Ricoh launches remote management tool

Printer giant claims new product can save IT managers time and money

Printer and document management specialist Ricoh last week launched a new web-based service designed to help IT chiefs maximise efficiencies, reduce costs and improve productivity by remotely managing their print devices.

@Remote, which has been in beta for the last few months, notifies firms when their toner needs replenishing or if there is a fault with a machine, and takes automatic meter readings, regardless of whether they are Ricoh devices, according to the firm.
The automation of these tasks could free-up IT administrator time to deal with more strategic tasks, while enabling senior IT staff to gain better visibility into their fleet, improving stock control and aiding procurement, said Ricoh's UK director of marketing, Chas Moloney.

"The challenge for IT managers is all the support calls they get around printing,"he argued. "This is very much a proactive tool which monitors what's going on and automatically alerts to pre-defined criteria if performance is falling below a certain threshold."

The solution works by collecting data from a piece of hardware at the customer's site, which can cope with up to 500 MFDs, copiers and printers. The info is streamed to the @Remote server which then generates the appropriate reports on toner levels, meter readings and other information. Replacement orders are automatically sent out and the reports can be viewed via a web browser by the IT chief.