Managed Print FAQs

Broadly speaking, this concept aims to bring all of an organization's output devices (copiers/printers/faxes) into a single management structure.  This allows the best efficiency in purchasing and placing devices and helps drive down the overall cost per page.

Yes, but gradually.

The University has converted completely to its CampusPrint and has exited from SmartPrinting. 

However, there will still be a pool of these machines left in the Medical Center. Existing procedures should still be followed on the remaining SmartPrinting devices. Eventually, these will fade away as they reach or exceed lease-end and are replaced by Managed Print or are simply removed.

Vereco (formerly Auxilio/CynergisTek) is a managed print and security firm focusing on the healthcare industry. They bring extensive experience and good references in the field, as well as a familiarity with healthcare systems such as Epic.

A committee with representation from VUMC IT, Supply Chain, SmartPrinting, and Clinic Operations, with assistance from Vizient (formerly MedAssets), worked to identify our best choice in managed print. Fourteen firms responded to the RFP, which were subsequently narrowed to four, and then to the winner.

Look for Vereco/Auxilio/CynergisTek in our Links section.

For toner, on the opening page, choose "Submit a Request". The next screen has a handy search field where you can search for "toner." On the next screen, you will click to indicate whether you or somebody else should receive the supplies, and key the details of your order into the "Reason for Request" box. Remember to give your Vereco device number and be explicit about what you need--not just "toner," but "two black toners," "1 each of cyan, magenta, and yellow toner," etc. 

For printer operations that are NOT repairs, follow the same procedure but search instead for "printer." Near the center bottom of the screen, you will see a menu of printer operations available--move, install, remove, etc.

For printer REPAIRS, on the opening page, you will instead start with the button that says "Report An Issue." On the next screen, you will title your issue, enter the description, choose the urgency of the request, and click to indicate whether you or somebody else needs the service. As with all other operations, be sure to include your Vereco device number.

To request a NEW MACHINE (either printer or MFD), start with "Submit A Request", but then search for Vereco SIte Survey. You will submit this to request a visit from the Vereco staff, who will advise you on the best choice of equipment for your needs.

Look for the Pegasus page in our Links section, and also for the Pegasus Instructions Flyer link in the sidebar.

Vereco/CynergisTek/Auxilio was requested to tag all devices so as to gain as complete an inventory as possible. This means that SmartPrinting machines and research printers may be tagged. For SmartPrinting, continue to use the instructions on the gold label as usual. For research printers, see Question 12 below.

The Vereco/CynergisTek/Auxilio managed print model charges end users mainly on a per-click basis for both black/white and color copies. This is somewhat similar to the SmartPrinting program model, which charges per click for color copies only but with a lease charge. The full chargeback system is explained in Question 21 below.

Very good question! We need you to tell us. Associating cost centers with our machine inventory is an important task we are working on. We need the center to expense back the per-click charges that pay for our service and supplies, onsite Vereco staff, etc.

If the Vereco staff have already visited your department, you may have been given a form to fill out and mail back. Some areas that have large numbers of units under a single cost center have been able to give us the information for groups of machines, and you can ask your supervisor or administrator if yours is one of them.

In other cases, where we have not been able to gain a center number for the machine, we have asked Vereco to ascertain this for us on the next request for service or supplies. This may be a little inconvenient, but we ask for your patience as we fill in the gaps in our database.

With the assistance of VUMC IT, Vereco/CynergisTek/Auxilio has installed software on our network that can in many cases gather this data automatically. However, not all printers support this kind of operation, and some are not networked at all. So you may still see the managed print staff making monthly rounds to read meters manually.

Yes. Vereco/CynergisTek/Auxilio brings us national buying power that will become increasingly important as the program expands into more costly units such as copiers. In addition, their expertise in workflow analysis and print system design is expected to gradually shrink both our machine numbers and our pages printed.

Yes, the vendor's expertise is available to all departments. It may be most valuable when planning for a move or substantial renovation, but even when replacing one or a few units it's good to think about the big picture. Please use the instructions in Question #4 to request an assessment via a Pegasus ticket.

Possibly. This depends on your building's wiring system and the optimum dispositon of your devices. Overall, our focus in future will be to minimize the number of "standalone" devices, and to make maximum use of the network infrastructure we have already invested in. Any new network ports should be requested as currently, and will be charged to the department budget. This is a fairly small, one-time expense and should be more than offset by the savings realized by your managed print plan.

VUMC did request the vendor to tag all devices (see Question #5 above). If a tagged unit is paid for solely by research funds, though, it will not be counted for managed print at this time. Existing arrangments for service and support should be maintained.

We would like to assist as many areas as possible. We would need to discuss your situation with regard to grant restrictions and accounting before making a determination, however. Please use the contact information in our LINKS section to reach out to the project manager and we will see what we can work out.

Because there are so many machines and so many pieces of our printing puzzle to assemble, we have decided that service contracts on these units may be renewed if desired. Eventually, plans are to assimilate everything into Managed Print, but this process will take time.

Yes--this is one of the real advantages of running a unified plan. For supplies, more than likely someone else at VUMC has a machine that uses the same ones, and we can route yours to them. In the rare case where that's not possible, CynergisTek/Auxilio has a plan for environmentally sound disposal of old supplies. 

Surplus printers may be rebuilt for use in our pool of loaner machines (loaners are another benefit of the program) or to be placed in a new department, thus holding down our need to buy new hardware. When this is not possible, an old unit may still be good for free parts to keep other printers going. When a unit is really no longer salvageable, the vendor will dispose of these responsibly as well.

Use the contact information in the LINKS section to request a pickup.

At the present, no, although we did tag any we ran across during the survey in order to build out our inventory record. 

Scanners are simpler to maintain than a printer or copier and use no supplies, so they are prioritized lower for now. So few wide-format units exist in our fleet that they are also a low priority.

Yes. They took an active part in the Epic Leap transition, and will be supporting Epic output devices, including Zebra printers (see question 18).

Yes. By arrangement between Vereco/CynergisTek/Auxilio and VUMC IT, these devices are being inventoried and brought into the program. At least for the present, there will be no direct cost to the departments for support on these devices.

In most cases, no. Leaving aside research areas as noted in Question 12 above, we should be able to obtain all our toner through the Pegasus-Vereco/CynergisTek/Auxilio pathway.

No. We analyzed the SmartPrinting fleet and found that only about 4% of those units are expensed this way. We concluded that the extra complexity is not worth coding into the billing system for so small a need.

There are three types of transactions which the Managed Print system can generate:

• Per click (per page) charges, similar to what is done for color pages in the SmartPrinting program;
• One-time purchase charges for small printers; this type of charge is new, since printers were never in SmartPrinting;
• Monthly lease charges for copier/multifunction units, exactly as is done in SmartPrinting.

PER-CLICK

All units in the program will receive a charge for each page printed, whether color or black-and-white. There are several tiers of equipment as shown below, each of which will receive a different rate per page. These charges will be identified by the machine's AB# or AC# from the barcode sticker on the front and noted as color or b/w copies. Per the instructions we have received from Medical Center Finance, each of these charges will be accompanied by a matching accrual.

Note: Tiers not shown are for Vereco internal accounting or
other specialized purposes, and will not impact our billing.

PRINTER PURCHASES

When a department purchases a new printer, Vereco will obtain and install a suitable HP or Zebra unit. The purchase price will be charged back, plus 10% to allow for labor to configure the machine. These charges will be identified as “Printer Purchase,” but may not show a barcode sticker number as this may not have been assigned at the time the transaction goes through. Since these are one-time charges, they will not generate any accruals.

COPIER LEASES

When a new copier/multifunction device is installed, the department will be quoted a monthly lease payment. Depending on the install date and the billing cycle, this chargeback may or may not show up for the install month. In any case, when it begins, the lease is considered to be in effect for 36 months from the date of that first payment. These charges will be identified as “Copier,” with the AB/AC# from the machine’s label. These transactions will generate matching accruals.

If you have questions about the meter readings or the meter gathering process, please contact Alan Swart of Vereco/CynergisTek/Auxilio (contact info on main page). For questions about how chargebacks are processed, please contact Frank Ashe. If you have questions about the accrual process, please contact Ryan Nelson.

IDENTIFYING ACCRUAL CHARGES - in late 2018, we began putting "ACC" or "ACCRUAL" in the transaction description of these lines to make them easier to identify.

NOTE: Our machine lookup page is at the below link. This is beginning to be built out and most machine info is now available.

Managed Print Machine Lookup Page

A large part of this was toner and other supplies purchased through Guy Brown and other supply vendors. Some of it was in service contracts, and some in parts/repair costs on machines that were not covered under contract.

These are now covered at no extra cost and can be acccessed through Pegasus (see question #4 above).

This will be a standard capability on all new multi-function devices (MFDs) that Vereco/CynergisTek/Auxilio installs. Combining this function into an MFD will be cheaper than maintaining separate fax machines.

We have understood from VUMC IT that a network fax solution for the institution has been considered and may still be implemented, but is not imminent. For this reason, we have decided to make fax standard on the new MFDs.

Note that this means you will still need to maintain one or more analog phone lines, depending on your machine configuration, since faxes cannot flow through the network connection.

<p>Each Managed Print unit is identified with a 5-digit number beginning with AB or AC on the sticker attached to the front of it--example below. You will see this number on each financial charge generated by the machine (see question 21 above).</p>

<p class="text-align-center"><img alt="Sample Auxilio Label" data-align="center" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://www.vumc.org/it/managed-print/sites/default/files/public_files/AuxilioSampleTag_opt.jpg" width="50%" /></p>

<p>Have the AB number or numbers ready, then access our machine lookup page at the link below. Key in the number of the machine you want to know about, and you will see its information.</p>

<p class="text-align-center"><a href="https://www.vumc.org/it/%3Ca%20href%3D"https://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/copypost/mp_lookup.php">https://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/copypost/mp_lookup.php">Managed Print Machine Lookup Page</a></p>
 

It was a corporate acquisition, we understand. Vereco (pronounced VER--ECK--OH) purchased CynergisTek's managed print business. CynergisTek remains in business as a cybersecurity firm. Our local staff has transitioned to Vereco and we expect to see little change, except for the vereco.com e-mail addresses they will be using now.

Yes. To hold down costs, we needed to take steps to standardize our machine fleet. With the advice of Vereco/CynergisTek/Auxilio, we have settled on Canon for copier/multifunction units, Hewlett-Packard for printers, and Zebra for thermal printers. These are all brands and organizations that VUMC has had satisfactory experience with in the past, so we feel confident that they can support our operations into the future.

You most probably heard from one of the infamous "toner phoners" who constitute virtually an entire industry in themselves. These con artists constantly call businesses, hoping to connect with an incautious or inexperienced employee who will give verbal authorization for a shipment of inferior and overpriced toner. Sometimes, just to make things more fun, they will offer a "free gift" in exchange for the order. (The gift always turns out to be cheap junk.) These calls are recorded and may be played back later in an attempt to collect on the exorbitant invoice that follows.

The safest thing is simply to politely refuse to speak to any caller you do not know about copier toner or any other office supplies. It is important to convey this to the staff who man your phones, particularly while they are in training or if you have temporaries performing this task. Caution everyone not to agree to anything, and not to give out purchase orders, addresses, serial numbers, model numbers, vendor names, or anything else that could be used to make an invoice look legitimate.

If you have a caller that is persistent, offer to transfer them to the Purchasing Department. They will hastily hang up at that point!

(BTW, if you are curious to know more about this scam, or want to give your staff some more in-depth information, just type "toner phoner" into any search engine. There will be lots of results.)

This depends on your department or business unit. If ordinarily your area pays tax, then your Managed Print expense likely will be taxable too.

The nice thing is that our Department of Finance takes care of this in the background--they know which centers are taxable, so they calculate and pay the state accordingly. Neither you nor your Vereco representative need do anything special when you install or replace a machine.

Yes. Our onsite Vereco staff have modified their procedures to comply with our infection control guidelines while still maintaining equipment service levels.

Service personnel all have masks and hand sanitizer and will observe social distancing as far as possible while carrying out their duties. They are subject to the same screening as VUMC staff before entering the complex at their start-of-shift.

They have also made one change in our billing/chargeback system. While the current crisis lasts, Vereco personnel will not be making rounds to collect meter reads from machines that cannot be read over the network. These are normally used to calculate our per-page charges. Instead, they will be using a 12-month average for billbacks on these units. This limits person-to-person contact and helps minimize risk to their staff and ours.

When conditions permit, readings will be taken again and chargebacks trued-up. Fortunately, the great majority of these machines are small and low-consumption, so the financial impact in any given month should be minor.

Ths is Vereco's extra charge for providing enhanced response on service and supplies to machines considered critical, either in clinical or infrastructure areas. VUMC IT had paid this up until spring 2020, when the decision was made to move this cost to the users of the devices. This charge will be identified on the pullsheet as "Critical Device Chg" with the AB or AC number of the machine involved.

This is generally about $30 per month per unit, and is entirely separate from the normal lease and per-click charges. Per advice from Finance, we will not be accruing for these charges.

Given the large number of departments and addresses VUMC has, this is bound to happen occasionally.

In this case, please email Vereco-ResidentTeam-VUMC@vereco.com with a copy of the packing list or the PO number on the packing list. We can use that PO number to track who the package belongs to. Then we can communicate with both customers to get the supplies routed correctly. This avoids having supplies returned and having to be reshipped.

Effective May 17^th, 2021, if the Canon device is on the VUMC network and managed by Managed Print Services (which is Vereco), then yes--your toner will automatically be ordered when the cartridge reaches a preset amount of toner remaining. This facility will eliminate the need to submit a Pegasus request for toner. It will also no longer be necessary to keep backup toner on hand.

For areas on main campus:

Once the toner has been received by MPS, a tech will deliver and install the toner in the machine. If your Canon device is in an office that the MPS tech cannot access, though, the tech may reach out for alternative delivery methods.

For offsite areas:

The toner will be shipped to the address shown in Canon’s database. The address label will include the MPS tech who manages this program (currently Gregory Anderson) and the serial number of the device. If toner is received and you are not sure of what copier it is for, please reach out to MPS for clarification at this email: Vereco-ResidentTeam-VUMC@vereco.com.  (Remember to include the serial number from the shipping label in the e-mail.)  An MPS tech will reach back out to you with the asset number and exact location that is on file for the device.

Important note:

This program is only for Vereco's networked Canon devices. If your Canon unit is not on the VUMC network, or is part of the SmartPrinting program, then you will need to continue to submit toner requests as usual.