Ricoh Provides Opportunity for European Businesses to add Customer Value by Introducing Model for Mobile Printing

Finding a convenient place to print e-mails and documents from laptops, smart phones or PDAs has not been easy for the growing number of mobile device users. This is despite more than 75 per cent of users expressing a need for such a service¹. Ricoh is providing businesses with an opportunity to resolve this issue for their customers. By installing a HotSpot printer on their premises, businesses make it possible for their customers to send e-mails and documents securely via their mobile devices to a printer and retrieve their documents by simply keying in a password that has been e-mailed back to their mobile device. The HotSpot printer is easy for businesses to set up and doesn't require installation of software or drivers.

"The demand for HotSpot Printing is apparent in the market place", said Steven Barnes, Product Manager, Ricoh Europe PLC. "In fact many office workers find themselves missing the ability to print documents and e-mails while away from the office. As a company where innovation is customer-driven, we recognised the need to develop Ricoh HotSpot printing to help service focused businesses such as airports, hotels, and coffee franchises capture the opportunity to add value for their clientele."

"PrinterOn is excited about expanding our already successful relationship with Ricoh North America to now include Ricoh Europe," said Ken Noreikis, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, PrinterOn®. "This expansion into the European market is a major milestone towards the eventual worldwide adoption of mobile printing."

How it works
Ricoh HotSpot printing technology is easy to use, convenient and secure. As a service provider there are two delivery models developed by Ricoh and their partner PrinterOn® to choose from:

• Select e-mail with or without attachments
• Forward e-mail to the HotSpot Printer's e-mail address (on a label affixed to the printer)
• Retrieve printed documents by inputting a PIN which is e-mailed to the user's handheld device

• Upload attachment to print, via webpage
• Receive PIN for print job via e-mail
• Retrieve printed documents by inputting a PIN which is e-mailed to the user's handheld device

Benefits: Simple, Mobile and Secure
Ricoh HotSpot printing delivers numerous benefits to service oriented businesses. By using the HotSpot printer as a day-to-day network printer as well as a service offering, businesses can maximise return on investment while strengthening their customer experience. The improved level of service will contribute to increased length of stays, repeat visits and differentiation from the competition.

"The advantage of Ricoh HotSpot printing is that its technology is simple and secure, said Steven Barnes. "By leveraging cloud computing and SaaS we ensured a high level of flexibility and scalability, making certain that it meets different location requirements without needing a particular network supplier. Customers can print from any platform without having to download a specific driver or software, but document security is guaranteed thanks to the file encryption and the unique release code system."