In modern business, one size no longer fits all. In the age of the discerning customer, companies that create seamless customer experiences can boost sales and enhance their reputations. Indeed, creating “personalized customers’ journeys” was named a key tech trend for 2018 by Forbes’ Daniel Newman.
Newman writes, “The more customers feel like people, rather than wallets, the more connected they feel to the companies that serve them.”
One way to foster personalized connections with clients is through customization, a concept that applies to every aspect of your business operations – including office tech. Indeed, with the right printing network and document management solutions, companies can personalize services, products and output.
Why Customize?
Creating personalized customer journeys has helped some of the world’s biggest enterprises grow at unprecedented rates. But how can companies use office hardware to broaden their personalization options and fine-tune their customers’ journeys?
Well, if your office hardware uses flexible operating systems, is built on open platforms and actively promotes software-powered customization, you will be able to do much more with it. Customization provides flexibility, meaning you can differentiate your output to best suit your clients’ needs.
Using the Android OS is a good starting point. Industry experts say that Android usage is set to “significantly increase in the next three to five years across verticals,” thanks greatly to the fact that the OS provides so many customization options – for both users and developers.
Smart Ecosystem
Indeed, Samsung Printing’s Android-powered Smart UX ecosystem allows users to download a whole host of printing apps and widgets, both free and paid. This effectively lets companies change the way they print and deal with data – both paper-based and digital.
Many of Samsung’s multi-function printers (MFPs) feature the Smart UX Center, a touchscreen interface not unlike a tablet PC. And, thanks to the Smart UX Mobile app, users can also access certain Smart UX functions on conventional 2- and 4-line devices – via their mobile phones.
Again, the importance of using Android cannot be understated. Last year, Android became the most widely used OS in the world, and Samsung Printing’s Smart UX ecosystem means that not only mobile users, but also printer and PC users can enjoy its myriad customization options.
Samsung Principal Engineer Jooho Um explains, “The Smart UX Center allows for a familiar user experience whereby people download, delete and update apps, just as they would on a smartphone.”
Powerful Platforms
Samsung MFPs are built using open platforms, allowing for a multitude of expansion and customization options that can help improve customer journeys – all over the world. Indeed, users as far afield as Vietnam’s Supreme Court and the te Reo Māori speaking staff and students at many New Zealand universities now enjoy the benefits of using Samsung MFPs in their native languages thanks to special, localized, Samsung-developed language packs.
The customizable nature of Samsung devices has also enabled partners to develop cloud and mobile printing solutions for public locations and offices in China. It also allowed an Italian Samsung partner to create advanced document management solutions for auto dealers.
Many of Samsung’s devices make use of the eXtensible Open Architecture Embedded (XOA-E) platform. This platform lets users customize their printing networks without having to spend money on additional servers. And that means they can run enterprise-ready solutions like the Samsung Business Core suite at reduced operating costs.
And with the Printing Center 2.0, companies can peruse the latest apps and widgets – all tested rigorously by Samsung engineers for stability and compatibility. Users can download the app they need to customize on their printers’ Smart UX Center as they would with their smartphones and tablet PCs.
Adapting to the Future
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos once said, “Focusing on the customer makes a company more resilient.” Indeed, many believe that customer experience represents the next competitive battleground for modern industries – and that those who fail to adapt will fall by the wayside.
Companies that cannot offer personalized experiences will not succeed in winning over customers, who are becoming increasingly choosy. But with Samsung, you can access personalization options that extend to an aspect of business once seen as rigid and inflexible – office hardware.