Covid-19 vaccines are being transported across the country to ensure that high priority individuals get immunized before the end of the year. With that news, an increase in return to the office rate will be coming with the increase in vaccinations. As we learned from the year 2020, one can never be overprepared no matter how prepared you are. Enforcing social distancing, wearing masks, and maintaining cleanliness is not enough. Employees still have to share common areas and common machines. In this article you can learn how to keep people working while strengthening workplace health and safety.
Employing touch-free operations can help limit how often people come into contact with shared surfaces.
Here are 4 ways to implement touch-free environment in your workplace:
1. Resistive Touch Screen
Our operation panels come standard with “resistive” touch technology that uses pressure to respond to commands. If you or your users are more comfortable wearing gloves, using a stylus or similar item (that’s not sharp), you can still operate the device.
Operation panels come standard on RICOH Intelligent MFPs and many other models that you can get at Barlop with special pricing, service, and maintenance.
2. RICOH Smart Device Connector
How about not touching the operation panel at all? Download the free Smart Device Connector app to make this possible. This Ricoh-developed application uses an iOS™ or Android™ mobile device to control functions. Enjoy hands-free printing, scanning and copying, upload/download docs from the cloud and more. No-Touch Secured Print Release* is a new feature for the Smart Device Connector app. Using your own device contributes to a safer office environment — eliminating the need to touch the MFP’s operation panel.
*Additional RSI subscription required
3. One Card Authentication
Card authentication* helps secure actions at the device — but it can also provide a fast and easy way to authenticate and access networked MFPs without any contact. Use the same card that you use for building access or for your employee ID. Our card authentication technology supports HID®, HID® iClass, Mifare® and more.
*Additional software required
4. RICOH Intelligent Voice Control
Voice recognition and voice control can be found in many consumer environments — such as homes, cars, cell phones, etc. Technologies like Amazon’s Alexa have made this a reality in many households, and Ricoh has brought this same capability to the new office environment with Intelligent Voice Control. (See Video Example)
Intelligent Voice Control makes it possible to control device functions — such as copy, scan and fax — through simple voice commands. You can also change additional settings — such as quantity, color, simplex/duplex and more — just by using your voice. When you see the blue light, you’ll know that Alexa is processing your request.
Productivity Without the IT Load
In addition to aiding a touch-free office voice commands can also contribute to new workplace productivity. Jobs requiring multiple settings can be chosen with a single voice command, saving time compared to selecting each setting for the job. Interactions with Alexa are encrypted for increased information security. Because the solution is provided as a cloud-based service, there are no IT requirements for onsite software or servers.
Accessible and Inclusive
Lastly, we design our products to be inclusive for all, including customers with functional limitations. Beyond reducing shared contact in the workplace, our solutions — including tillable operation panels and enhanced screen readers — can also improve accessibility. Intelligent Voice Control assists users who may have trouble accessing or seeing the device screen, empowering them to give verbal commands.
