To help lower printer service costs, ITSD is looking for Lab organizations to participate in a pilot program to review options for servicing Hewlett-Packard printers. Under the pilot, Lab groups which buy toner cartridges for a minimum number of HP printers will receive free servicing for those printers.

“This pilot has the potential to save Lab employees a lot of money in printer repair costs,” said Gayle Peuser of ITSD’s desktop support group.

In order to qualify for the pilot program, we ask points of contacts who have an interest to identify at least 10 HP printers to be included, request an initial inspection (via the ITSD Help Desk) to certify the printers as good candidates (printers which are well beyond their useful service life or need a maintenance kit now will have to be brought up to spec), commit to ordering two boxes of toner for each black/white candidate printer as a starting point. Thereafter, toner can be ordered when needed.

This pilot program is being provided by Uptime Resources, an outside vendor, and represents a departure from current industry practice, according to ITSD’s desktop support group. The company makes its own toner cartridges and sells them for the same price as the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The profit margin allows them to provide printer support at no extra charge. The company offers a similar program for color printers, but the cost per toner cartridge is higher than the OEM’s price.

ITSD will run the pilot program under a single purchase order, then recharge participating Lab groups for the cost of the toner cartridges. Work will be tracked and auditable, and ITSD will be able to measure any cost savings. To learn more about participating in the pilot, contact the ITSD Help Desk at X4357 or help@lbl.gov.

Standard Printer Support

In the past, ITSD has contracted with outside vendors to provide maintenance of Hewlett-Packard printers, the predominant brand of printers at the Lab and the easiest to support on a cost-effective basis. A separate effort to provide support for Xerox’s Tektronix Phaser line has turned out to be too expensive and therefore discontinued and replaced with a more affordable program.

Here is a look at the current printer support services provided by ITSD:

HP printer Repairs

Calling the Help Desk or submitting a ticket for repairing an HP printer sends an automatic notification the vendor, SSP. Service costs are based on the needed time and materials (T&M).

Xerox (Tektronix Phasers)

ITSD now has a small purchase order in place with Livermore-based Laser-Life to provide repairs for these printers. While the new service program is nearly twice as expensive as for HP repairs, the prior arrangement with Xerox was almost four times as expensive. To obtain service, contact the ITSD Help Desk and the vendor will be automatically contacted.

HP Plotters

We have a number of customers who have HP Design Jet plotters. The contract with Laser-Life will also allow us to request service on behalf of the customer.

Costs

To learn more about printer service and costs, visit ITSD’s printer Web site. The site also includes the cost of toner for supported printers associated with the Uptime pilot.

Service is requested by submitting a help request or by calling the Help Desk at X4357. All charges are billed back to the customer through the ITSD recharge system. ITSD manages the interface between customer and vendor, is responsible for quality of service issues and will deal with problem resolution issues.