Leeds Beckett wanted to replace a fragmented technology mix of printers and copiers and consolidate with a unified solution that would reduce costs, improve services and better meet the needs of both students and staff.
Leeds Beckett University awarded the contract to source a single consolidated fleet to HP Preferred Partner DTP Group, which has enjoyed a 20 year relationship with the institution. Having considered hardware options available to them via UK’s Higher Education purchasing framework, the University chose to deploy HP Multi-Function Printers.
The University approached DTP to help source a compatible software solution. After a successful trial period, SafeCom software was selected due to the reliability and ease of integration with HP’s Multi-Function Print devices.
At the time, Leeds Beckett was also in the process of introducing a common campus Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) card that students and staff would be able to use for print, copy, library, catering and on-campus purchases.
To coincide with the University’s aim to become a “cashless campus”, students are able to top up their RFID cards on the web or at kiosks located around the university and can then use their campus card to pay for print.
Members of staff also use the cards and their print is then automatically set against departmental costs. The service allows for printer logs to create a print profile that can be used to build and refine future printer deployments. Jobs that have remained uncollected for three days are automatically deleted from the print queue and this is expected to significantly reduce paper wastage.
Over an initial seven month period, 3,263,714 pages were put into the print system and of that, 967,840 pages were automatically deleted as they remained uncollected and represented a 43 per cent reduction in wasted paper and enhance the University’s environmental credentials. By the project completion date, Leeds Beckett’s 2000 print, copy and fax machines will have been replaced by just 450 HP Multi-Function Print devices that are leased under a Managed Print Service contract which includes support and automatic replenishment of consumables.