Moving you towards a less-paper office!
(800) 346-7890

Author Archives: Pam Morin

Warranties de-mystified!

July 25, 2011 in Customer Service by Pam Morin  |  No Comments

Sometimes printers die.  It can be a sad day when the old HP LaserJet 5-plus spews out its last page.  Sometimes a need is born – a company decides to bring marketing in house and needs a good quality color printer, or decides to ditch several old single function machines and consolidate to a new multifunction device.

When someone contacts Reliable looking for a new or refurbished HP machine they are very likely to talk to me.  Some people know exactly what they are looking for – these people did their research and are usually well versed in the printer industry.

Sometimes I have to recommend a printer.  This is easier with the more information I get – how many pages per month, what printer(s) or machines is it replacing or working with, budget constraints, number of users and other variable information.  With so many things to choose from the biggest determinant is usually the budget and page needs.

With nearly every printer quote and comparison I put out there people have questions about how the warranty works.  We have had a lot of experiences here with the whole gamut of warranties.  Care Packs, factory one year warranties, extended warranties, refurbished printer warranties, and out of warranty special claims.

Well, I can’t answer all these questions in a blog post – it would go on for ever and be very, very boring… so I created a PDF for you to download and learn more -  HP and Reliable Warranty.

I’m sure that won’t answer all the questions, but it’s a start.  My other piece of advice is to register your printer – Julian had some great information about how and why here.

Got a question we didn’t answer?  Please ask it here!

Our Space – life in the mills of Manchester NH

July 5, 2011 in Uncategorized by Pam Morin  |  No Comments

Red Arrow Diner

Artist: Erwan LeBott

I love our space in the Langer Mill in Manchester along the Merrimack River.  Reliable has inhabited the Langer Place mill in various locations since 1996.  When I started in 2007 there were three locations, customer service and sales were on the 2nd floor east, and shipping/receiving and manufacturing were on the third floor northwest and southwest.  I got lost trying to find the offices for my interview, and Wayne found me wandering the hallway!  Since then I’ve helped several confused and lost people in the building.

The customer service area where I spend my days is in front of expansive windows facing west.   I might work indoors all day, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the nature so close by.  With our windows open we can hear the Merrimack river lapping the tree-lined shore below.  The trees sway in the breeze and filter the sun through our ceiling high windows.  Hawks hang out on the tree branches – occasionally we hear one screech, or witness a young hawk get bullied by a flock of blue jays.  Swallows swoop over the river for their dinner.  Robins nest in every nook and cranny they can find – including the building entry awning!  We hear quacking from mallard ducks on the river bank below, a sound that always makes me smile and open my window.  A couple summers ago I walked the River Walk path behind the Fishercats Stadium on my lunch breaks and found a dozen Monarch butterfly caterpillar eggs.  I took them home and raised them with my kids.  It’s the time of year to start looking for those again!

I often joke with my family that I’m going to move into Reliable’s office.   The spacious mill suite has high ceilings, a kitchen, huge windows and a couple comfy sitting areas that I like to take breaks in.  The space is still a work in progress, but it’s shaping up beautifully.  We have various types of art on the walls, beautiful wooden doors on the office and conference room and a comfortable open concept that is wonderful for claustrophobics like me!

There are several art galleries and photographers in the building – and just walking through the halls to get to our suite can be relaxing.  The Hatfield Gallery has beautifully appointed the 3rd floor hallway walls with framed art of the city and other New Hampshire locations.  Our many neighbors have architecturally interesting entry ways.  I love seeing the original wood floor and old rolling doors that were part of the original building design.  I visit Be Day Spa on the 2nd floor on occasion.  I’ve gotten a variety of services there and loved every single one of them.

There is a great Mexican restaurant and bar – Pochito’s at the other end of South Commercial Street.  Super yummy and authentic Mexican is one of my many favorite kinds of food!  The only thing I think is missing from Langer Place is a café – we don’t have a place that we can walk to just get a quick soda or sandwich when we forget to bring things in.  Although, Market Basket is moving in just up the street and I hear they have a “café” on site.  It’s so nice to be a part of downtown Manchester’s development and evolution.  Can’t wait to see what comes next!

Little known online ordering features

June 8, 2011 in Customer Service by Pam Morin  |  No Comments

I like to tell customers that our online ordering system has all the features of the big boxes, with none of the distractions.  It’s a simplified white-lie, however, because it actually has a lot more features than you will find on most other online ordering websites.  I’ll outline just a few of the features you may or may not have heard about.

Admins and Users

Everyone who logs into the system is either an “Admin” or a “User”.  If you are the only person in your organization who logs in to place orders, you are probably an admin.  Admins can change passwords, view all order histories and billing information.  Some organizations have admins approve user orders before the order comes through to fulfillment – this assures PO’s are assigned correctly and that there are less mistakes in ordering.

Purchase Orders, budgets and cost centers

PO’s can be set up as blanket PO’s with a budget amount, or a single new PO number can be entered for each order.  You can also have a budget for a set period of time so that users don’t go over the budgeted amount.  Cost centers give you a way to departmentalize the expense.  These features are all set up by a Reliable employee on the back end only take a few moments to activate.

Order Tracking

Earlier this year we activated tracking order e-mails.  This is an e-mail that notifies you that a tracking number is available and the item(s) are on their way.  If you don’t want this e-mail you can opt out of it in your account settings.

If you would like to learn more about these features or add and of them to your account please give me a call in customer service a call at 800-346-7890 x106.

Reliable Recycling – more than our name!

June 2, 2011 in Uncategorized by Pam Morin  |  No Comments
IS)-14001

Think green. Save green. Print smart!

More than 500 million OEM toner and inkjet cartridges are manufactured every year. If these cartridges are not diverted from our landfills, it would equate to almost one-thousand tons of unnecessary pollution that could enter our waste stream every day. In addition to this potential waste, more than three quarts of oil are consumed during the manufacturing of every OEM cartridge. This equates to more than 375 Million gallons of oil consumed every year to make toner and inkjet cartridges.

Even worse than these staggering atrocities is the fact that  many cartridges end up in cities like Guiyu, China where they are incinerated or dissolved with hazardous chemicals to extract residual metals. These processes contaminate the local air, soil and groundwater and one in ten children in Guiyu have birth defects due to this horrific pollution.

Do you know what happens when you send a used laser toner cartridge to Reliable Technologies for recycling?

All cartridges come to our warehouse in Manchester New Hampshire, where they are pallet-wrapped for truck pick up.  We only ship full pallets in an effort to reduce shipping carbon emissions.  They are shipped directly to our manufacturing facility.  Upon arrival they are inspected, sorted, cleaned, and worn parts are removed.

Some toners are unusable for remanufacturing.  An InfoTrends study in 2009 commissioned by HP found that 21% of used toners can’t be recycled properly.  They also discovered that nationwide, 71% of unusable toner cartridges and replacement parts go to a landfill.  At our facility unusable components are put in an industrial shredder.  The small particles can be used for things like pavement, tires, and other industrial plastic components.  Every effort is made to keep e-waste out of landfills, here abroad.

Because the costs associated with recycling cartridges in the most environmentally responsible manner possible are high, we do not have the ability to provide a cash-for-cartridges program.  Efforts to donate cartridges to only responsible recycling facilities provides a greater reward than a few bucks, it helps keep our one and only earth healthy, and that’s something we can all benefit from!

We welcome your comments and questions!

Online ordering Tips and Tricks

May 18, 2011 in Customer Service by Pam Morin  |  No Comments

Our online ordering is different from most others, but once our customers learn how to use it they find it much faster and easier than others. Here are a few things you can do to make it super easy and fast to place your online orders and set up your account.

HP Supplies Finder

HP Supplies Finder Icon
Have trouble finding the right ink or toner cartridge for your machine? Click on the HP Supplies Finder icon in the upper right corner. Either type in your machine model number, or click the printer type and look on the list.

Search for Products

Search
Less is more in the search products field. Do you know you need a “HP 263A” but want the compatible brand?  Type in simply “263A” and both the HP and compatible will come up.  Or, if you are searching for the old part number “Q2612R” skip the R and type just Q2612.  Many of our part numbers have changed, so if you drop the R the product will come up.

Personal Items

Personal itemsItems you order on a regular can be added to a special list for easier finding. Click the “Add to Personal Items” link on the item. Be aware that you have to confirm this an additional click by deciding if you want to create groups or just add the item with no group.

Contract Items

Contract itemsItems listed here are ones you have ordered in the past.  Many times they also have the price locked in for a period of time.  You can decide how many items to show on the screen if you have several pages of them.   If there is an item you know you order on a regular basis that is not in your contracted items, please call customer service to have it added.

Site Tutorials and Suggestion Box

Site TutorialWant to learn more? Click the Site Tutorial in the upper-most right corner of your screen.  If it’s not there call customer service to have this feature activated.  You can also contact customer service via the Suggestion Box.

Check back for more – next I will explain how to use the account and administration features!  Please leave a comment below if you have any other tops you want to see covered!

Four easy ways IT can boost productivity

May 3, 2011 in Uncategorized by Pam Morin  |  No Comments

A short while back we were asked to offer information for an article about ways IT departments can become more efficient. I loved writing this piece even thought I am not all that IT savvy myself (I get all excited when I get the HP LJ 5550 to do exactly what I want). I do work with a lot of IT people – customers, service providing partners and our own IT staff.

So why do IT staff need shortcuts to productivity, specifically for printers? IDC states that the average IT department spends 15% of their time on printer related issues.  Printers tend to be under looked and forgotten about until they don’t work.  Printers also require a broad spectrum of electrical and mechanical knowledge, something some IT professionals don’t have much experience with. These suggestions are specifically geared towards the print environment in an organization, but could be widely applied to other aspects of IT as well.

1. Plan ahead. If having a printer go down is a huge hassle and kills productivity, have a clean one with a toner in it ready to move in as a replacement. Just make sure to test it occasionally and, and keep it on a rolling cart, that way you can roll it right in next to the old one, take the plugs out and plug the new one in.
2. Don’t waste time on the small stuff. IT Techs aren’t necessarily mechanically trained. That makes trying to fix a printer time consuming. Don’t waste time on it, partner with a local printer repair specialist and focus on the stuff you are better at.
3. If you must purchase new equipment, keep it consistent. Though it’s tempting to get the latest and greatest, keeping a consistent fleet is easier to manage. Fewer toners and parts to inventory and fewer drivers to update and install is just good common sense.
4. Protect your investments. Keep up with maintenance and problems before they cause down-time. There are many printer management programs that allow you to view printers on the network and know exactly when the maintenance kits need replacement and other vital information. These are often free when you partner with a local MPS provider.

Not all of this made it into the article I contributed to, it was broad-IT based. Learn more on IT World – Quick and easy IT productivity wins

MPS? We don’t need no stinkin’ strategy!

April 19, 2011 in Uncategorized by Pam Morin  |  No Comments

Toner Truck WreckWe do occasional printer service repairs for a local organization.  They only call on us when IT has given up on repairing the printer themselves. When one of our technicians asked an IT tech how she felt about working on printers, she responded with a strong dislike for dealing with the printers.  They are time consuming and she doesn’t have resources to properly fix them. Like most IT department technicians the mechanical workings of a printer are not her strong points.

This facility in 2010 spent $14,300 on printer related maintenance kits, technician labor, and break/fix parts with us alone. That does not include toner or new hardware, since they don’t purchase that from us, I don’t know for sure what they spent on these items, however, knowing that this organization employs 1,481 people and customers of ours similar in size and industry spend around $130 per employee on toners and new hardware per year, it could be as much as $196,973.  That’s a “guesstimate” of $211,273 that they spent to print for one year.

We realized that we were not best servicing this customer with just break/fix service on an as needed basis.  We talked to them about remote device monitoring, just-in-time toner delivery and print fleet management strategies.  We ran reports for the CEO, CIO, IT manager, and purchasing manager of the work we have done.  The numbers didn’t lie – about 30% of their service fees were due to bad compatible toner cartridges purchased from a company that does not specialize in printers.  Another 20% were common failed parts.  Our technicians check on common failed parts and and would have fixed them before they caused downtime and damage to the machine.

This organization currently purchases their toner and printing supplies from a “big box” retailer.  They believe they get the lowest prices this way.  However, their perception of value is a little off – managed print (managed print is not just “cost-per-page”) has proven to drastically reduce 90% of the associated costs with maintaining printers.  For every $100 spent on laser printer cartridges, an organization with an un-managed print environment spends approximately $900 on:

  • office real estate
  • employee time to change cartridges and remove jams
  • purchasing/receiving employee time
  • disposing the old toner
  • IT personnel time
  • paper wasted on bad prints
  • break/fix service on un-maintained machines
  • energy wasted on underutilized machines

I don’t understand it.  They have to buy the toner from someone.  Why not buy it and get service for free from a locally owned and operated business partner, who stands behind their products, and is willing to help manage neglected assets that no one wants to deal with for a savings of somewhere in the $15K ballpark?

Welcome from Pam in Customer Service

March 31, 2011 in Uncategorized by Pam Morin  |  3 Comments

Welcome to our blog!

My name is Pam Morin.  I’ve been with Reliable Technologies since April of 2007.  Through I have less experience with the print industry than most of my colleagues I make up for it with enthusiasm!  My main function is customer service, but I am also responsible for web site upkeep, marketing, sales assisting and Reliable’s social media presence.   (I never could have guessed that my Facebook habit would turn into a job function?)  I’ve been known to fix a printer or two here in the office, dabble in html, and make process and training manuals (can you say Type A?).

Thank you for visiting our blog!  Reliable Technologies is excited to be one of the first in the industry to take on social media and blogging (well, most of us are excited, some still have their reservations…).  We have enjoyed learning lots from other local businesses and our corporate partners SM efforts!  This blog is taking the place of our monthly newsletter that we produced last year, so please subscribe and check in once in a while.  As always, we love feedback.  If there are any topics you would like to see us post about we are currently taking requests!

Please take a look around our new web site and tell us what you think.  It is designed to help our customers quickly access the tools they need.  As business needs have changed in the past decade we have too – we are way more than just re-manufactured toner and printer service.  Check out some of our newest services, such as security risk mitigation and global content management.

With this blog we are going to share money saving tips, ways to get closer to a paperless office, industry news, current events, product reviews, random thoughts of inspiration, customer stories and personal thoughts from our team.  All of us will post a blog, so be sure to come back and see who’s up-at-bat.

“Do or do not.  There is no try.”  Yoda

Do or do no

  • Get E-mail Updates