MFP or Multifunction printer is a piece of office equipment or machine that primarily serves the purpose of copying and printing documents. These printers are also known as photocopiers, copiers, xerox machines, and many other names. With technological advancement, MFPs nowadays can do much more than just copy and print documents. Multifunction printers can scan, email, fax, and even browse the internet and print directly from the display panel of the computer. Most MFPs also provide finishing options such as stapling, folding, booklet making, and hole punching.
You need to consider a few multifunction printer functions to find what meets your printing needs. While investing in an all-in-one printer, some features can be more helpful than others. All-in-one printers consolidate all the functions in one device but might not really multitask.
Swift Print Speed
Print speed is a key factor for any printing device. The speed of a printing device is indicated by ‘print-per-minute'. A long printing time can be annoying especially when printing in a bulk. A printer with a speed of printing 20 black-&-white pages or 10 colour pages per minute is considered to be an efficient one.
Efficient Duty Cycle
Do you need to copy large volumes of documents such as quarterly reports and product catalogues? If yes, then a multifunction printer that can scan 50 pages at a time or even more might be the one you’re looking for. The duty cycle refers to the maximum number of pages the printer can print monthly. An ideal office printer is one with a duty cycle of 20,000 to 25,000 pages.
Fast Copy Speed
Just like printing speed, copying speed is also important. An MFP with a low speed reduces productivity as one has to wait for a long time. Ideally, a printer should have a copy speed of at least 25 pages per minute.
High-Resolution Scanning
A scanner with a scanning resolution of 1200x600 can produce high-quality documents. But, a scanner with a resolution of 4800x4800 can produce excellent quality images. This feature might be essential for a business that requires high-quality images such as digital agencies or for producing business collaterals.
Automatic Document Feeder
No one would want to manually place each page of a fax document one by one on the scanner while sending a fax. Hence, it's better to ensure that the multifunction printer has an automatic document feeder. This feature helps to make the fax process easier you only need to place the paper stack on the feeder tray.
WiFi Compatibility
An all-in-one printer with WiFi connectivity makes the entire workflow hassle-free. It enables configuring the business network with wireless capabilities. A built-in network card can also allow you to port from one network to another but not as seamlessly as a WiFi-enabled printer scanner copier.
Finishing Features
Employees usually spend hours collating, stapling and hole-punching the documents. Having a lightning-fast multifunctional printer with great finishing features makes a huge difference. Make packets and prepare your presentation binders in a breeze with an MFP that has offset staples and 2–3-hole punch functions.
Advanced Features
Multifunction printers with optical character recognition (OCR) software and PDF enhancements boost productivity. It is quite frustrating to pore over a large PDF because the text is not searchable. An all-in-one with OCR and PDF enhancements can search documents with a few clicks and provides ready-to-paste options in Word or HTML. These documents can be preserved securely.
The Multifunction printer range by Canon is ideal for a business that needs to fax, copy, print and scan documents. It is highly beneficial for small businesses with limited office space. MFPs save time and money as they combine the work of four separate machines into one efficient device.
