Two recent appointments with clients actually tested my knowledge of one of the obscure features of our multi-functional copiers. On one appointment with a tech saving client, he wanted me to tell him about every option that was listed for the Ricoh MP 3003SP. It was the old feature, advantage, and benefit for each of those options that were listed, until I arrived at the PictBridge option for the Ricoh.
It was my understanding that with the PictBridge option installed, it would allow you to take the SD card from the digital camera, insert it into the copier, and print the pictures. However, the camera has to be PictBridge compatible. With that, I asked what kind of digital camera he owned, my client stated the camera was and Canon Rebel. He then stated he had the camera in his car and dashed out of the office to retrieve it.
When he returned, he gave me the camera bag and stated, “There’s an owner’s manual in the bag; see what you can figure out.” I retrieved the manual, navigated to the index, and saw a reference for PictBridge. After reading the page, I was surprised that you could actually plug the camera into the MFP (using a USB cable), and then from the camera’s LCD display, you could pick what pictures to print and send them to the MFP. Well, that’s pretty cool, and the client ordered the PictBridge option.
It was not until the next appointment did I realize another benefit to a certain vertical market for the PictBridge option.
While at another appointment with a police department, the chief and I went over the features of a new color MFP. When I explained the PictBridge feature, he said, “Are you telling me that I can plug my camera into the copier and print the pictures?” Exactly! The chief then proceeded to tell me that the department has digital cameras and they use them for parking violations. They take a picture of the parking violation, then print the picture and then bring the pictures to court if needed. “A picture paints a thousand words in the courtroom,” he said.
Thus, the advantage of having the Pictbridge option installed was that anyone could connect the camera to the color copier and print the pictures as needed — instead of removing the SD card from the camera, loading the pictures on the PC and then printing those pictures. It’s much easier to lose the SD card than the camera.
So, there you have it: an inexpensive option that saves countless hours of labor in the right vertical market and helped to close a few additional copier orders!
