Avoid Image Quality Issues — Clean the Glass

Posted on by | General Information, Support Tools | 0 comments

How often do you clean the glass on your Xerox product(s)? Can’t remember the last time or assume someone else takes care of that? Keeping your machine clean is important. Several image quality problems can be solved by cleaning your machine.

Some of the most common issues – lines, spots, streaks, voids, deletions on copies or scans — can be caused by dirty platen glass or Constant Velocity Transport (CVT) glass. Clean the glass on the machine once a month, or whenever quality issues arise.

It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with all the machine’s cleaning procedures. Go to the Online Support page for your machine and search on the term “clean.” 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.

Many of the devices have support built right in that you can access from the user interface on the printer.  That way you can read the instructions or watch the how to clean information right at the machine.  

Here is an example of cleaning the CVT glass.

Search “glass” on YouTube Xerox Support channel for cleaning instructions for the platen and CVT 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.” Somebody has to! The copy you clean up may be your own!

YouTube Xerox Support Channel: Fast and Informative

Posted on by | Support Tools, Technology | 0 comments

I am not sure when YouTube went from a platform for amateur singers and crazy cat videos to a way to learn how to do just about anything, but the YouTube Xerox Support Channel began years ago and adds content frequently.  Sorry, no cat videos.

The YouTube Xerox Support Channel is continuing to grow.  Recently videos for PrimeLink, AltaLink, the Predict Media Manager, Xerox B-Series, and C-Series, and more have been added.

Currently, there are over 1,100 videos. The videos cover subjects such as setting up your machine, connecting to wi-fi, and cleaning your printer.  With so much variety you are sure to find a video that will help you with a question or issue with your product.  You might find a video that will introduce you to a new product or feature that could help with your work processes. 

You can easily find all the videos for a particular product model using our Playlists which group them for you. No need to perform a search.

The videos are “shorts” — approximately 2 minutes in length. Sample some of the videos. Subscribe to the channel so that you can find them easily next time you have a question about your machine(s).

YouTube, as you know, is a way to find quick answers to so many questions about how to do things. Quick answers is why we have created this channel. For instance, this video shows how to Scan to Email on the new Xerox C235/B235 MFPs.

These videos are great tools for training a new user or help an existing user fix an issue with the machine. Having the addition of the visual of the machine, parts, screens, etc. makes it easier to translate the process to your machine.

Check out the channel and watch some videos in the areas or on the machine model(s) that interest you. This channel is one more way to share the knowledge with you in a convenient and accessible format. There really is something for everyone on the Xerox Support Channel.

We welcome your input on these videos. Give us thumbs up for those you find useful and thumbs down on the videos that are not helpful.  Your ratings will help us to know what type of videos are most helpful to you.  You can also leave us a comment to let us know what you would like to see.

The Xerox Support YouTube channel is one more way to get support in a format that is convenient and helpful to you.

The Xerox C-Series: Robust Reliability Backed by Exceptional Ease

Posted on by and | General, Printing, Technology | 0 comments

The Xerox C-Series is a new family of economical and reliable laser printers and multifunction printers. The C-Series includes the Xerox C230 Printer and the C235 Multifunction Printer. With fast print speeds and built-in productivity, these new color printers are a good fit for home office or small businesses.

The C-Series Printer and MFP are ready to go right out of the box, so you can get up and running in no time without long complicated installations. The Xerox® Smart Start Installer eliminates the need for IT support for fast, frictionless setup. Now you can get connected to your home or company Wi-Fi in minutes, not hours.

To learn more about the features of each device, compare the printers by going to the product pages and placing a checkmark in the box next to “Compare” for the printers you are considering. Below is a sample of the comparison between the C-Series printers.  This is not the full display, but it gives you a sample of the side-by-side features of these two devices.

For even more information on the features and installation of these new C-Series printers please watch our Xerox Support YouTube Playlists for each product:

Xerox® C230 Color Printer

Xerox® C235 Color Multifunction Printer

The C230 Color Printer and C235 Color MFP are built for the way you work today, and ready for whatever business demands tomorrow. Make the move and stay ahead of change with future-proof flexibility. 

For additional resources:

Xerox C230 – Product Pages, Product Brochure, Support Pages

Xerox C235MFP – Product Pages, Product Brochure, Support Pages

Xerox Security

Green World Alliance

Virtual Demo

Xerox® Scan with Print App

Posted on by | Apps, Technology | 0 comments

It seems so basic.  I want to scan a document to email it or store it in a local file server, but I also want to print a copy at the same time!  For instance, what if your front-office staff that is onboarding a new customer needs to provide a copy of an agreement to the customer while also storing it to a digital folder?

Guess what?  Can’t be done currently on the Xerox® AltaLink® and VersaLink® family of printers using the native apps.  Rather, it takes two steps:  scan it and then copy it.  Not very convenient.  And, let’s face it, apps are all about convenience!

Don’t worry!  We got you!

Earlier this year, Xerox launched the Xerox Scan with Print App.

With this app installed on a Xerox MFD, you can:

  • Perform various processes once without having to scan multiple times.
  • Scan your original document to a location and simultaneously receive a print.
  • Choose single or multiple destinations: scan to email, SMB, and SFTP network locations.

The app also allows you to split large documents by any number of pages with the job splitting feature.  This may be useful if you are scanning multiple copies of the same document at once and want each copy to be stored/printed/emailed individually.

Save time with the Preset feature by storing the frequently used combination that works for you.  We’ve made it easy for you to share these presets across all the devices in your workgroup, too!  With simple configuration, it’s “once and done” with no confusing settings! 

We’ve even got an address book to make it easy for you send your documents to up to 10 email recipients at once!

The math is simple:  even if it only takes 10 seconds to scan a document, this app may save hours of paperwork – if not days – every year!

Trial the Xerox Scan with Print App free for 30 days!  A subscription can be purchased from the Xerox App Gallery via the subscribe button once the trial period ends.  

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like sales support!

Using the Xerox Customer Support Forum to Your Advantage

Posted on by | General Information, Support Tools | 2 comments

Let’s look at using the Xerox Customer Support Forum (XCSF) to your advantage. The XCSF is a peer-to-peer forum created so that customers can post questions about their Xerox printers and multifunction devices and share solutions that have worked for them.

Joining the Xerox Customer Support Forum

To post and reply on the XCSF you must be registered which is a simple process that you have already completed if you have a Xerox Online Account.   Simply sign on to your account and then navigate to the Forum where you will complete a simple form to sign-up. Once you are registered for the XCSF you can post your questions or help others with their issues by replying to posts.

You can search the forum for answers to your questions before you even post a question. The information you need may already be on the forum. If you find a solution that works for you give a Kudo to the person that wrote it up.  

If you don’t find what you are looking for write a post.

Writing a Post

Writing a post so others can help you:  

  1. Choose the board that relates to your question or issue.
  2. Select Post a Question.
  3. Pick the operating system you are using.
  4. Make sure to choose your printer model from the drop-down for the product. You can begin typing the name or model number to narrow the choices.
  5. The title should be a short problem description.
  6. Your post should contain a thorough problem description, including any error messages and codes. Writing “won’t print” will not give anyone information to help you.  
  7. Provide steps to recreate the error if possible.
  8. Include pictures of any helpful information such as image quality issues. You can post a short video too. A video might provide the sounds you are hearing or show where the paper is jamming, for example.

Note: Images and videos are moderated, so they will not display in your post immediately.  

Helping Others

While you are in the forum, review the titles of some posts and see if there are any you think you could help with from your experiences. Any little piece of advice or tip is appreciated by your fellow users. If a solution is found or someone posts a solution on your post that works be sure to mark it as a solution. Marking a solution will make it easier for others to find the information in the future.  

The more you participate in the XCSF the more stars you will earn. As you earn stars your title in the forum, which displays under your name, will change as you supply more quality information. Valued Advisor is the top rank and makes you a Superuser. As a superuser, your images and videos will no longer be moderated.

If you need additional support, try the Xerox Customer Support Forum and see if it works for you. Sometimes the people using the products daily are best able to provide advice and solutions. Give it a try and be part of the Xerox customer community today.  

2021-2022 School Year is Here!!

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School is beginning all over North America in the next few weeks. Some are already back in school. Whether the 2021-2022 school year is virtual, in-person, or a hybrid combining both, one thing is certain – paper will be involved.   

From class schedules to maps of the campus to supplies lists and syllabi, paper is moving quickly in all school grades. The pace of passing out pieces of paper may slow as the school year moves along. There will always be paper involved in the educational process. At every level, from Pre-K coloring pages to the Doctoral Thesis – paper will be there. Copying, printing, faxing, and scanning involve paper most of the time. 

As the school year begins it is time to look at your Xerox equipment. How you can use it to your best advantage in the school environment that you will be facing in the 2021-2022 school year?

For you parents of students obviously, a good printer can always help in creating impactful papers and presentations. The multifunction features will come in handy if you are in a virtual or hybrid situation. Use your multifunction printer to scan in and email documents to a teacher or the school. For instance, you can sign that permission slip for the field trip and then just scan it in and email or fax it to the school. If you are using the Xerox Printer or Multifunction device at your workplace please make sure you have permission to use the printer for this purpose. I don’t want to encourage any rule-breaking!! 

Teachers can also email assignments to students from some multifunction printers or fax assignments and receive completed work via fax. 

For teachers, a great use for your Xerox machines of course is printing, duh!! Your printer combined with the available Small Business Resource Center at Xerox.com can give you the ability to print out signs, motivational posters, and student achievement certificates for your classrooms and students. There are also calendars, planners, flyers, and presentation templates, and much, much more. The possibilities are many for the use of the printer.

Copying is another feature that can help make your teaching job easier and faster. You can produce workbooks, pop quizzes, and any other kind of handout. Leverage the great features of your Xerox equipment to help you with all the functions of your job.

Another source of help and resources for educators is the App Gallery. The App Gallery has an education section and apps in other sections of the gallery may provide helpful tools as well. Many of the apps have a “Try It” feature. You can see if the app will work for you before purchasing an app package. Some apps that might help are free of charge. For example, one of the free apps is Touchless Access. The app lets you use your smartphone to access the core services of copy, print, and scan on the VersaLink and AltaLink series of multifunction printers. Check out the app gallery for some helpful apps.

Take a look at case studies from multiple schools, universities, and school districts. See how they are using Xerox products and services to streamline their processes and create new processes for the virtual, hybrid, or in-person learning. These processes will help them save time and money. Find the case studies by going to Xerox.com and searching for education.  

Educators are remarkable people and need all the help they can get in preparing items to teach our children. Xerox wants to help maximize your use of your Xerox equipment to achieve your teaching goals no matter the type of teaching your school is using.  

A Few of My Favorite Apps

Posted on by | Features, Technology | 0 comments

I just want to share with you a few of my favorite apps from the App Gallery. These apps have been around for a little while and I don’t want you to overlook them. They might make your work processes faster and easier.   

Xerox® Note Converter App

The Xerox Note Converter App converts handwritten notes or documents. The notes are then converted to a fully editable format – Microsoft Word. 

Once in the Word format, edit and share what were once handwritten notes. This is a great app for those of us that still find handwritten notes useful in some situations.

The app supports 19 languages. Obviously the neater the writing the easier it is for the converter. Doctors for instance may not find the app helpful. The app is available from the App Gallery.  

Find out more about this app in the blog article Xerox Note Converter App written by Craig Ephraim.

Xerox Auto-Redaction App

The Xerox Auto-Redaction App can be programmed to redact personally identifiable information (PII) using your Xerox ConnectKey enabled device. The app can help you protect your customers’ Social Security Numbers, home addresses, medical conditions, credit card numbers and so much more. This personal information is redacted right at your printer.  

The app will be helpful in managing PII in legal, healthcare, and government documents or any industry that needs to redact information. The app is available in the app gallery. There is even a free trial of 30 days or 100 pages whichever comes first.  

Read about this app and see screenshots of the app in the blog article Redaction Needs? There’s an App for That! written by Craig Ephraim.  

Xerox Translate and Print

Eliminate language barriers instantly. The Xerox Translate and Print App utilize state-of-the-art technology to provide instant machine translations on your Xerox ConnectKey Technology-enabled multifunction printer (MFP). You just walk up, scan your document in, and receive it back in the language of your choice. It couldn’t be any simpler. Quickly receive your translated document in printed form, and/or an editable Microsoft® Word (.docx) version emailed to one or more email addresses. Instant translations in over 44 languages are just a scan away. The Translate and Print app is available in the Xerox App Gallery.

So now your Xerox multifunction printer can potentially copy, scan, fax, print, and translate!

Xerox Audio Documents App

Have you ever wished someone would just read that long business document to you? Are you an auditory learner that comprehends better when you hear something? We may have a solution for you. Xerox Audio Documents App is an app available for use with your ConnectKey Technology enabled multifunction printer that will convert a hard copy document to an audio file.

How does it work? Open the app, enter your email, source language, settings and scan your document at the Xerox ConnectKey multifunction printer. An MP3 link is sent to the email address you specified. Open the file and listen to your document. Xerox Audio Documents app supports document submission in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese. 

Great time saver just have your documents read to you wherever and whenever.

These favorite apps of mine are all timesaving, convenient apps that can improve your productivity. Try them for yourself!!

Common Questions About Supplies

Posted on by and | General Information, Recycling, Support Tools | 0 comments

Supplies may seem like a small part of your printer but there are some important things you should know. We are going to take this time to break down some common supply topics for your understanding.

Consumable Yields and 5% Coverage

What exactly is a consumable yield? Simply put, the yield is the estimated number of pages that a cartridge can handle before needing a replacement. Manufacturers like Xerox will calculate this number based on the cartridge volume and the set coverage amount following standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). These standards ensure that toner or ink yield reporting by different manufacturers will adhere to the same rigorous testing process, making yields comparable across different products. Xerox has adopted ISO yield testing standards for its toner and solid ink products. 

Toner yield is specified at 5% coverage as an average. To visualize, 5% coverage is about 2 small paragraphs of text on an 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper. The life of the toner cartridge depends on the amount of toner that a print job requires. The actual number will vary depending on the density (saturation) of the printed pages. The number of pages may also be affected by operating environment, printing interval, and the print media type and size. If printing a lot of graphics or high coverage prints, it may be necessary to change the cartridge more often.

To find more information on your printer’s consumable yields, please search our Support Page.

Genuine Xerox Supplies

Supplies are an important part of your Xerox printer. We recommend that you use genuine Xerox supplies in your machines. Non-Xerox brand supplies can end up costing you more by causing issues with your device, and potential replacement or expensive repair bills. The quality of your prints may suffer, and you could lose valuable business because of poor quality output. When you use genuine Xerox supplies, you’ll get vibrant colors, sharp text, crisp fine lines, and consistent output – page after page. You expect excellence from your Xerox printer, and only our supplies can ensure that with every print.

Counterfeit Xerox toner cartridges are difficult to distinguish from genuine Xerox toner cartridges. These fakes are a combination of refilled/remanufactured and brand-new third-party cartridges boxed in replicas of Xerox original packaging. Unlike Xerox, counterfeiters have no regard for the quality, reliability, or safety concerns that bogus cartridges pose. Learn how to verify your Xerox Supplies are 100% Genuine.

Recycling

Xerox diverts millions of pounds of used supplies from the landfill every year through our industry-leading Green World Alliance® supplies take-back program.  Recycling is easy and it is good for the environment.

You can request:

  • Single Item Return: For the return of one cartridge
  • Eco Box: For the return of 5-30 supply items.
  • Pallet Returns: If you have more than 30 supply items to return.

Xerox pays for return shipping and all recycling costs.  Find out more at our Green World Alliance Recycling page.

If you would like more information about your printer’s supplies, please visit our Xerox Supplies page.

Resource Links:

Held for Resources Message on Xerox Printers

Posted on by | Printing, Support Tools | 2 comments

Have you ever been held up by your printer’s held for resources message? I’m not talking about “Stop! This is a hold-up. Give me all your toner and no one gets hurt!” I’m talking about the job held for resources message usually coupled with a fault code that can pop up when printing. It is annoying but it is not the printer’s fault.

Most held for resources messages mean that the paper loaded in the machine is either not right for the job you have submitted, or the paper trays have not been setup properly. Both issues have easy fixes and you can be back to printing in no time if you know what to do.

You can find step-by-step instructions on fixing this issue on the support page for your product. Simply search on “held for resources” without the quotation marks and you will find instructions on how to resolve the message. Below is a video that walks you through some of the steps to take to fix this issue. Remember the screens in the video may vary from your model but the concept is the same.

The main thing to remember is that the color, type and size of the paper selected in your application needs to match the paper chosen in your driver, which needs to match the paper loaded in the paper tray you have chosen.  If the color and type are not a concern you can use auto settings. But if you need a specific type and color then those must be defined correctly in the trays. Below is a sample screen for changing the settings, your screen may vary.  

If you have additional questions about the job held for resources message, you can contact your local support centre or you can post your questions over on the Customer Support Community.

Don’t be held up by your printer!!

CareAR, a Xerox® Company

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CareAR is a new augmented reality (AR) based app your Xerox support team is using to assist with servicing Xerox products. It can help get your Xerox device up and running faster—and help in providing a sound initial diagnosis of your downtime issue – you might not even need an onsite technician visit.  This digital solution is also a great fit for the increasing need for remote servicing.   

How It Works 

The CareAR app allows Xerox remote technicians to remotely see and hear, without physically being at your site. For example, if you have a question or are experiencing an issue with your printer or multifunction device, instead of explaining, “the thingy hanging down in the document feeder is making a ‘rat-a-tat-tat’ sound, and my documents are not feeding right,” through your phone or tablet you can show a tech exactly what’s going on and/or let them hear the actual sound. Then, using CareAR’s suite of AR tools, the tech can annotate over live video and guide you through troubleshooting or at least the initial diagnostic. It’s like they are there with you, providing helpful direction and support every step of the way.  

You Are in Control  

With CareAR you are in control—the livestream support session starts when you press the camera button on your device. Simply download the app to your Android or iOS device, and a trained Xerox digital support expert will engage you in a CareAR session when you’re ready.  

Just aim the camera wherever you need help—for example, you can show documents with image quality issues, error messages on your computer screen, or the inside of your printer. These are just a few situations where CareAR can help. 

Advantages of Using CareAR: 

  • Save money by: 
    • Avoiding an onsite service call, reducing downtime 
    • Not having to engage your IT department  
  • More accurate initial diagnosis of troubleshooting for increased first time fix rate 
  • Reduction of downtime by getting the most experienced expert to the scene quickly 
  • Annotations stay in the correct place, (anchored), even when the camera is moved.   
  • Multiple people can be added to the session—for example, the person who first noticed the problem, or the department lead for visibility 
  • Everyone included within the session, can make annotations in the app, including text, arrows, and circling specific areas. 
  • Repairs without contact for a safe customer experience 

Tech Specifications for use: 

  • Mobile phone, tablet, or other device with a rear camera:  Android 9 or later (includes AR Core); iOS 11 or later 
  • Desktop computer: Windows or Mac OS 
  • Smartglasses: Android 8 or later (includes Google Glass, Realware, and Vuzix) 
  • Strong Wi-fi for best results; cellular data can be used, but cellular data rates may apply 
  • Available now in Google Play , the Apple App Store, or the Microsoft App Store 

We are excited to work with you using CareAR, and are confident that you will see the many benefits.