Blog | Advanced Office Systems, Inc.

28
May

4 Benefits of New Office Equipment

If you are currently working in an office environment with outdated equipment, then you know exactly how hard it is to stay productive and get simple tasks completed. The purchase of new equipment for the office makes a vast difference in the amount of work an employee is able to complete in a given day. It really makes good business sense to purchase new equipment when other printers and devices become too old and become more of a burden than help.

Some business owners will be hesitant to make a new investment when it comes to office equipment. What some of these business owners don’t realize, however, is that although the initial purchase may be high, the long-term benefits of new equipment often outweigh the initial price.

4 major benefits of new office equipment include:

Increased Productivity in the Office- If a machine’s performance is linked to the amount that gets done in a given day, we can confidently say a machine with higher output capability can boost productivity in the workplace.
Saving Money on Energy Efficiency- New office equipment is almost always geared toward saving energy in your office. With machines that will turn off after not being used and operating and lower levels, you will start seeing a return on your investment as soon as you plug it in.
Better Quality Documents- As technology is constantly changing, so is the nature of output and how your documents are reproduced. The newest technology boasts the best way to reproduce documents in the office, making your company look more professional.
Ease of Use- New office equipment is almost always armed with easy to use software. Instead of having employees hovering around complicated machines, get on board with new machines that are designed with the user in mind.

Although there are many more benefits associated with new office equipment, we have tried to pinpoint a few that affect your office on a daily basis.

Original article published on Office Product News.

22
May

The Simple Trick To Boost Your Career

Career development and personal growth are incredibly important, both for the company and for your personal well-being.

As humans, we want to grow and continuously get better at what we do. Mastering a skill, or moving up in the corporate ladder is rewarding for us. But, of course, this is easier said than done. For many of us, we become so caught up in our day-to-day that it’s hard to really find the time or energy to boost your career in a systematic way. Planning your career development takes time, and also takes knowing where you want to go. Sometimes, we simply don’t know where we’d like to be, we just know we want to be better.

There are also many societal pressures. The cost of living keeps going up, while many of us don’t seem to be keeping us with that pace. Also, because technology is so accessible, there’s a certain feeling that people around you are moving up faster than you are. You need to understand that the secret to boosting your career is quite easy, and requires very little effort.

The secret: Self-reflection.

It’s important to take a step back, and reflect on what you’re doing. It sounds so simple, but it’s a critical part of the development process that often gets forgotten in our busy lives.

“We focus on the outside world in education and don’t look much at inwardly focused reflective skills and attentions, but inward focus impacts the way we build memories, make meaning and transfer that learning into new contexts – Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Professor of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Southern California.”

Research Shows Self-Reflection Helps You Learn

Research shows that when children are given the time and skills necessary for reflecting, they often become more motivated, less anxious, and perform better on tests. The research shows that learning is more effective if it is deliberately paired with time to think about what was just presented.

In “Learning by Thinking: How Reflection Aids Performance,” a team of researchers from HEC Paris, Harvard Business School, and the University of North Carolina describe what they call the first empirical test of the effect of reflection on learning. By “reflection,” they mean taking time after a lesson to recall and write out the most important points.

As part of their study, they took groups of newly-hired customer-service agents during their job training. One of the groups was given 15 minutes at the end of each training day to reflect on the main things they had learned and write about at least two lessons.

Those given time to think and reflect scored 23 percent better on their end-of-training assessment than those who were not. And these improvements lasted over time, the researchers found.

How Self-Reflection Affects Goal-Setting

When we set a goal, it usually requires us to change our behavior. Psychological research shows that change requires two things: a goal, and an awareness of where one currently is in order to assess the discrepancy between the two. Most of the time, goals aren’t achieved because people lack self-awareness. Without monitoring where you stand currently over and over, you won’t know how you’re progressing.

In order to achieve a goal, you need to constantly be aware of how far you’ve become; self-reflection can help with this. I would recommend keeping some sort of a journal or log to monitor where your career currently is and where you want it to be. An important distinction I want to make is that when you’re working towards a goal, instead of asking “why”, ask “how”.
For example, instead of saying “why do I have so little time to dedicate to taking classes online”, change that to “how can I make more time to dedicate to taking classes.” This will help you focus on specific things to do to achieve your goal.

Companies can help their employees achieve their goals using employee survey software to understand if they’re developing properly. Once they see these things start to slip, they can help employees get back on track by monitoring their goals.

Original article published on Office Vibe by Jacob Shriar

21
May

Lexmark XM7100 Series

Top performance

The Lexmark XM7100 Series is the ultimate in multifunction power. A choice of configuration options and productivity solutions let your businesses get exactly what it needs to get more done. More value and versatility in a space saving footprint.
Process even the most complex jobs utilizing the 800MHz dual-core processing power and up to 3GB of memory. Get work done quickly with print and copy speeds up to 70 ppm, and produce your first page in as little as four seconds. Produce professional output with a system that delivers consistent image quality on a diverse range of materials. Instant warm-up fuser helps reduce energy consumption and improve time to first page.

Business productivity

The Lexmark XM7100 Series combines exceptional multifunction performance with time-saving applications designed to make you more productive. Save time with fast two-sided color scanning in a single pass and quickly convert hard-copy documents into a digital format. Advanced copy functions let you interrupt long print runs to make a quick copy and proof the first copy set before completing your copy job. Scan to multiple destinations, including scan to network, email, FTP, fax and more. Select from a number of output options and finishing features, including a four-bin user-assignable mailbox, offset stacker, staple finisher or staple with hole punch finisher.

Easy and intuitive

The Lexmark XM7100 Series is designed for easy operation to allow you to stay focused on customer engagements instead of routine maintenance. Extra-large, easy-to-navigate 10.2-inch, color touch screen provides audible and tactile feedback to make completing tasks intuitive. Print and scan preview features help you select documents or specific pages within a document. Directional lights on the device provide visual cues to guide you through tasks. Extend your environmental responsibility with energy efficient settings such as the Sleep Button and Hibernate Mode. Manage your devices with available software.

Propel your business forward

Our solutions are designed with your productivity in mind. The Lexmark XM7100 Series platform lets you interact with business applications directly on the device or with a server, on premise or hosted to the cloud. Reduce unnecessary printing and simplify work processes with Lexmark solutions.

Navigate to efficiency

The Lexmark color touch screen is a key access point to your device. The extra-large, customizable, 10.2-inch interface gives you the ability to preview thumbnails of documents prior to printing, as well as change print job settings at the device. You can even view, select and print specific pages within a document directly from the touch screen. Its easy-to-use, intuitive navigation provides fast access to the functions and shortcuts.

Professional-quality output is only part of the story

By leveraging our industry expertise, you can generate efficiency and increase productivity across business processes to gain the power you need to move ahead. Lexmark technology solutions are tailored to your business environment–where business interactions and decisions are happening. Empower your employees with workflow solutions that refine work processes, capture critical data and deliver information to the right place, at the right time and in the right format. Contact your Lexmark Business Solutions Dealer for specific vertical solutions.* Solutions are customized through your dealer before completing your copy job.

Keep sensitive information and documents secure

Lexmark builds network devices with security in mind to protect your data and documents throughout your entire workflow. Our wide range of security functions include device management, device hardening and device operation.

Device management tools include administrative access and passwords, HTTPS, SNMPv3, IP security (IPSec) and 802.1x support to remotely monitor and manage device usage.
Device hardening includes port filtering, TCP connection filtering, hard disk encryption, hard disk wiping and digitally signed firmware updates that enhance the security of the device’s network interface.

Device operation reduce vulnerabilities with authentication and authorization features, address book lookup via LDAP over and device lockout for protection of user information.

Lexmark security strength and leadership forming and chairing the group that created the IEEE 2600 standards for security on hard-copy devices. Becoming the first hard-copy device manufacturer to take a holistic approach with the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) Common Criteria evaluation.

Built for Top Performance – The Lexmark XM7155x MFP with a customizable e-Task touch screen, 2,750-sheet standard input, 1GB of standard memory and 320+GB hard disk provides print, copy, fax, scan and email functions.

Key Features

Faster Processing – Improve your print, scan and copy speeds by taking advantage of up to 3 GB of upgradable memory, an 800 MHz dual-core processor and Gigabit Ethernet.

Print on a Wide Range of Media with built-in 2-sided printing and the ability to print on diverse materials, you can do more for your business and use less paper.

Large Touch Screen – A vibrant, easy-to-use 10-inch class color touch screen provides access to pre-installed workflow solutions.

Get Work Done Quickly – Enjoy print and copy speeds up to 55 pages per minute, produce your first page in as little as 4.8 seconds and rapidly scan a 2-sided document in a single pass.

Keep Jobs Moving with a maximum input capacity of up to 2,750 sheets and a high yield toner cartridge, you won’t have to add paper or change cartridges as often.

For more information on the Lexmark XM7155x or any other Lexmark products please contact Advanced Office Systems by phone at (800)452-0897 or by email at info@aosi.us

31
Mar

Your IT Budget Will Increase, Let Us Handle It!

AOSI__Slide_IT-Soltuions Like it or not, your company’s IT budget will likely increase. According to Tech Pro Research’s 2015 IT Budget Trends, IT budgets for 2015 will be higher than in 2014 for 45 percent of organizations.

“The global steady growth rates are a calm ocean that hides turbulent currents beneath,” says John Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner, the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. “The Nexus of Forces — social, mobile, cloud, and information — are reshaping spending patterns across all of the IT sectors that Gartner forecasts. Consumers and businesses will continue to purchase a mix of IT products and services; nothing is going away completely. However, the ratio of this mix is changing dramatically and there are clear winners and losers over the next three to five years, as we see more of a transition from PCs to mobile phones, from servers to storage, from licensed software to cloud, or the shift in voice and data connections from fixed to mobile.”

Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are not excluded from this growth. According to a survey of 1,000 SMBs published in Wasp Barcode Technologies’ ‘State of Small Business Report’, 38 percent of SMBs stated they will increase IT spending in 2015.

What are the areas of largest IT growth for SMBs? IT budgets are expected to experience the most significant growth in the following areas:

replacing hardware
upgrading server infrastructure
upgrading network security

Is your business prepared for the critical decisions that will come along with the changing tides of IT? Contact us today to learn how letting us handle your IT needs will give you more time to focus on what your business does best!

14
Jan

HP and Samsung Honored with BLI 2015 Printer/MFP Line of the Year Awards

Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) today announced the winners of its most coveted awards in the Printer/MFP category, selecting Hewlett-Packard as the winner of its 2015 Color Printer/MFP Line of the Year and Samsung Electronics Co., Inc., as the winner of its 2015 Monochrome Printer/MFP Line of the Year. Bestowed once a year by BLI, the world’s leading authority on document imaging devices and solutions, Line of the Year awards honor the manufacturers whose product line is determined to be the best overall in its category based on the cumulative test results of all model’s tested in BLI’s rigorous two-month laboratory evaluation. The selections are made by BLI’s highly experienced staff of technicians and editors after subjecting scores of devices from every major OEM to BLI’s exhaustive, comprehensive lab tests.

Hewlett-Packard Company
2015 Color Printer/MFP Line of the Year

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
2015 Monochrome Printer/MFP Line of the Year

HP’s Color Line Continues Dominance
For the fifth consecutive year, HP has claimed BLI’s Color Printer/MFP Line of the Year award. “A testament to the reliability and the excellence of HP color products, the color models tested in our lab in the past four years produced over 1,000,000 pages combined with no misfeeds,” said BLI Senior Analyst for Printers and A4 MFPs Marlene Orr. Further proof of the strength of its line, 21 of the 22 of HP’s currently available color devices tested received BLI’s highest rating— Highly Recommended—and also took home a BLI Pick.

From low-volume inkjets to A3 hardware for high-volume workgroups, HP delivers quality color output, outstanding ease of use and unparalleled reliability. Other key strengths of HP’s line include the HP Easy Select control panel, straightforward scanning and support for multiple ways of printing from mobile devices.

What else helps set HP apart from the competition? In a word: value. “HP has always been the industry leader when it comes to packing their color printers and MFPs with value-added features that help users print faster, smarter and be more efficient at their jobs,” said Orr. “Combine this with the superior management and color control software that helps administrators lower costs and heighten security, and you’ve got the recipe for a winning portfolio.”

“HP is committed to providing our customers with a portfolio of products that deliver the highest quality output and help organizations work more efficiently,” said Tuan Tran, VP/GM of the LaserJet HW and Technology Business, HP. “HP is proud BLI has recognized our color LaserJet MFP devices with this prestigious title for the fifth consecutive year.”

Samsung: An Established Force on the Mono Side
For the third time since 2012, Samsung has won BLI’s Monochrome Printer/MFP Line of the Year award. From personal devices all the way up to large workgroup and departmental printers/MFPs, Samsung’s monochrome portfolio is as strong as it’s ever been. “Samsung monochrome printers and MFPs are consistently reliable, with nearly every model tested completing BLI testing with no misfeeds or malfunctions,” said BLI Senior Analyst for Printers and A4 MFPs Marlene Orr.

From an environmental standpoint, Samsung devices also shine. Standard automatic duplexing and toner-save mode represent basic features, while scanning—easy to use, and fully featured—is a great way for organizations to promote an environmental message and conserve resources. To help further conserve resources, the drivers have an Eco tab and the Easy Eco Driver, which won a BLI Outstanding Achievement award for Innovation in Winter 2012.

Value is another key strength of the line. “Value is not just about low cost, it’s about the complete package: overall performance compared to price,” Orr said. “Without a doubt, Samsung delivers a robust monochrome line that offers peak performance while providing the tools users need to do their jobs quickly, easily and more efficiently.”

“It is an honor to receive the prestigious Monochrome Printer/MFP Line of the Year award,” said Sungwon Song, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Samsung Electronics. “This recognizes our ongoing efforts to introduce innovation and transform workspaces for productivity and efficiency. Ever since we started, our goals have never changed: Enhance productivity and efficiency with faster, more durable, more versatile devices, and through printer solutions that seamlessly fit into the IT and office ecosystem. Our printers and solutions are designed to be simple, easy and quick to use and offer security and protection built in. Samsung Electronics will continue to strive to exceed customer expectations and deliver breakthrough innovation.”

Stay tuned for BLI’s final award announcement of the Winter season:January 15: Outstanding Achievement in Energy Efficiency awards

About Buyers Laboratory LLC
Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) is the world’s leading independent provider of analytical information and services to the digital imaging and document management industry. For over 50 years, buyers have relied on BLI to help them differentiate products’ strengths and weaknesses and make the best purchasing decisions, while industry sales, marketing and product professionals have turned to BLI for insightful competitive intelligence and valued guidance on product development, competitive positioning and sales channel and marketing support. Using BLI’s web-based bliQ and Solutions Center services, 40,000 professionals worldwide create extensive side-by-side comparisons of hardware and software solutions for over 15,000 products globally, including comprehensive specifications and the performance results and ratings from BLI’s unparalleled Lab, Solutions and Environmental Test Reports, the result of months of hands-on evaluation in its US and UK labs. The services, also available via mobile devices, include a comprehensive library of BLI’s test reports, an image gallery, hard to find manufacturers’ literature and valuable tools for configuring products, calculating total cost of ownership (TCO) and annual power usage. BLI also offers consulting and private, for-hire testing services that help manufacturers develop and market better products and consumables.

For more information on Buyers Laboratory LLC, please call 201-488-0404, visit www.buyerslab.com or email info@buyerslab.com.

14
Jan

Toshiba MFP Wins Most Innovative Product of the Year

World’s First Multifunction Product with Erasable Toner Impresses 53-Person North American Judging Panel

Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. today announces its e-STUDIO^™306LP/RD30 – the world’s first multifunction product (MFP) with erasable toner – has secured a gold 2014 Best in Biz Award for the “Most Innovative Product of the Year.”

Winners of Best in Biz Awards 2014 were determined based on scoring from an independent panel of 53 judges from highly recognized newspapers, business, consumer and technology publications, radio outlets, and analyst firms. The Best in Biz Awards are the only independent business awards program judged by members of the press and industry analysts.

By incorporating a unique toner, Toshiba’s print device is capable of erasing images and text allowing for the reuse of paper. As a result, the company’s groundbreaking MFP enables organizations to assert their ecological leadership while also setting a good example for their employees. By reusing the same sheet as many as five times, users dramatically minimize paper usage while lessening carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by up to 57 percent, as validated by the British Standards Institute, a global national standards organization.

Best in Biz Awards’ fourth annual North American program was its most competitive to date. As in previous years, the fourth annual program in North America featured a large and distinguished judging panel comprised of members of the media who reviewed and scored the hundreds of award nominations. More than 550 award nominations were received this year in a variety of company, executive, team, and product focused categories. Nominations were submitted from public and private companies of all sizes, from virtually every major industry and region in the United States and Canada.

“Considering the distinguished group of judges connected to this year’s Best in Biz Awards, our collective engineering, sales and marketing team is thrilled to win this prestigious honor,” said Toshiba America Business Solutions Chief Marketing Executive, Bill Melo. “Delivering products to better enable our customers to operate more sustainably is one of the primary elements within our company’s DNA. To receive recognition for doing so is a nice tribute to everyone involved in the development of our e-STUDIO306LP/RD30.”

Best in Biz Awards 2014 honors were presented in 60 categories, including Company of the Year, Fastest-Growing Company of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, Best Place to Work, Technology Department of the Year, Executive of the Year, Most Innovative Product of the Year, Best New Product of the Year, PR Campaign of the Year and Website of the Year. For a full list of gold, silver and bronze winners in Best in Biz Awards 2014, visit:http://www.bestinbizawards.com/2014-winners.

About Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc.
Irvine, Calif.-based Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc., (TABS) is an independent operating company of Toshiba Corporation, a Fortune Global 500 company and the world’s eighth-largest electronics/electrical equipment organization. At Toshiba, we understand managing your business content goes well beyond making copies. It’s about managing information whether it’s in print, in digital format or displayed visually.

Our people offer leading, real-world products and solutions – whether speaking of our award-winning, e-STUDIO^™ multifunction products or innovative Ellumina^™ digital signage line – to handle all of your content management needs. We’ll help you cut costs, secure your information and reduce your environmental footprint. And if there’s one thing every business and our planet can use right now, it’s managing to do more with less. For more information on Toshiba solutions and services available in the United States and Latin America, please visit www.business.toshiba.com and watch our corporate video on YouTube.

About Best in Biz Awards
Best in Biz Awards recognizes top companies, teams, executives and products for their business success as judged by established members of the press and industry analysts. Best in Biz Awards honors are conferred in two separate programs annually: North America, and International. Entries will begin to be accepted in the Best in Biz Awards 2015 International program in January 2015. Any organization worldwide may participate in the International program in any of the more than 60 company, department or team, executive and product categories. For more information about the entry process and categories in the International program, please visit: http://intl.bestinbizawards.com.

13
Jan

Office Resolutions

new-year-physical-2015 The New Year is here! This is your time to bring your office into 2015. Let’s make changes to modernize and streamline our offices to make sure we have the most productive year yet. Are you ready for a fresh start? Now is the time to implement a few minor changes in your office a set the tone for a great and more efficient new year.

Go Green

Clean up the clutter in your office this year! Start your 2015 with a clean slate and go paperless. Need help instituting a digital filing system and or setting up cloud storage? Let our Green Team help you out!

Update Your Network Security

Already have a paperless office? Make sure your files, records, and documents are more secure. Each new year can mean new threats to your network security. Our Document Management and Network Solutions teams are ready to get you compliant and up-to-date for 2015!

Update Your Technology

Out with the old, in with the new. Why not update your tech for the new year! If you are still living in the last decade, maybe it is time to update your hard and software to make your office more efficient. Don’t let slow tech and outdated systems hamper your new year business plans. Let our IT Solutions team help you out!

What are you doing to make your 2015 more productive and efficient? Let us know in the comments below!

16
Dec

Get Organized Before the Holidays!

AOSI_CC_XmasSolutionsMan The holidays are fast approaching. Are all your documents in order before you step out on your much deserved holiday break? Don’t add extra stress to your holiday by leaving behind a disorganized work environment. Give yourself the vacation you deserve. Here is a check list of things to do before heading home for the holidays.

Make sure your clients know who to contact while you are away. If you have too many clients to contact personally, make sure at the very least your email away message has the contact information of the person or persons they can go to if there is an emergency.
Designate someone to monitor your clients. If you can’t be contacted during the holidays, make sure there is someone for your clients to fall back on. When designating someone to cover you, give this person the tools to located and access your files if there is an emergency. This means ensuring that your files are organized and easily found.
Don’t leave a mess. The holidays are a great time to finally get organized. This way you can start the year fresh and in charge of your workload come the New Year.

If you need help creating a more organized and accessible system for your documents, don’t hesitate to contact our Document Management Solutions team! Give yourself the gift of an organized office this year! Happy Holidays!

18
Nov

Is It Safe To Work from Home?

AOSI__Slide_IT-Soltuions Working from home can be a great way to refresh your mind. A change of scene can make you more creative and spare you from the interruptions you might encounter at the office. But if you are working remotely, and away from your network secure office, you may be putting your files and data at risk. Here are some ways to keep your work secure while working offsite.

Be wary of public wi-fi. Working in a coffee shop does have a certain mystique. And it is nice to have caffeinated beverages and pastries available at the drop of a hat. But even if you have great network security at the office, your personal files and passwords may be at risk if you are using a public wi-fi network. And if you must use a public network, be sure to join a VPN service and install other security tools first!
Use your own wi-fi. If you have a secure network at home, you are well on your way to keeping your and your clients files safe. But if you are on the go, consider investing in a portable hot spot that is protected by your own password. You’ll have more mobility and more security at the same time.
Work offline. If you are working on a document or creating a presentation, you may not need to be connected to the internet. If a secure network isn’t available to you, consider working on a project that doesn’t require you to be online. Just be sure to back up your file on a USB or other storage device if you are offline and cannot connect to your cloud storage service.

If you are a jet-setter, or work away from the office more often than not, you may need some more advanced security solutions. Be sure to contact out security solutions team for custom advice. We’d be happy to help!

4
Nov

Has this ever happened to you?

AOSI_web_DOCUMENTslide You are on the phone with a client and you need to find a document fast. Maybe you search frantically through your hard copy files. Maybe you scroll through various files in among your word docs, or enter endless search terms into Google docs only to come up empty. Meanwhile, precious minutes are ticking away, and your client is becoming more frustrated and annoyed.

If this scenario sounds familiar, it may be time to find new Document Management Solutions. A good document management system should have three elements:

All documents should have a digital backup on a secure server. If you are not creating digital backups of your hard copy files, you are risking a document being lost or destroyed forever. Creating a secure backup saves you the hassle of losing important information as well as giving your clients peace of mind.
Documents should be easily organized in an intuitive hierarchical system. Just like your filing cabinets, your digital files should be more than simply alphabetical. If you are just sorting your digital files by title, not only are you risking forgetting where you put your own file, you make it more difficult for your coworkers and employees to find a file if you cannot be reached.
Documents should be able to be accessed from any location at any time. You never know when there might be a work emergency!

Still don’t know where to start? Let us help. Contact our Document Management Solutions team for more information on how we can help customize and streamline your office.