Don't Treat Mobile Printers As Afterthoughts

In the office, printers have become commodities that interface with PC or Mac platforms with plug and play ease. Outside the four walls, however, printers are far from a commodity. And, according to several industry experts I spoke with, VARs need to understand the various mobile printer choices available and how they apply to customers' needs.

How Dependable Are The Mobile Printers You're Reselling?
Considering the importance end users place on mobile printer dependability, VARs should keep battery life and ruggedness top of mind. "Advances in battery technology continue to generate smaller, longer-lasting batteries," says Seth Avergon, senior director of marketing at Citizen Systems America. "In fact, some of the long-life lithium ion batteries supply up to 16 hours of active run time on a single charge."

VARs need to consider how long their customers need to use their mobile printers before the battery needs to be recharged, as well as how the battery will be recharged. For a forklift operator or delivery driver, the printer could be placed in a fixed mount and charged by the vehicle's battery. In other instances, the product may need to be pulled out of production and plugged into a charger. Either way, the VAR should look at selling backup batteries that can quickly be swapped out as needed.

VARs also need to consider the appropriate ruggedness of the mobile printer. "A few field failures can wipe out the value gained from mobile printing," says Plamen Petkov, senior VP of marketing and business development at Datamax O'Neil. "A VAR can lose its customer's trust if it sells mobile printers that aren't durable enough for the customer's work environment." Once that trust is lost, it's very hard to earn it back.

Mobile printers use the same rating system that rugged handhelds and laptops use, which is the IP (ingress protection) system. The IP rating system lets the VAR know how the printer holds up to various degrees of dust (the first number) and moisture (the second number), ranging from contact with these elements to full submersion. The military standard (MIL-STD) is another rating system that provides additional rugged specifications such as protection against shock, vibration, and drops to concrete. "VARs shouldn't rely solely on these standards," warns Petkov. "Some vendors, for instance, claim their products are IP-54 certified, but their products don't have sealed battery covers." In these instances, VARs should perform some of their own independent research and testing to confirm a mobile printer vendor's claims.

It's also important that VARs realize that not every customer needs an ultrarugged mobile printer. "In hospitality, for instance, the extra weight of an ultrarugged mobile printer may not be worth the tradeoff of a smaller, lighter model," says Petkov.

Know Your Mobile Printer Connectivity Options
Within the past few years, Bluetooth has become a common connectivity interface thanks to its prevalence in cell phones, mobile PCs, and handhelds and its advantages over tethered and infrared alternatives. "Getting rid of cables is always a good thing, and Bluetooth offers additional advantages over infrared," says Tony Revis, general manager of the Portable Printer Division at Extech Instruments. "For one, Bluetooth doesn't rely on line-of-sight like infrared does, which makes it much more practical in many situations."

One of the downsides of Bluetooth is its limited range, which typically is only about 35 feet. In environments such as healthcare, this often isn't practical, and Wi-Fi connectivity is preferred. Unlike cellular communications, Wi-Fi doesn't interfere with healthcare equipment. The downside with Wi-Fi is that because of its popularity, there can be interference issues — especially when using 802.11b/g equipment. As a result, Datamax O'Neil's Petkov says he has seen an increased interest in 802.11a-capable mobile printers. (802.11b/g uses the 2.4 GHz spectrum; 802.11a uses the less congested 5 GHz spectrum.)

One surprising trend related to mobile printer connectivity is that some of the newer mobile OSs aren't print-ready. "The Mobile 5 OS doesn't support mobile printer drivers," says Peteris D'Carlo, general manager for the Printer Division of Pentax Imaging Company. "There are third-party software solutions VARs can use, but they should be aware of this ahead of time because it will impact the implementation time and cost to their customers." According to D'Carlo, Mobile 5 isn't the only mobile OS like this. "There are enough instances of mobile OSs not supporting mobile printers that we're seeing a rise in the number of mobile middleware providers selling mobile printer driver solutions," he says.

Don't Neglect Mobile Printer Security
Some VARs believe security is strictly an issue with customers' wireless LANs (WLANs) and WANs. The reality is, however, that mobile printers, which often incorporate wireless connectivity, can become points of vulnerability on your customer's network. "Mobile printers have made major advancements in security capabilities over the past year," says Citizen Systems of America's Avergon. "Some printers feature 128-bit encryption and nondiscoverability functionality, which enables them to be unseen from unauthorized devices." Also, some vendors are incorporating encryption standards such as WPA (Wi-Fi protected access) and WPA2. VARs that sell printers used in payment processing applications should especially consider these security options.

For more information about payment processing security issues, check out the Tech Trends article on PCI [payment card industry] compliance on page 74 of the April 08 issue or visit BSMinfo.com.

Become A Mobile Computer Expert In One Vertical At A Time
Because of the complexity of integrating mobile computers, applications, and printers that meet the requirements of each customer, Avergon recommends VARs not try to be all things to all customers. Instead, gain knowledge of specific vertical markets so that you can present solutions that fit your customers' needs. "It's no good for a VAR to pitch a handheld running Windows CE if the customer needs a much larger screen to display schematics," says Extech Instruments' Revis. "And, if the VAR doesn't get the mobile computer part right, there's a good chance it will misjudge the mobile printer the customer needs — whether it needs to print on 2-inch, 3-inch, 4-inch, or 8-inch paper, for example."

The uses for and functionality of mobile printers are wide-ranging, which differentiates them from their desktop printer counterparts. Your customers may not realize this, however, and even if they do, they'll likely want the help of an expert who can help them cut through the confusion. Pentax Imaging Company's D'Carlo sums up this point best: "A good VAR knows how to propose a mobile printer solution rather than waiting for the customer to figure it out on its own. In fact, if a VAR isn't educating its customers and proposing solutions, it really isn't living up to its name."