Before the introduction of managed print services, the concept of cost per print, CPP (or CPC, cost per click, in some circles) had yet to take form. You purchased your toner and paid for services as you needed these things. It makes perfect sense, but as time and technology progressed, this model became more and more inefficient.
Enter CPP! Using your copier's meter reads, your print provider could charge you about a cent per black and white print (and usually a little more per color print) based on your print volume history, and your service and toner were part of this cost as long as you remained on contract. Managed print with CPP meant you could always count on the supplies and service you needed at prescribed costs, and with modern managed print software alert systems, your print provider can even dispatch toner just as you run out!
Read More: 3 Empowering Benefits of a Managed Print Service
But even as CPP improves upon paying for supplies and service outright, it still doesn't solve a fundamental issue: Predictability. Any organization of any size in any industry can attest that print volume fluctuates. A lean print billing period probably feels good, but it also makes that next heavy print billing period all the more painful, especially organizations on strict budgets, like city governments or school systems.
What if you could better budget for your managed print? Seat based billing can do exactly that, and it's changing managed print for the better.
What is Seat Based Billing?
Seat based billing is easy to explain because the name says it all! Instead of being billed for managed print by each print / click, your invoice reflects the number of people in your organization. Think of it like a per-user subscription service, like Office 365. Of course, your staff may fluctuate. Here at A&A Office Systems, we account for a +/- 10% in staffing without needing an adjustment in rates, but your print provider may have another policy in place.
Billing head count for print has never really been possible before now. It almost seems crazy! After all, what stops a user from a printing a million color pages and driving up usage and costs? Well, that's where modern technology and a hands-on consultative approach come in. A&A, or your print provider, works with you to identify behavior that is driving up your print costs and implements software solutions to encourage (or even outright enforce) better print habits.
The result is simple and immediate: Not only does your print bill go down, but your invoice for managed print services is the same every single month. With SBB, you can cut costs and effectively budget for MPS.
Read More: 6 Handy Features of Print Audit
Seat based billing really is the future of managed print. Lowering costs and simplifying billing for everyone involved is a no-brainer. Here at A&A, we round out our SBB program with flexible rules-based printing, secure print, just-in-time supplies and quarterly reviews.
Want to learn more? Download our brochure below to see some of the great benefits of SBB and managed print!
Have you tried seat based billing for managed print yet? Are you curious about it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!