Digital printing innovator Electronics For Imaging Inc. (EFI) has expanded its EFI PrintMe cloud printing solution to include new apps and drivers as well as additional locations to print and wider language support. In a press release submitted to ChannelPro-SBM, the improved feature set meets the growing needs of “mobile device users looked for ways to conveniently print.”
In addition, the company has announced EFI Self-Serve AdminCentral, a cloud-based management system for the M500 Self-Serve Copy and Print Station. The M500 station is a self-serve and payment system that enables printing from mobile phones, iPads, USB drives, and such cloud accounts as Google Drive, Dropbox, and EFI PrintMe. With the addition of EFI Self-Serve AdminCentral, administrators can now securely configure and manage their M500 stations at any time from any Web browser.
EFI PrintMe
Increasing numbers of SMBs are using cloud storage services on mobile devices to gain access to photos and documents from any device in any location. With access to these documents comes a need to print. PrintMe Cloud service is designed to provide SMB employees with the flexibility and convenience to easily print from their mobile devices at hotels, convention centers, airports, college campuses, office superstores and other retail and business locations.††
“Business travelers, mobile workers, small business owners, college students, and leisure travelers need a hassle-free solution for remote or wireless printing,” states the EFI press release. “PrintMe Cloud now offers users more choices of how to conveniently print from their mobile devices. Users also have more ways to locate a public printer from an expanding list, including approximately 500 U.S. Staples stores.”
New PrintMe features include:
- New iPhone/iPad and Android applications that enable mobile users to print documents, photos, or Web pages from their mobile device. They can also access and print documents stored on such cloud tools as Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Apple iCloud, Microsoft SkyDrive, SugarSync, and 4shared.
- A single print driver for sending documents or Web pages to PrintMe Cloud via Windows or Mac laptops and desktops.
- The transfer of any document by emailing to print@printme.com or uploading to the PrintMe.com website.
- A locator service on the mobile application that uses GPS or a search function to find the nearest print location presented on a map or in a list.
- The support of nine languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese and Japanese.
EFI Self-Serve AdminCentral
“The M500 station already enables retail print and office supply stores, hotels, libraries, college campuses, and government offices to provide their customers with an easy-to-use, self-serve payment system for copy and print services,” says John Henze, EFI’s vice president of Fiery marketing. “Cloud-based administration eliminates the cost of in-house servers and the headaches of updating software.”
Mobile device usage is growing exponentially each year, and mobile users are increasingly demanding print capabilities from their devices. Retailers, colleges, and hospitality businesses who want to provide a mobile printing service can use the M500 station to provide a self-serve environment for users to access files from their USB drives, mobile devices, or cloud accounts as well as to pay for the prints or copies.
With EFI Self-Serve AdminCentral, M500 station administrators can securely set up and manage each individual M500 station or all stations at once online. They can configure devices, add services without changing the hardware, and set or adjust prices and tax rates. They can also generate detailed sales and usage reports, monitor real-time device status, and update device software online.
The M500 station features a large 10-inch color touchscreen and accepts credit cards, campus cards, and cash cards at the device, eliminating the need for coin-operated machines. It also supports 1D/2D barcode scanning for mobile devices.
