Interview with Océ's Michael Troy

Note: This is my final post for Scholastic Administrator. Check http://www.educatorsroyaltreatment.com/

Interview with Michael Troy, Vice President of Marketing for Océ Document Printing Systems
Océ North America
http://www.oceusa.com

Océ Company Background

Océ is an international company that provides document printing and technology services that range from desktop printing, to continuous feed, to  high speed production systems.
"My group is the document printing systems group, which has low volume to mid-range equipment, with ranges from 20 pages per minute (ppm)—all the way up to 105 ppm. We also have a finance company, called Océ Financial Services. That really allows us to enter into a deal from start to finish, including the financing of the deal," says Troy. Worldwide Océ employs about 24,000 people in 90 countries, with the North American headquarters in Trumbull, Connecticut.

Océ’s product focus?

Océ’s products range from desktop printers to multifunctional systems, with a wide range of speed and document handling capabilities—and that includes low-cost color systems. "We fit very well into education, and it’s been a focus of ours for a number of years. We’ve been very successful in the K-12 space, and in universities," says Troy.

Royal: What’s the process?

Troy: Schools are very different. Some are lead-edge technology, have funding, and they jump right in, while other schools are moving in that direction, and are getting there piece-meal. What we try to do is go in and evaluate what the environment is. We do a document assessment, and from that, we try to determine what would be the best way to provide a solution for their output, input, storage of documents, and how to retrieve the documents. So we’re a solution for the principal’s office, for administrators, and for teachers. Our equipment in networkable, and has to be reliable—meeting demands throughout the day.

Royal: What would a district get with your solutions?

Troy: IT personnel are key, because schools have gone to a lot more scanning, document storage, and using the multifunctional machine as an input device, and scanning to e-mail rather than FAXing. In education, every student has a record, and every year that record grows, so it results in a lot of documents being produced, and therefore the need to manage those documents. Historically, that’s been done in filing systems, but not schools have the ability to use their device to scan documents, as well as store them and send them.
Schools are concerned with costs and their budgets are constantly getting tighter, so what we try to do is ‘right size’ what they have. They may have duplicators, copiers, and printers, so the real opportunity for us is to consolidate what they have from a hardware perspective, and then recommend solutions that include both hardware and software. It’s everything—for example—what are you doing with the documents, who are you using the documents with, where do they have to go, and how often do you need the documents. The best thing we can do for an administrator or educator is take that paper document and turn it into an electronic document, where it can be stored, send it to a parent, or other teacher or administrators.

Helping schools transition from paper to electronic

Océ’s software partner is eCopy, and eCopy ShareScan creates a dedicated scan terminal that can be attached to Océ’s equipment. It allows Océ to customize what a user needs, and manages the scanning process.

Océ tailors solutions to the education

The ShareCopy screen shows icon preferences, which are based on interview assessments, such as student records, teachers’ files, or scanning to a desktop. Users place their documents in the feeder, select the icon, and the document is taken there. It's easy access that takes documents where they need to go—to store or send—and more.

For more on Océ, and your district's digital future now--visit the Océ site at