When I tell my customers I am going to perform a firmware update, many of them ask me what a firmware update is all about. While many of them are familiar with the term software, they rarely if ever have heard about firmware. Hopefully I can explain here in brief with sufficient details.

Firmware associated with your machine essentially provides the controlling programs ( or operating instructions within the electronics ) which make your copier, printer, scanner, or fax operate correctly in a unified and smoothly regulated manner.

Initially when your machine is manufactured and tested extensively, everything is done to be sure that it operates correctly and performs reliably. Occasionally however, once machines are in the marketplace operating in more varying environments, with all sorts of unknown demands and stresses placed upon them, technical issues may surface. As a result the manufacturer will get feed back from the field technicians or the consumer, which may indicate a need for improving or modifying the original firmware to enhance the reliability, performance, and even longevity of your equipment. Such things as bugs, component failures, nuisance codes, and the like can often be eliminated or greatly reduced by updated firmware.

This is why it’s important to keep your equipment firmware up to date, because interruptions that can be avoided to keep your office documents flowing smoothly are of great importance to everyone.

Generally a firmware update takes 5-10 minutes, and we do them at no charge when servicing our customers purchased or leased equipment. Most often it’s as simple as plugging in a programmed  flash drive which will replace the old firmware with the updated firmware into your machines electronic circuitry.

Copierworks, provides firmware updates to our customers whenever possible. Sometimes there are several firmware updates over the life of any given model of machine, so it is a good idea to stay current in order to minimize interruptions, and maximize the life of your equipment.

Keeping you updated is part of our business, so stay tuned…

Jim Coates

As promised yesterday I am back to talk about how and why you should properly clean and service your office equipment. As i mentioned in my last post, at the minimum, an annual servicing is recommended. If your environment is considerably dusty with high traffic in and out of the area where the equipment is placed, I would recommend 6 month intervals.

The biggest reason for regular service:

Most types of dust (dirt, toner, & paper) that get into your machine will not only be abrasive to moving parts, but will also coat other parts causing anything from poor copy/print quality, to paper and document jamming. The longer you leave dirt or toner and paper dust lying around you greatly increase the chances of diminishing your equipments ability to perform in a reliable or dependable manner. A dirty machine will often consume higher amounts of toner as well.

I don’t recommend using any type of compressed or “canned” air on the interior or exterior of your equipment. In doing so you risk the chance of forcing dust particles deeper into unreachable areas of your equipment, especially into the laser unit or other sensitive parts which could fail prematurely due to dirt, toner, and paper dust infiltration. I hope you find that this informative as well as useful for maintaining the good health and longevity of your office equipment!

Best regards,Jim

I get a fair number of office equipment users ask if they should have annually scheduled service and cleanings. My answer of yes, is always the same. In some high volume accounts servicing/cleanings will be required more frequently. Doing preventive maintenance is a necessity to maintain optimum performance,  to prolong the life of your machine, it’s parts, and as well your TONER. That’s right, if your machine is operating at peak performance levels, you will win all the way around. Getting the ozone, the dirt and the dust out properly will extend your toner yield as well as much else. I’ll talk more about how a professional copier technician gives your equipment a proper cleaning in my next post. Until then, DON”T USE CANNED AIR inside your machine! I’ll explain why soon…