UCT Managed Print Services (MPS) is the university’s solution to incorporate all aspects of the printing landscape under one umbrella unit.

Printing services at the university include:

  • Local desktop printers
  • Staff printing, including secure and exam printing
  • Student printing
  • Bulk printing
  • Rental contract devices

In 2018 the university reviewed its printing strategy through stakeholder consultation and adopted the Managed Print Services approach. The purpose of UCT MPS is to streamline all the various printing options and services on campus using a centrally managed and serviced solution.

The university initiated a tender based on these requirements, and Bytes Document Solutions (Xerox) was appointed as the new printing vendor, who would fulfil these requirements. New printers were rolled out campus-wide in 2019.
 

Benefits of the UCT Managed Print Services Solution

  • Standardisation and improved efficiency of the printing services at the university.
  • MPS uses the ‘pay per use’ or ‘cost per page’ standard, which means that all the printing costs are covered in the per page printing price. These costs include all consumables (e.g. toner, paper), break fixes (e.g. paper jams). There are no additional rental contracts for services or devices.
  • All MPS devices are fully maintained and serviced by the support vendor (Bytes), based on campus for convenience and quick turnaround times.
  • MPS includes end-to-end remote monitoring of all devices for malfunctions, paper levels, etc.
  • The solution is fully integrated to the UCT environment, which also further simplifies the setup and installation of printers, and support to the users on campus.
    This includes:
    • Single Sign On to the system with users’ UCT username and password.
    • The ability to assign UCT fund and cost centre information to a user, and report on printing cost and usage.
    • Accurate print reporting, including:
      • Printing cost per user, per department, per fund and cost centre, etc.
      • Printing history
      • User detail history
    • Follow You printing: print jobs can be released on any device on campus.
    • Mobile printing and web printing: users can print from any device and any location, including off-campus.
    • Online bulk printing


The future of printing at UCT

A predicted increase in the volume of printing at UCT, will mean that more cost-effective rates for staff and students will be introduced in future.

MPS therefore encourages departments requiring new printers or who have rental contracts which are up for renewal, to be onboarded to the UCT Managed Print Services solution. This will enable them to leverage the benefits of this solution.