Maintenance of a Digital Copier

A digital copier can break down all of a sudden and you require a servicing company that deals with these situations immediately and also has the facility to change the required parts whenever necessary. Thus, it is important you take care of your printers and copiers well enough, and also employ a copier servicing firm like (Correct-Tek Copier Svc.) that will be able to help you out whenever you need them.

Any modern mechanical device needs a well-skilled maintenance and servicing team.  It is important you don't end up wasting too much time in repairs and upkeep.  A good service system makes sure that precious man hours are not wasted.  Though modern copiers are more reliable than analogue or manual copiers, their servicing needs to be done by a skilled maintenance crew and needs special care and attention.

A regular diagnostics check up and servicing will ensure that the copier is rid of any small glitches, even before they start to become big problems.  This way you ensure that even though there are many people using the copier or it is undergoing heavy usage, it can still run smoothly.

Some points to keep in mind about Digital Copiers and their problems

1. One of the most common problems affecting digital copy machines is that the toner in the copier gets fused because of the heat.  You can use cold water to remove the toner from its clothing.

2. There are times when the copying needs to be done with the lid open.  In such cases it is advisable to do so by using Edge Erase if your copier has the option.  In any case it is advisable not to keep the lid open when copying, as then the copier cannot monitor the amount of toner used, which then results in a thick black layer of ink on the paper.

3. When the digital copier is not in use it is advisable to keep all the paper clips, staples and rubber bands away from the machine.  If any of these get jammed into the drum housing area, they can cause some serious damage.

4. Very important is that all the personnel who are going to use the copier must be trained in the proper way of using it.  Many times the copier gets spoiled, because of misuse or overuse.  A major part of the problem will be solved if the copier is used properly.

5. Another problem that occurs is that the paper gets jammed many times and this can be very frustrating and results in a lot of wasted time.  A solution to this problem is that you should use good quality paper.  This will not only give you great printing, but will also reduce the chances of a paper jam. Whenever there is such an occurrence, it is advisable that the paper jam should be cleaned out completely to avoid a recurrence of the jam.

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Comparing Digital Copiers

If you're ready to upgrade to the new models and designs in digital copiers, then you might be surprised at some of the features that are available to you.  It can be very easy to be wooed by the biggest and best copier machines available on the sales floor.  All the different features that they offer can seem amazing and well worth the money spent.  Before you invest that kind of money, you need to look at the way your business works and what your true needs are.  You need to make sure that the one you choose is right for your business.

Look at Extra Features

Today's digital copiers seem to do everything but make coffee and answer the phones.  At least, the high-end digital copiers seem to have features that make the copy machines of yesterday look like Stone Age equipment.  Sorting, stapling, document imaging and even memory storage make today's digital copiers more like computers than ever before.  You need to ask yourself, how many features in a copier machine does your business really need?

Most businesses don't make thousands of copies per month.  In fact most make hundreds of copies rather than thousands.  The vast majority of businesses that use a copy machine on a regular basis make less than 3000 copies each month, while another large portion of businesses make less than 10,000. The true heavy hitters that make tens of thousands of copies per month are going to need a much larger and more substantial copy machine.   Most small and medium-size businesses won't need anything so elaborate.

If your business will use the copier machines as a printer as well as a copier, you may need a more substantial machine because that does add to the wear and tear, and you may also want to consider a machine that can scan and fax.  These add to the cost, but make the one machine much more efficient and can save space by eliminating other office equipment.

There's also a cost discrepancy between black and white copiers and color copiers.  If you're going to use the copier as a printer a great deal of the time, you should look at some of the color digital copiers.  If you're only going to need color printing occasionally, you may wish to invest in an inexpensive color printer and choose a black-and-white digital copier instead.  Digital copiers cost more when they can print in color, and you might not find the price difference is worth it if you rarely need that feature.  You may also choose a faster copier that costs more if you want to be able to print pages much more quickly.

Keep Security in Mind

Digital copiers today are computers with chips and memory inside them.  That means that sensitive documents that are scanned and copied are stored within the copier.  If your business regularly handles very sensitive information, you'll want to consider the risk that a digital copier poses and take steps to make sure that no one can access the memory.  Talk to the salesperson about the type of memory your copier has and steps that can be taken to protect the information.

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Digital Copier Security - There's More to Overcome Than Just the Hard Drive

The CBS Evening News recently broadcast a story called "Copy Machines a Security Risk?"  The information presented in the story was alarming, to say the least, but CBS only scratched the surface of the topic.  For companies who rely on securing confidential and proprietary information from competitors or hackers, there's much more you need to know about the inconspicuous digital copier.  In this article, we'll look at five areas where confidential information may be compromised.

If you haven't seen the CBS story please click on this link at the bottom of this page and view the five-minute broadcast before you continue with this article.

In addition to the risks presented by the CBS story here are 5 additional areas where copiers can compromise your security.

1. Many digital copiers are also network printers that store network information such as IP addresses, subnet masks and gateway IP's.  These settings are not stored on the hard drive and are not cleared by the digital copier "Purge" feature.  Network settings must be manually cleared.  Security experts will tell you to keep your network configuration private.  You don't want competitors or hackers to know your internal network configuration.  The more information about your network infrastructure that's accessible to hackers the less they have to figure out on their own and the sooner they can compromise your network.

2. Many digital copiers store the IP addresses of your DNS servers and/or Domain controllers.  Depending on the type and model of your copier, this information may not be cleared by your copier "purge" function.  You definitely don't want competitors or hackers knowing the IP addresses of your Name Servers or Domain Controllers.

3. Many digital copiers store email addresses and some even download your entire Email Global Address List to the copier.  Again, you don't want this to be accessible to those outside your company.

4. The "purge" function used by older digital copy machines doesn't delete any data from the copier hard drive.  It only renders the data inaccessible to the copier software.  It either deletes a file we techies would call a "file allocation table" or it will use other tactics to render the data unreadable to the copier software.  The "Purge" button merely gives an allusion the disk has been cleaned.  However, the data is still there and can be removed as shown on the CBS story.  Most copier security policies rely on this built-in Purge function and think their data is cleared.  It is not cleared.  It can still be accessed with free scanning tools available on the internet.

5. If your copier has a fax capability, the copier also stores all the phone numbers it dialed and numbers that dialed it along with any information you provided in your Fax phone book.  Again, the "Purge" function will not clear this information.

One of the biggest obstacles surrounding this whole issue of Copier Security is the apathy and ignorance of the Manufacturers.  Most copier technicians today still believe the built-in Purge function deletes all information on the copier.  To make matters worse, most copier technicians don't know where the different type of information is stored.  Some data is stored on the hard drive, some data in flash memory, and some data is stored in firmware.  Sensitive information is stored in different places depending on the manufacturer and model of copier.  Just when you think it can't get worse.  Let me drop the final shoe.  There are no utilities that will scan a copier and certify that it has been completely purged from older digital copy machines.

As I mentioned earlier, this CBS news story only scratched the surface of the real risks associated with digital Copier Security.  The Copier Security pioneers who were interviewed in the CBS story, Digital Copier Security inc., have done extensive research on these security risks and are working to provide services and resources to help companies thoroughly purge their older copy machines.  I applaud Digital Copier Security for bringing this issue to the attention of Corporate America and for working diligently to address this significant security hole.

I encourage the Copier industry to take responsibility for ensuring new copiers have the capability to purge themselves of all sensitive information and to provide a certification report indicating what has been purged.  This should be a standard feature on all Digital Copiers and not an add-on feature that comes at an additional cost.  Additionally copier technicians should be trained to thoroughly purge all Digital Copiers.

Until such a time, Corporate America must take necessary steps to ensure their own safety.  They must ensure they are not exposing themselves to unnecessary security risks or even breaking Privacy Laws. Digital copiers must have processes defined (and documented) that ensure appropriate actions are taken before copiers are released to third parties.

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