Canon study finds that many employees are reluctant to use remote printing when away from the office.
Techradar reports that an independent report conducted by RS Consulting on behalf of Canon revealed that 55 percent of respondents do not see the value in mobile printing opportunities at a client’s site or in a public place, compared with 37 percent that indicated that they do.
The survey was carried out on 1,671 end-users and 300 decision makers across Europe, with a further 60 in-depth telephone interviews with end users from 12 countries also contributing to the findings. It was found that, despite finding it beneficial to productivity, many workers are reluctant to use devices with remote printing and copying capabilities when out of the office.
Using the survey, Canon has identified four barriers preventing remote working from becoming more widespread, with security issues being the most common as remote workers are granted access to certain parts of the servers containing non-sensitive documents. This was followed by the issue of “ignorance”, with many workers being unaware of the mobile solutions available to them and the benefits they can bring; and remote working and printing found to be new concepts to many employees.
Furthermore, some employees indicated that they have a lack of trust in such technology, with concerns about the technology working consistently and whether they would cope if the device malfunctioned “on the spot”. The final barrier identified by Canon was that some respondents felt that having the option to work and print remotely could result in them feeling obliged to work extra hours away from the office.
The study found that overall, a quarter of respondents believe that they understand the full capabilities of their office equipment, and so many are hesitant in fully embracing the technology.
Commenting on the findings, Matt Wrighton, European and UK Marketing Manager at Canon Europe, said: “Generally, end users don’t know what they can or can’t do remotely […] Even when tech is implemented there is not necessarily enough education to understand what they can do, or what policies allow them to do, so education in this area is crucial.”
To tackle the problem, Wrighton suggested that businesses “review their current document policies,” adding that “there is a need to involve end users in that process, as they’re the people in those workflows that understand what they’re trying to achieve”.