Small Business Trends talked to Bradley Allan, Xerox’s Product Marketing Manager, about its printers for SMBs.
Small Business Trends said that “using the Xerox small business printers is as easy as using a mobile app” and that the Xerox Phaser 6510 colour printer and the Xerox WorkCentre 6515 colour MFP are everything an SMB needs. It noted that small offices can print their marketing materials on site quickly with good colour quality, and can also “digitise client proposals and contracts” and send them to employees on the road, as well as “creating text searchable versions for easy archiving”.
The Xerox team have been redesigning printers for the SMB market, according to Allan: “Manufacturers often make improvements to an existing product. By starting from the ground up with a totally new design we were able to achieve breakthroughs. And we’re able to deliver much more productivity to small businesses.”
Asked what was different about the two printers, Allan explained: “Everything’s been redesigned — from the out-of-box setup, to the user interface you use for choosing copies or other services you want. It’s a far step ahead. We even redesigned the toner formula.”
Allan was also asked what he felt was exciting about the printers: “Here’s an example of what is so exciting about these new devices. Take the user interface you use to choose the number of copies or whether to scan or fax a document. Traditionally, printer screens have used what’s called a resistive interface. Most people are familiar with these older style screens. You have to push firmly to make a selection.
“However, today, people are used to using touchscreens on mobile devices, with light touches and gestures. That touchscreen experience, called a capacitive interface, is what we designed into the 6515. That means choosing the print services you want on the screen is like using a tablet.
“And it’s what people have become used to using today. We brought that same tablet experience to printers. There’s even scan and fax preview. This is a competitive differentiator in this segment of products. You won’t find any desktop multifunction printers at this price level with this kind of tablet-like ease of use. Xerox is first with this.”
On the toner redesign for SMBs, he commented: “These folks use their printed output to represent their business to their customers. The colour quality is fantastic and gives any small business owner the confidence needed when printing proposals, marketing materials, and so on.”
In conclusion, Allan said that the models are powerful and good value for SMBs: “It’s not just about what the printer itself costs. Buyers making the purchase decision can be confident in their total cost of ownership as the run costs are very competitive. For instance, toner and imaging drums are separate, which means customers don’t potentially sacrifice imaging drum life if toner is depleted before the drum (as can happen when these supplies are combined).”