There are also several other areas of the machine that you can clean yourself  that will help you to avoid issues. On  some machines you need to periodically clean the laser windows or print head lenses to prevent inconsistencies in density of color in copies or prints. On some machines you can clean rollers that could help avoid document or paper  jams.  So it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with all the cleaning procedures for your machine.  To find out what you can do to keep your machine clean, go to the Online Support  page for your machine and select the Perform Machine Maintenance or Maintain the Machine link.  There you will find several items that you can take care of yourself.  Machine models vary on what you can clean so make sure you refer to your documentation or Online Support to see what you can do. 

Here is a link to a generic  video on Cleaning the Document Glass.  Disclaimer:  your machine may look different, your machine may not have access to the glass,  please read all instructions before attempting, no printers were harmed in the making of this video, just making sure you are paying attention ☺.

Happy Cleaning.  I know what you’re thinking, “Cheryl I don’t do windows”, well somebody has to and the copy you clean up may be your own!

Click here to view the embedded video.

ConnectKey offers so much that one short video can only hit the highlights so please consider reviewing the ConnectKey website and the ConnectKey brochure.  I have been writing a series of articles about ConnectKey to help familiarize you with the features and functions of Xerox ConnectKey.  Feel free to reviews these articles for more information.  Here are the titles and links to the blogs that have been published:

• Xerox® ConnectKey™ is Here! – an overview of Xerox ConnectKey.
• The Key to Security? Xerox ConnectKey™ – exploring the security features.
• Xerox ConnectKey™Helping you Save Time and Money - energy save and other ways to save time and money.
• Xerox ConnectKey™ – Mobile and Connected to the Cloud – mobile and cloud features. 
• Xerox ConnectKey™ and Support – support features available with ConnectKey.

Remember that informational  videos are included in each article.  The Xerox ConnectKey is a wonderful technology that brings many features to your fingertips.  Now I am sure you are wondering how you go about getting ConnectKey.  Here is a list of the machines that are now available with ConnectKey.  

I hope that I have answered some questions you may have had about ConnectKey or that I have gotten you interested in looking into ConnectKey for your business.

The solution is to locate the offending piece of paper and carefully remove it from the machine.  Most of our machines will tell you on the user interface where the jam has occurred.  If you are not sure how to clear the jam, just head on over to Online Support and search on “jam” you will find cases and solutions that will guide you through the steps to clear the jam.  Some models’ support pages even include a video to show you how to remove the jam.  This video is from the ColorQube 9200 videos tab on the online support.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now let’s talk about how to avoid a jam.  Did you know that paper has a top and a bottom side?  Who knew!?!  Well paper does have a top and bottom.  If you look at the unopened ream of paper you will see an arrow or some other indication of which side is the up or top side of the paper. 

The paper should be loaded in the paper trays as required for your printer, in most cases that will be with the up or top side facing up.  So if you are continuing to have jams try fanning and flipping your paper in the paper tray.

Another thing that might cause a jam is moist paper.  Make sure you store your paper in a cool, dry place to avoid humidity or moisture from affecting your paper supply.  Paper also needs to be within the specifications for the machine.  Paper specifications can be found in the online support for your machine.  

Some other suggestions, in no particular order, include: 

1. Make sure the adjustable paper width guides are positioned correctly around the media. Incorrect positioning of the guides can result in frequent paper jams or skewed prints.
2. Do not overload the Paper Tray.
3. Do not remove paper from the Paper Tray or Manual Feed Tray during printing.
4. Flex, fan, and straighten paper before loading. Make sure the paper is neatly stacked and properly aligned in the Paper Tray.
5. Do not use creased, damp, or curled paper.
6. Do not mix paper or specialty media types in the paper trays.   

Paper and paper specifications are important to your printer.  Xerox has recently completed an agreement with Domtar.  Domtar will market and distributeXerox-branded paper and print media.  Please take a look at the  Domtar site to find out all you need to know about paper and other media recommended for use in your machine.  

If you have other suggestions of ways to avoid jams share them with us in the comment section below.  Let us know what has worked for you and any lessons learned.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Finally, let’s take a fun look at what not to do to fix a paper jam.  By the way this is not a Xerox Printer in the video.  Enjoy!  

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So how cool is that?  Remote Control Panel allows real time training and support. Someone like an administrator or product specialist can stay where they are and operate the control panel securely from any office workstation as though they were standing in front of the machine.  The feature can be used  to walk someone at the machine through the set-up and programming of  features.  Not only is this a great training tool it is an awesome support tool. 

In addition to the Remote Control Panel feature there are also embedded help videos to help with issues that might arise on the machine.  ConnectKey provides on-device access to the Xerox Online Support database right from the control panel.  Yes, this is the Online Support that I refer you to in many of the At Your Service blog articles.  All of this at your fingertips support will help you to resolve issues quickly and hopefully without the need for having someone come onsite.  This will save you both time and money!

Please let us know when we do something right.  When you go to the support pages and find a solution that works for you please let us know. All you have to do is click on the “I Found My Answer” link under the Yes column.  We really do look at this stuff and it helps us know what type of cases and solutions help you out the most. With that information we can build better more helpful knowledgebase for you.

We also would like to hear your suggestions and comments for what you would like to see added or changed in the knowledge bases or any other information you would like us to know.  You can supply us with this information by clicking on the “Send us your ideas and feedback link”   Here is an example of what you will see at the end of every solution.  These are the links I have been talking about. 

We really do want our online support to be the best and we want it to help you be self-sufficient when using and troubleshooting your equipment.  Now we know we cannot answer every question for every situation but with your help we can get the most common information up there for you to see and you can have a hand in making sure the information you need is there for you and others that use the same machines and applications that you use. 

Consider helping us help you and other customers.  We really do appreciate your input.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The ConnectKey enabled multifunction machines can be connected wirelessly to the network, so location is not as much of an issue for the placement of the machine.  The Mobile Print application allows you to print from any device to any device.  Mobile Print is available as a cloud service and / or a server side installation. 

If you prefer to print at your site you can use the PrintBack agent to send documents received from your mobile devices to the print queue of your machine.  You have the choice of having the documents print or be held in a queue till you are ready for them. 

Maybe you need to share documents, well scan to the cloud.  ConnectKey Share to Cloud can convert scanned documents into fully editable word processing documents, spreadsheets, and searchable PDFs. The documents can be scanned to cloud-based repositories such as Evernote, Dropbox™, Microsoft Office 365, SalesForce.com, PaperPort Anywhere, Google Docs and Google Drive for  distribution and archiving. ConnectKey for SharePoint scans files directly into Microsoft SharePoint and other Windows folders.  Both of these applications,  ConnectKey Share to Cloud and ConnectKey for SharePoint have their own online support to help you scan your documents to the cloud so that you can access them when and where you need them.  Below is a video that will show you, step by step , how easy it is to share data and print to the cloud with a ConnectKey multifunction printer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

 ConnectKey is convenience at your fingertips making your work mobile, simple and sharable.  What could better than that?

Memorial Day weekend is, to many people, the official start of the summer season.  It is a long weekend to spend grilling out and enjoying time with friends and family.  But Memorial Day is so much more.  Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is about coming together to honor those who gave their all in service to our nation.  Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, the national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on May 30, 1868.  On that day flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.  To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time Memorial Day, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.”

Before you head off to enjoy your long weekend use this time to print some documents to announce your Memorial Day event or sale.  You will find some great ideas in our template library for banners, flyers or coupons to increase business during the long weekend.  You can also offer to print things like greeting cards and invitations for your customers.  There are so many possibilities in our template library.   Please head over to the Xerox Template library and see what creative things you can do.  There are instructions included that will explain the best ways to print the templates. 

There are templates for the sales and marketing, public relations, office administration and health care  fields. These templates can simplify your work processes and help you move past the business of administrating your business to actually doing your real business.  All the templates are free to use and are our way of helping you streamline your processes and get the most out of your Xerox printers and multifunction devices. 

Teachers as the school year comes to an end you will find a special section just for education templates with award certificates, diplomas and bookmarks, just to name a few, that you can personalize and print for your students.  There are also beautiful full color inspirational posters like the one pictured here.  So check out the templates for help with your business.

Click here to view the embedded video.

ConnectKey has a robust user permissions.  This will allow you to control how, when and how much people can print.  The permissions will let you control things like duplex printing saving on paper.  You can also control how and when people can print in color.  For example you can restrict some types of documents like email to printing only in black and white.  While allowing Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint to print in color.  You can also decide when color printing will be available to keep people from printing in color after hours. 

ConnectKey can also help you restrict who accesses the machine.  With a card reader over 85 card types can be read to enable users to log into the device using a proximity card, student ID, or security card.  Using the Card reader provides  a secure method of authentication, tracking usage and billing.

ConnectKey multifunction printers are compatible with Cisco® EnergyWise, an energy management solution that allows IT operations and facilities to measure and fine-tune power usage to realize significant cost savings. For example, with Cisco energy management solutions, you can set power states for the multifunction printer for optimal power savings. You can also set the multifunction printer to go to sleep mode after 10 minutes, get current power consumption information, and set timeout to low power and sleep modes.

Other money saving features include the Earth Smart settings in the print drivers, Accounting capabilities for accurate billing and default settings that can enforce the use of duplex or double sided prints.  To find out more about these specific features you can search on the support page for your machine. 

You can also check out the ConnectKey site and brochure for additional information.

I like watermarks because it is a visual representation to let me know I am working, for instance, with a draft version of a document, this is very helpful for documents that are printed out multiple times for editing and revising.  Watermarks can also be used to put your name on a document you created, that way no one can take credit for your work!!  Watermarks are a simple way to secure your confidential or intellectual property.   The marks can be customized; you can choose the size, orientation, font and even color of the watermark to fit your needs. 

Watermarks can also be added to copies on some of our machines.  Standard watermarks available for copies include the words Draft, Confidential, the Date and Time, a Control Number or a watermark of your creation.  The watermark is a great security feature as well because they cannot be removed or manipulated as you might be able to do with a header or footer. 

To learn more about the watermarks available on your machine please search for “watermark” in Online Support for your model machine.  To get to your machine’s support page click here and enter your machine model number, then type ”watermark” in the search field. 

Below I have added the screenshots of the Watermark Editor on the Windows drivers (watermark editor is also available in the Mac drivers) and a screenshot of what the copy watermark screen might look like on your machine.  The third image is a couple of samples of watermarks.  Click on the images to bring up a larger view.  Remember your screens may vary depending on your model of machine and how your machine is set-up, so these screenshots are only examples.  Example, another good watermark word!!

Xerox has a new key to security for your data and business.  We reviewed the new ConnectKey in an overview article last week.  Today we are going to the explore the security features in more detail.  The new Xerox ConnectKey offers security similar to that for a PC but this security is for your multifunction printer.  This security will help to keep viruses and malware from attacking your multifunction printers.  ConnectKey also controls access to end points on the network making the multifunction printer a fully secured network citizen. 

So how does this work? Well, Xerox, through ConnectKey is the first company to offer McAfee whitelisting technology for multifunction printers.  This insures that only approved and predefined applications, files and code will run on your Xerox multifunction printers.  The multifunction printers will also detect and prevent unauthorized access and send you alerts.  To learn more about how the partnership between Xerox and McAfee works to protect you check out the webpage.

The ConnectKey multifunction printers also include the Cisco TrustSec^®.  Cisco TrustSec^®  is an intelligent access control solution.  With minimal effort Cisco TrustSec^® mitigates security risks by providing comprehensive visibility into who and what devices are connecting across your network.  It also offer control over where those with proper permission can go and what they can access.   

There are also several standard security features that begin working to secure your data as soon as you power on the ConnectKey multifunction printer.  These features include 256 bit HD encryption with overwrite, secure print with timeout deletion and secure external email connectivity that encrypts data transfer.  Check out this short video to find out more about some of these security features. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

As always you can find out more by visiting the ConnectKey site .  As always there are support pages available for many of the features of ConnectKey. You can also find more information about security at the Xerox Security site.  With ConnectKey you can continue to safeguard your data against the “Curious Kelly” and anyone else that would try access your information.