Print Control/Mgmt

I assume these will all be Ricoh devices? If so, review Smart Accounting. This will do what you have described.

Ooops sorry. Smart Accounting only works with users codes. Try the print director software suite.

Also one note on print director suite, if they are using MACs, you will need an PC server to install admin software, just an FYI, I found this out the hard way.

Has anyone run up against a software called Papercut? The consultant for a large school I am working with says Papercut can do everything that Print Audit can and is priced rediculously lower.

Yes. I ran into this to. It's true, it can do everything Print Audit can and is ridiculously low. When I mentioned it to people from Ricoh and to other people in the industry looking for value add products they tend to ignore it and avoid it. However, I feel bad and handicapped having to offer a product that is so much more expensive. I looked at Print Audit and for my prospect it would be like $5,000. For Papercut it was like $500. If your customer already knows about Papercut, you should tell them to buy it. I'd like to find a way to sell it and offer value added service for training and configuration.

Good Luck!

I've made a call to Print Audit to ask them to post something for us all in reference how to sell against papercut. I'm hoping they post something soon.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your posts. Every year or two we see new, low cost competitors that come out of the woodwork for a little while. We are selling against these guys the same as you fight your low cost competitors.

There are a few obvious detriments that seem to have stood the test of time. The revenue model can not possibly be profitable for 80% of your customers. Ridiculously low is exactly that, ridiculous and unsustainable. $500 worth of technical support will be used up mighty quickly.

Dealers ignore these low cost solutions because there is nothing in it for them. So, in this case where PCS Director would cost the customer $5000 the dealer would profit about $1500 (3 times the cost of Papercut). As for adding training and installation support, Papercut is competing against you to offer the same services. Your customer buys it off the net and then they are no longer your customer, they are Papercut's.

On the features and functionality side there is a lot that Ricoh PCS Director does that no one else does today. The rules engine is by far the most robust in the industry. Most products that have any rules at all stop at forcing duplexing or suggesting alternate printers. So, two or three rules. PCS Director can be configured with millions of rules combinations based on user, document, time, application, size, type and so on. I can go on but features and functionality in software is a horse race similar to speeds and feeds. We add features, they add features and so on.

What it comes down to is you. At Print Audit, we know that your recommendation is what causes sales for us. If you trust that PCS Director is a great product and that we will take care of your customer then suggest it and make some money. Sometimes your customer will buy something cheaper but most of the time they will take your recommendation.

Please continue the conversation. Also, please feel free to contact me directly:

John MacInnes
President
Print Audit
403 685-4932

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