It's always exciting to start working with a new client, and this couldn't be more true than with Chicago-based PrintWithMe, which is bringing their simplified mobile printing solution to the multifamily industry.
When I first heard about the team at PrintWithMe, the first word I digested was "print" -- and as someone who grew up in the days of print marketing and helped migrate this arena to a digital-only world, my first thought was "huh?" And then I learned oh, so much more.
Jonathan Treble and team at PrintWithMe have created a printing solution that makes it easier to manage and budget your community printer, not to mention fast and simple for your residents to use. Their story is a cool one, starting with a mobile printing solution in coffee houses, co-working facilities, hotels and more throughout the Chicago area and expanding into other metros. They quickly discovered that multifamily needed a similar solution, and are growing fast in our vertical.
Right about now, I can hear you asking, "but really, Judy, how much need is there for a printed document these days?" Well, let me share a few statistics with you:
- 59% of residents use the community printer as their primary printer
- 80% of residents will use the community printer throughout the year
- 78% of residents want to print wirelessly from their own devices
- 83% of residents want access to scan, copy and fax functionality
- 70% of residents have a need to print in color
Clearly, there's a need for hard documentation. What are these residents printing? Among other things, they're printing, scanning, copying and faxing work documents, shipping labels, tickets to events, tax and legal documents. If you've had to go to a doctor recently - like I just did, you probably already know that the medical industry hasn't quite caught up to the 21st century in terms of documentation, so new patient forms are another hard copy requirement.
But here's the really cool part . . . the PrintWithMe mobile solution takes the "care and feeding" of your community printer off your site team's plate! Their software solution allows for remote monitoring of toner and paper levels, tracks individual resident usage, and many more options for budgeting and controlling this service to your residents. And for residents, it's as simple as emailing their document to the printer address, and then releasing them at the printer (so their private docs remain private). It's one small thing in the day-to-day management of your property, but can be a big thing to your residents or your already-overloaded site staff. In my experience, it's always the little things that make a difference, and the lack of them that can become enormous frustrations.
If you own or manage properties, this is a new technology that deserves a look!