

The advent of internet banking has improved the speed and simplicity of business transactions. But there might be specific scenarios where you’ll need to make payments using checks. Many vendors and suppliers still prefer check payments because of the enhanced security.

That’s why it is a good idea to invest in a set of high-quality, durable business checks that are compatible with laser and inkjet printers. Apart from the bank, you can order business checks from various online platforms. If you’re ordering checks online, make sure you find a reputable and trustworthy company.

Also, dig deeper and find out what kind of security features are available on the check. If you’re using accounting software to manage cash flow, find business checks that are compatible with the software.

Business envelopes are an indispensable part of making check payments. Apart from standard double-window envelopes, you should also keep a few coin envelopes and booklet envelopes handy.

Office Furniture

No. You can’t run a successful business from the comfort of your bedroom. Even if you’re working from home, it’s crucial to have a dedicated office space to execute and manage business operations.

And if you’re building a home office, the quality of furniture will play a key role in enhancing your productivity. Invest in a sturdy ergonomic chair that helps you maintain correct posture throughout the day. If you’re planning to invite clients or investors for meetings in the future, you’ll need to make arrangements for additional seating.

Find a table that can easily accommodate your computer, notepad, phone, and other objects you’ll need in your arm’s reach while working. Don’t forget to invest in a few rugged storage cabinets to prevent folders, documents, and other paraphernalia from cluttering your office.

Hardware & Software

Apart from a laptop, you’ll need a few more pieces of hardware, such as a printer and paper shredder. If you experience connectivity issues in the office, consider installing a couple of network boosters. Depending on the type and scale of your business, you might also need a business telephone line.

When it comes to software, you must choose the right applications that’ll take some of the load off your shoulders and help you focus on growing your business. Most new-age business owners build a toolbox that includes the following types of software:

Marketing automation tools
CRM platforms
Conversational AI platforms
Project management tools
Email marketing platforms
Graphic designing and video editing tools
Web development platforms
E-commerce platforms
Accounting and invoicing software
Website analytics platforms

You won’t need all these applications when you’re getting started. Make sure you choose the right tools that’ll help simplify your job.

Kickstart Your Entrepreneurial Stint

The path to becoming a successful solopreneur will be filled with several roadblocks. Empower yourself with the right technology to ease some of the challenges. While you’re at it, don’t ignore quintessential office stationery, such as custom rubber stamps, business envelopes, and checks.

Hernaldo Turrillo

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The Benefits of Acquiring A Managed Print Service For Your Business

Hernaldo Turrillo — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 04:39:01 +0000

The Benefits of Acquiring A Managed Print Service For Your Business

Despite the fact that so many companies have now gone paperless there is still a big need within the office for a printer. Important data, copies of invoices and orders and the production of audit-ready documentation means that we still have a need for printers and as long as there is that need, there will be great companies out there offering managed print services.

Now, this type of service is going to be essential to your business and whilst you may not have earmarked it as an area to outsource, in doing so you can count on a whole host of benefits. Let’s say for example that you buy some A3 printers from Konica Minolta, ready to deliver to the office, if you then introduce a managed print services, here is how they will ensure that your company gets the max out of those new printers.

Saving Time and Improving Efficiency

Everything is fine when the printers are firing on all cylinders but when they are not, things can very quickly slow down in the business. If hardware is faulty then this will cost the business time and money, which most businesses can ill afford. Through the use of managed print services we can ensure swift reparations which will get your printers back to their best and your team operating in a more efficient manner.

Overall Cost Reductions

The main reason for the great cost reduction to the business is the way in which the managed print service will maintain the processes of each printer. Instead of working individually, each device will be managed as one, which will ensure that any ink or toner is delivered just in time. The maintenance is faster and more efficient when it is managed in this way, extending great savings to the business as a result.

Being More Environmentally Friendly

With so many companies having a responsibility when it comes to lowering their carbon footprint, outsourcing to a service which can improve the productivity for the business and combine that with a greener solutions is the perfect package. This is precisely what a managed print service will be able to offer. Thanks to the metrics which they will use they can give you the perfect service with regards to levels of printer usage, minimizing waste and ensuring that the devices are operating as they should, which lowers unnecessary energy usage.

Improving Security Levels

So many businesses which heavily use printers greatly overlook the level of security which is required for their devices. As printers have become smarter they have become a clear target for cybercriminals who can not only access the network through the printer, but they can also gain access to any information which has been passed through the printer. This could easily result in sensitive information being taken, which is the last thing that any business can afford to have happen. Using a managed print service will ensure that you have both a strong and well performing security system in place, as well as making sure that said security system will be up to date at all times to offer maximum protection.

These are just some of the benefits which you can count on when you use a managed print services to take care of your business.

Hernaldo Turrillo

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The Benefits of Combining Email Marketing and SMS

Hernaldo Turrillo — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 04:34:09 +0000

The Benefits of Combining Email Marketing and SMS

The key to any successful marketing campaign is a varied approach which looks to utilize a number of strategies to best reach the target audience. There are two such methods which have been wrongly considered to be old hat when it comes to advertising and they are SMS and email marketing. There is a widely held belief that email marketing no longer offers the return on investment than it once did, and SMS marketing, despite its clear success, is often dismissed by many in the industry. However, messages can be converted from email to SMS, ensuring that your emails are being seen immediately!

Regardless of the myths which these campaigns carry, the combination of the two for business is a powerful strategy which can seriously help to reach clients old and new, and continue to market the business. There are a number of services which offer this option to business, email to SMS services from Edgility is a great example of a service which can help your business launch this strategy. If you do decide to opt in, here are just some of the benefits of combining these two strategies.

Permission Based

Following the emergence of digital marketing so many agencies and businesses began to spam like crazy, and that has certainly muddied the waters of many areas of digital marketing. The beauty of both of these strategies however is that you have to get the customer’s permission before you send them information. There are also ways to send SMS campaigns that are part of the TCPA text message exemptions. This not only maintains customer happiness, it also gives you a further indication of who is interested in what you have to say.

Full Spectrum Marketing Approach

Broadly speaking, through the combination of the two strategies you can offer a full spectrum approach to your clients. Through email marketing you can make it personal and use this as the perfect tool to manage and build relationships between you and the customer. Coupled with this, your SMS campaign will help to secure the deal once you have created that relationship, in this respect the two strategies work collectively for your business.

Using SMS to Set Up

We know that shorter emails perform better, but sometimes you need to add a wealth of information to an email, when you are launching a new product for example. If you employ both SMS and email marketing strategies then you can use an SMS to prep the customer for an upcoming email. Beyond anything else, the fact that you get more characters on the SMS than you will on the subject line of an email, will give you a better chance of getting that customer engaged, without asking much from them.

Instant Response

Figures show that while there is a high percentage of people who check email from their phones, they are more likely to respond quickly to an SMS than they would do an email. This isn’t conducive to your business offering limited time offers or flash sales via emails. If however you have both strategies operating at the same time, then your slower burning information can be sent via email and the quick response stuff can be delivered via SMS for better and faster engagement.

Combining two or more marketing strategies at once will always be the smartest option for your business. In most cases however those two strategies are not able to complement one another in quite the same way as email and SMS marketing are able to.

Hernaldo Turrillo

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How does an Arbitration Program Work?

Hernaldo Turrillo — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 04:02:46 +0000

How does an Arbitration Program Work?

Arbitration program is a procedure that companies utilize, to settle disputes with their consumers, legally. There are two types of this program which ever moving company must know about:

The first type of Arbitration program dot, refers to entitlements for damage and loss of articles/products during their shipment.
The second type of this program refers to disputes regarding extra charges. These charges are usually applied by movers, to the shippers.

There are several reasons why a dispute might arise between a shipper and the moving organization. The most common reasons for a dispute are damaged goods, missing goods or excessive charges that weren’t discussed earlier. However, one thing to know about this program is that it does not involve the court. It is a non-bias program and is handled easily.

There are various options available for a shipper and consumer, to resolve a dispute with the moving company. The best way to resolve the issue is to hold a direct discussion meeting with the customer service department of the moving company that you have an issue with. In an arbitration program hearing, either a single arbiter is available or a group of 3 arbiters are functional. The disputing parties sit with the arbiter and deeply discuss the issue to come to a rational conclusion. Rather than heading out to the court, the arbitration process uses a completely different concept to work on resolving the dilemma.

Who must have an arbitration program?

All the moving companies that transport shipments from one state to another, must have an arbitration program. When the third party makes a claim against the moving company, the arbitrator is responsible for reviewing the claim. The program is used to solve any disputes related to damage and loss claims or the charges that are billed, in addition to the ones that were discussed before.

What does the program consist of?

Now that you know that all moving companies, who transport from town to town or out of cities, must have an arbitration program; it is important to understand what it consists of. The program is composed of 11 elements. Before you get a program, understand the following 11 elements:

The program should never give advantage to the mover.
It is crucial that the moving company must inform the shipper that they have an arbitration program. Let them know formally and inform them about the following 3 elements before signing an agreement with them:

Summary of the arbitration procedure
The uses of arbitration
Applicable costs

If a claim is made, the moving company must provide the required documents, needed by the shipper, to complete the arbitration requirements. If the documents are provided late, the timeline of the abritary is also exceeded.
The arbitrator must be authorized and should be fair and prompt in resolving issues.
The arbitrator is allowed to determine the percentage of the payment for all the parties involved in the claim.
The moving company is not allowed to force a shipper to use the program, before any dispute.
If the shipper requests to go to an arbitrator, the moving company is bound for $10,000 or less of claims.
If the claim is more than $10,000, the moving company becomes bound to the arbitration.
If the moving company and the shipper come to an agreement and resolve the issue on mutual terms, the arbitrator might orally represent the dispute and close it.
The arbitrator has to resolve the issue within 60 days, after the claim is made.
If the shipper or the mover company fails to submit the required documents; the arbitrator can exceed the 60 day time limit. The delays done on the parties ends’ is not the arbitrator’s fault.

Advantages of Arbitration Program:

Ditching the court and opting for arbitration has potential benefits, some of which we have summed up below. It is a flexible and time saving option!

Arbitration programs save you a lot of time. It helps in resolving a dispute in less time and in a much better, hassle-free style. A limited time line is set for the arbitration which makes it more appropriate for resolution of issues.
This is a flexible program. Court hearing and laws are very strict and do not provide a tiny bit of flexibility to any of the parties.
Arbitration is usually less expensive than court hearings. As there is a fixed timeline for the program, everything has to be done and managed within this time. Thus, the costs are usually minimal. However, it is not a cheap service at al. Remember, that it is affordable than the court but not super budget friendly.
The professionalism in the arbitration program is great. The arbitrators are extremely professional at their task and are well aware of the procedure. They make the program easier to follow and understand and the process is not stressful (usually).
Arbitration is also set on some basic laws and evidence but unlike the court, where you are not permitted a bunch of things; in an arbitrary, all the evidences are judged deeply. The outcome is based on equality and both the parties are required to submit some documentations, which decide who wins the dispute. It is abided by laws but it usually stress free and more flexible.

CONCLUSION

Arbitration programs have evolved over the passage of time. The regulations keep changing. Thus, it is always best to review the program before you get it. It is necessary for all moving companies to get an arbitration program as there will be times when you will end up in a dispute with the shipper or consumer. An arbitrator is extremely helpful in resolving these disputes in a legal manner, without the hassle of courts involved. With a prompt and rational arbitrator, you can settle any dispute, within a month or two.

Hernaldo Turrillo

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Extra Safety Measures All Essential Stores Need This Lockdown

Hernaldo Turrillo — Sat, 21 Nov 2020 11:12:03 +0000

Extra Safety Measures All Essential Stores Need This Lockdown

If you run a business that is classed as essential during the UK national lockdown period, you’re probably experiencing a little bit of a boom in business right now. With non-essential stores closed down, shoppers have a smaller range of options when it comes to getting what they need. Your store will be able to remain open even if you have a range of non-essential products for sale, which could increase your customer base over the lockdown. Staying compliant with government guidelines and keeping your staff and customers safe as we get through this second wave of the pandemic has never been more important.

Invest in More Hand Sanitising Stations

More customers to your store mean more supplies to keep everybody safe. Installing more hand sanitising stations is always better than not having enough. If you’re running out of hand sanitiser a lot, adding some more will ensure that everybody is able to keep their hands clean and reduce the risk of spreading the pandemic. You can place a hand sanitiser station at the entrance to your store and make sure that every customer uses it before they enter. Discount Displays offers a range of hand sanitiser stations that are ideal for any type of shop. You can find automatic hand sanitising stations at Discount Displays; a great idea for reducing touch and contact.

Social Distancing Signs

While most of the pubic are trying to stick to social distancing guidelines, it can often be difficult to try and visualise what two metres looks like when you’re in a shop. To help customers stay apart and stay safe, you might want to consider investing in some social distancing signs that can be placed on the floor to show customers where to stand, especially when queuing. Floor stickers that act as a guideline for customers who are waiting in line at the checkout or are placed around displays to guide customers whilst they shop can help everybody uphold social distancing easily.

Contactless Payments

Cash is already a major germ spreader so, in a pandemic, it’s no surprise that people are avoiding using it. The good news is that cash is already being wound down in most of society and it’s hard to find a business today that doesn’t accept credit and debit cards. Many businesses are currently not accepting payments of cash right now in order to reduce the spread of the pandemic by minimising the touching of coins and notes and the physical contact between people. It’s up to you whether you want to only accept card and contactless payments right now, or whether you’ll accept cash but only when a customer does not have any other way to pay.

Make More Time for Cleaning

With many people looking for work right now as a result of the pandemic, it might be a good time to consider employing more cleaning staff for your store. During these times, it has never been more important for shops, in particular, to keep everything as clean as possible, and deep cleaning has now become something that should be done every day for everybody’s safety. Hiring a dedicated cleaner means that you can get on with serving your customers knowing that you’ve got an employee who’s dedicated to keeping everybody safe.

Running an essentials shop during the lockdown means taking safety measures very seriously and doing everything that you can to keep your staff and customers safe.

This is an article provided by our partners’ network. It does not reflect the views or opinions of our editorial team and management.

Hernaldo Turrillo

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