The Multifunction Scanner: A Source of Service Calls or a New Revenue Opportunity?

In the page-per-click billing model, many copier dealers carefully calculate their print-related costs and expected margins. However, there’s one factor that is often overlooked and significantly impacts contract profitability: the management of service calls.

What’s Behind a Service Call?

Every time a technician visit is scheduled, the dealer incurs several costs: technician labor, transportation, replacement parts, ticket management, and often, customer downtime. When these visits become frequent—even for minor issues—the contract margin quietly begins to erode.

One of the most common—and often invisible—causes of this erosion is intensive use of the scanner in multifunction devices.

The Scanner: The Forgotten Component... but Not an Innocent One

Although page billing contracts focus primarily on printing and copying, many customers rely heavily on their multifunction devices for scanning large volumes of documents—especially as part of digitization processes, workflow automation, document delivery, or data uploading into business platforms.

This constant use causes accelerated wear on components such as:

• The ADF (automatic document feeder), prone to frequent jams and breakages

• Feed (pick rollers / feed rollers) and separation rollers, which wear down over time

• Drive belts, which may loosen or fail with prolonged use

• Scanner lamp, susceptible to reduced performance

• Paper sensors, which can become misaligned due to heavy usage

• Optical sensors, which degrade or require recalibration

The concern is that scanning doesn’t generate additional revenue, since customers typically don’t pay for it—but it does trigger service calls that the dealer must cover, often without having anticipated this level of wear and tear.

A Problem… or a Revenue Opportunity?

This is where the mindset must shift: what’s currently a service burden can become a source of additional revenue—if approached strategically.

Every scan represents a value-added action. So why not monetize it? Some dealers have begun to introduce:

• Per-image scanning fees, especially in high-usage environments

• Scanning plans, with monthly thresholds and overage charges

• Smart scanning bundles, combining hardware with capture and automation software

Additionally, this opens the door to upselling document management and workflow solutions such as:

• Umango – for advanced capture and distributed processing

• FileBound and Cflow – for workflow automation and document approval

• DocuXplorer – for archiving, compliance, and document management

These solutions turn the scanner into a productivity engine that connects directly to key business processes—justifying the investment, reducing operational errors, and improving contract ROI.

Conclusion

What may seem like a low-profile function—scanning—can either be a strategic profit driver or a silent cost drain, depending on how it's managed.

With tools like Princity, and integrations with solutions like Umango, FileBound, Cflow, or DocuXplorer, dealers can:

• Enhance operational visibility

• Reduce unnecessary service calls

• Generate new revenue streams

• Deliver comprehensive solutions that build long-term client loyalty

The scanner can be either a ticket generator or a growth opportunity. The choice is yours.