Making Print Transparent and Secure in the Modern Law Firm

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

As part of the relocation, De Grandpré Chait identified opportunities to improve efficiency for the firm’s busy staff. Printing should be a simple, push-of-the-button act, but the print fleet at the law firm was over ten years old, and the printers were starting to show their age. In addition to increased downtime for service and repair, the printers were noisy and lacked the features and functionality staff needed. Further, the current setup was inefficient, with each employee having their own black and white printer at their workstation and seven or eight copiers in a dedicated, centralized room.

Beyond lack of reliability and function, De Grandpré Chait's printer fleet contained devices from three different manufacturers. This meant that servicing the machines, replacing toner and connecting to the office IT infrastructure was often complicated and time consuming, requiring calls to numerous vendors to procure parts. With service calls on the rise, the result was increased costs and additional frustration for both users and the support team.

Replacing the printers was daunting because it had to be done as part of a more extensive infrastructure overhaul.

"We knew we couldn’t only change the printers, we needed to update the phone system, monitors and many other things in the IT department," François Turcotte, Director of IT, explained.

Keen to have a new solution in place before moving into the new location, De Grandpré Chait engaged several service partners to support the project. De Grandpré Chait ultimately selected Compugen because they felt that Compugen truly listened to their requirements and were committed to finding the right solution without a bias towards a single manufacturer. Having a single source to procure the product, as well as implement and service it was also a key factor.

"This is where Compugen was so helpful. If not for them, we would not have been able to do all the necessary legwork to find the right printer solution, as we had to change so many things all at once."

SOLUTION

For De Grandpré Chait, the right solution needed to meet a number of objectives. First, having a single manufacturer for all printer devices to streamline procurement for things like toner, parts and servicing. Second, leveraging high quality e-print services that are silent, reliable and cost-efficient. Third, ensuring devices offer optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities, a feature that automates data extraction from a scanned document and converts into editable and searchable text. Lastly, the solution had to fit the design and esthetic of the new, modern office space they were moving into.

Compugen's Bonnie Cyr, Managed Print Sales Specialist, and Anny Parenteau, Account Manager, collaborated with the De Grandpré Chait team to find the perfect fit. The Compugen team provided several demo machines from different manufacturers so Turcotte and team could see firsthand how they would function. Demo systems are limited, and in this case, one of the printers De Grandpré Chait wished to try was unavailable. Compugen purchased the device and sent it to Turcotte to test. This device was ultimately the one selected for procurement.

"That helped us immensely because it was an arduous process, and we needed to make our choice quickly," Turcotte said. "To go that extra mile to ensure we had access to all the demo machines promptly is the kind of premium service you can't get just anywhere."

De Grandpré Chait chose the devices that worked best for them: a fleet of HP multifunction printers and HP scanning software. In total, 59 HP printers were ordered and delivered De Grandpré Chait a week before the new office grand opening.

During the device installation and set-up, the head of the firm determined that 22 of the printers were too big for some of the offices and would need to be replaced with smaller units.

"For me, it was a catastrophe and total nightmare," Turcotte recalls. "I called Bonnie and said, 'we have a big problem.' I explained the situation, and she just said, 'No problem, I'll call you back in an hour, and I'll take care of it."

"Our focus was to first get those 22 machines out of there, and then look at finding printers that were more size-appropriate," Cyr says. "We managed to achieve both of these goals, and in the end, two different models of HP printers were selected for the De Grandpré Chait office."

The Compugen team took care of all delivery logistics for both types of devices, and ensured every machine was ready to go for the first day in the office.

OUTCOME

With the new printer fleet, employees can readily access all the functionality they need securely, seamlessly and at the press of a button. Turcotte describes the difference as night and day.

"We were in an environment where everyone had black and white printers at their desks, and we had seven or eight big photocopiers in a photocopier room. Now we no longer have or need a photocopier room, and everyone can send to print in colour right from their desks. I can tell you everyone is much happier now."

Based on the success of testing, procuring, installing and setting up the printer fleet, De Grandpré Chait also selected Compugen as their solutions provider to manage and service those machines going forward.

"We asked all the potential partners many questions about how the support would be provided as well as the number of service personnel available downtown Montreal should we need the services. Compugen was the only one who had the resources and the expertise to resolve any issue within a concise time frame, and that is key for us," Turcotte explained.

To learn more about how to modernize print for your office or remote workforce, click here.