Mobile Printing for BYOD Crowd

As more and more companies are allowing employees to bring their own smartphones and tablets to the office, it is clearly evident that the current BYOD (bring your own device) trend is here to stay. Though it may be completely counterintuitive to believe otherwise, this emerging mobile workforce is generating more print output according to IDC.

A report published by the research company in 2012 indicates year-over-year increases in mobile printing with about half of the BYOD crowd printing from their mobile devices in 2015 while at work.

Though completely comfortable in using the very latest in mobile technology, these same individuals are many times uncomfortable and unaware of how to print to the office printer or multifunction product (MFP) while using their wireless devices. IDC reveals that 35 percent of corporate tablet users and more than half of all smartphone owners who bring their devices to work fall into this category.

With the advent of low cost and even no cost software, this challenge is becoming easier to overcome. To help on-the-go users accomplish this seemingly simple – but often cumbersome task – companies like Toshiba have created apps allowing them to do just that.

Aside from enabling its users to scan and print documents from Toshiba MFPs, the company’s mobile app allows for the sharing of these same files while using such cloud applications as Box.com, Dropbox and Google Drive.

With the burgeoning use of personal smartphones and tablets at work these devices are becoming as much a part the corporate enterprise landscape as the personal computer. As the shift from viewing content on a device rather than paper is clearly in place, the mode for reviewing such items as contracts, proposals and counter proposals in paper form remains the preferred method of consumption; the need to print is as viable as ever.