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Printers aren’t exciting, right? Think again! Unveiling its biggest product launch in the company’s 110-year history, Xerox has taken the humble printer/ copier and turned it into a futuristic machine capable of… well Xerox are not entirely sure just yet.
Showing off 29 products as part of its Xerox ConnectKey 2017 portfolio, the firm has ‘handed the keys’ to its technology over to its partners to take it where they see fit. (Sounds crazy right?) Through the Xerox Personalised Application Builder programme and the App Studio, channel partners can now come up with solutions to fix problems that their customers bring to them. This has already begun taking place, with resellers developing apps in the Gallery (Xerox’s equivalent of the App Store) to do everything from raising support tickets to connecting Xerox’s machines with Amazon’s Alexa to establish voice-activated copying, printing, etc…
The new AltaLink and VersaLink product lines are effectively designed for two purposes: to make things easier and quicker. By replacing the age-old, convoluted copier interface with what is effectively a tablet, Xerox are making their devices intuitive to use.
Speaking to the world’s media at Xerox’s Innovation Centre, President of International Operations Herve Tessler said: “In a SMB market that is completely transforming the way it works, our global channel partners require the very best technology, software and services to enable them to sell and drive customer growth. Demonstrating our continued innovation and market leading product development, this launch is further evidence of Xerox’s absolute commitment to supporting our channel partners in achieving long term and sustainable growth in their local markets.”
Personalised workflows, one-touch access to the cloud and ramped-up security, are the main features being pushed by Xerox’s marketing guys. The ability to personalise the interface to an individual user, allows each employee to customise the screen to suit their needs; in other words, to chose what apps and in which order they appear on the screen. The days of pulling your hair out at the copy machine may once-and-for-all be over!
