Posted by One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over my 16+ years’ experience in the barcoding and data collection world is that the most valuable resource you and I have is time. Whether you’re considering an inventory management solution or data collection equipment, one of the driving forces in your purchasing decision is the timesaving you’re hoping to gain.
Don’t forget this important point: Every time your barcode scanner doesn’t read a barcode label, every time the printer doesn’t print a label (or the label’s unreadable), or your workers can’t connect to your network — you’re losing time. And, when these scenarios arise, they often cause employees to revert to their previous manual and error-prone ways.
In previous articles, I’ve talked about the importance of choosing the right devices and having a repair strategy when things go wrong. Building on my previous advice, there’s one additional way you can optimize your time: mobile device management (MDM). I like to think of it as managed services for barcode scanners and printers. Like managed services, it means paying a monthly (or yearly) fee to have a dedicated person or company (like EMS Barcode Solutions) manage your barcode equipment and media for you. Here are three ways this kind of service can benefit your company:
- Configure Once, Deploy Many. Looking to roll out several barcode scanners or printers at once? Instead of wasting time handling each device and installing software and performing configurations one-at-a-time, an MDM solution allows you to select the software and configurations once, then with a push of a button deploy each device simultaneously, remotely.
- Keep Your Devices Secure. Any device that’s attached to a corporate network is at risk for a potential cyberattack these days. And, if there’s one thing cybercriminals have become adept at it’s going for the low-hanging fruit, which are devices with outdated security. A case in point is the worldwide ransomware outbreak that made headlines last year called WannaCry. The ransomware exploited a Microsoft security vulnerability that Microsoft had released a patch for two months prior. The reason hundreds of thousands of computers were infected was that they hadn’t received a security patch update in several months. Managed devices are regularly updated with the latest security patches, firmware, and drivers, which minimizes security risks and performance problems.
- Keep A Pulse on Device Health. Before devices break down, there are often signs that precede the event such as a slowdown in performance, increases in missed reads, or increases in device temperature. With an MDM service in place, customers can hone in on these ailing devices and act before a failure occurs.
Contact us via our website to learn more about how our MDM offering and managed services can help you optimize your barcode scanning and printer investment and make the best use of the one limited resource we all need to maximize, which is time.
