4 Ways to Implement Touchless Office Printing

As we are all navigating transitioning back to the office amidst COVID-19, there are many precautions we must take and new protocols to follow to ensure all those who are working out of the office are protected – such as deeper cleaning and disinfecting of office spaces on a regular basis, social distancing, and promoting regular and thorough hand-washing.

However, one crucial area that may be overlooked in terms of safety and cleanliness is office equipment. While some office devices may personal to each individual, such as desktops or laptops, printers, multifunction printers (MFPs), and office copiers are often used by multiple employees – touching the control panel and potentially spreading germs without realizing it.

Aside from just wiping down and sanitizing office print devices, there are ways that you can implement touchless printing in your office to help even further minimize the risk to spreading germs throughout the office. Here are four ways you can implement touchless printing in your office.

Workplace Mobile App

Today, on the job means being on the go and adapting to the workplace wherever you happen to be. The Xerox Workplace Mobile App makes it easy to keep pace putting the power of your Xerox multifunction printer (MFP) or copier into the palm of your hand. Scan, copy or print from the convenience of your smartphone, giving you a personal remote control to your MFP and avoiding the need to touch the user interface.

• Print documents directly from your mobile device.
• Leverage your address book to route scans to colleagues or directly to your cloud repositories.
• Initiate copies with our touchless MFP workflows to take flexibility to the next level.

Touchless Access App

Just as the name suggests, the Xerox Touchless Access App is a secure, cloud connected app that allows users to access to print, copy and scan functionality without touching the printer, helping make offices safer. With this free app, you simply scan a QR code on your Xerox VersaLink or AltaLink MFP user interface to make a seamless connection.  If there is internet access from the smart phone and MFP, you are good to go and users’ mobile devices do not need to be on the same network as the MFP, making this accessible to anyone.

Additionally, users do not need to load an app on their mobile device, and no local IT support is needed to configure users. Once the app is live, the front UI can be configured to show the QR code as the default screen giving instant touchless access to the device for any user.

Auto Copy App

The Xerox Auto Copy app allows any user to make copies automatically without ever having to touch the MFP’s touchscreen UI. You simply configure the Auto Copy app to be the default screen when originals are loaded into the MFP’s document feeder. Once the app is set up, users can walk up to the device and put the document they need copied into the document feeder and after seven seconds, copying will begin automatically!

You can set the app up with default settings or authenticated users are able to customize copy setting defaults and save these settings for future repeated use.

Print Management Software, such as PaperCut, is equipped with features that users can leverage to implore touchless printing within their workplace.

Mobile Print Release

Mobile Print Release is a powerful print workflow application that allows users to securely release print jobs on any printer within your print environment. With Mobile Print Release, there is no fixed hardware requirement allowing you to cut down on costs.

• Release held jobs from any print queue with Hold/Release enabled
• No purchase / Appstore or marketplace account required
• Works on all modern smartphones and tablets
• Quickly locate printers with keyword searching (location, name or code)
• Support for QR code printer location/lookup

Fast Release Card Reader

The Fast Release Card Readers, a cost-effective print release solution, are connected to the network (not the printer) allowing them to be used with any printer on the market, and the desired USB card reader is attached to the Fast Release Card Reader. Users simply print to a hold/release queue or a global virtual print queue, where jobs are held until they are released. The user then walks up to the printer and scans a fob or swipe-card on the USB card reader attached to the Fast Release Terminal (if your business already uses authentication fobs or cards for door access or other purposes, these can be used for the printer as well). Once the user’s credentials are validated, their job is released!

There’s no need to log in from the screen – just swipe your card or FOB and prints are securely released to the correct user. Additionally, The Fast Release solution can work with any generic network card reader that can:

1. Listen on a port of your choice for a connection
2. Accept the connection
3. When a card is swiped send the card number followed by a new line character
4. Wait for the next card swipe and repeat

Similar to virtual assistant technologies such as Siri or Alexa, there is also Gabi! Xerox partnered with Gabi Solutions to deliver Gabi Voice, an innovative voice command solution that allows workers of all abilities to access their MFP using their voice.

With Gabi Voice, users can skip interacting with the touchscreen UO of their Xerox AltaLink MFP and use voice commands instead to access copying, scanning, faxing, and secure printing functions.

Another touchless printing feature that is specific to Xerox AltaLink all in one printers is the Smart Proximity Sensor. Similar to your smartphone or laptop, when your device is not being used, the Smart Proximity Sensor puts it to sleep to help cut down on power consumption. It also can sense when a user is approaches and stands in front of the device – automatically waking the device up. Therefore, there’s no need for the user to touch the control panel to wake the device up to use it.