We’re proud to have won the BLI Pacesetter award in Ease of Use: Enterprise Devices 2018–2019. We believe that an easy-to-use multi-function printer is crucial for businesses looking to digitize and automate paper-based processes. Ben Lake, Senior Product Manager – MFP and Printer Products at Sharp Europe – explains how we make sure that even when your MFP is doing complicated tasks, we keep scanning and printing simple.
As businesses handle more and more digital content the role of the MFP in the office has changed. Through scanning and network connectivity, the MFP is the starting point for many digital processes and is becoming increasingly important to business process automation. Therefore, the MFP needs to have features that are intuitive to access and don’t cause the user to waste time.
To find out which are the easiest-to-use MFP printers, BLI submits devices from the major manufacturers to rigorous testing, looking at Print, Copy and Scan features, plus Job Management, Feedback, Loading Media, Misfeed Removal and more. Based on a high performance in all these categories, we’re very proud to receive the award.
BLI picked out our “Outstanding feature set, including pre-set messages, a pull-out hard keyboard and onscreen editing with Scan Preview to make scanning at the MFP incredibly fast and simple.” And “Clearly labelled print driver selections, point-and-click paper selection, and storage of favourites to streamline workflows.”
Easy Settings System
The award references not only our current line up but reaches back to early 2017, when we first introduced our “Easy Mode” system. The interface is built around Easy Scan and Easy Copy. These give the user the most commonly used settings that a standard office user would need right in front of them.
To make the interface easier to use, we have made the user interface customisable, so you can place those features you like to use the most directly on the home screen. It works in the same way as a tablet or smartphone, so placing the icons where you like to have them.
The same interface across our devices
One of the aspects we have been speaking about this year, starting at Inspire in January 2018, has been the continuing commonality shared across our MFP range. We currently offer nearly 30 models with a common user experience and consistent feature set.
So, you can step up to any Sharp MFP, login and instantly feel familiar with the interface and layout. From our entry level A4 mono MFP’s, the Sharp MX-B355W and MX-B455W we introduced at Inspire, all the way out to our new high-speed Colour Document Systems the MX-7090 and MX-8090, you will find the same intuitive interface which gives the same ease of use and user experience.
Sharp MFP Keyboard
On some of our Sharp MFPs we offer a physical keyboard, which means that users do not have to tap information into the device using the screen. Having a physical keyboard is especially important as part of digital transformation happening in modern office environments. If you are moving your paper documents over to electronic versions, having a hard keyboard is a lot more efficient, as you can enter content far quicker than via a touchscreen.
Cloud and network connectivity
In the modern office MFPs have effectively become ‘document hubs’, giving users access to their documents, whether placed on Sharp Cloud Portal Office, Google Drive, or some other type of application.
We have therefore made it easier for users to log in, find what they are looking for and do want they want to do with that document – whether that is reprint it, or send it on to somebody else – in an easy as possible way.
Maximum uptime
Device management by the IT Administrator wasn’t part of the scope of BLI’s testing, but it’s worth mentioning that we have also made it easier for Administrators to manage their MFP fleet and maintain security. One example is SRDM (Sharp Remote Device Manager), which offers a browser-based monitoring of networked printers and MFPs systems, so Admins can see at-a-glance confirmation of device status. It’s a seamless way for administrator to look at all the Sharp devices on the network and manage them remotely.
Sharp has focused on making sure that our MFP portfolio not only delivers in terms of efficiency to the business, but as the BLI PaceSetter award in Ease of Use: Enterprise Devices shows, keeping these ever-more complex machines easy and intuitive to use.
If you would like to know more about any aspect of the Sharp MFP range of MFPs and how their Easy Settings can help improve the workflow of your office, Get In Touch for a demonstration.
