BLI Grants Equitrac Office its Highest Rating

All Equitrac print management solutions have now achieved BLI five star rating customer estimates print cost savings at 25 percent

Plantation, FL - March 31, 2009 -- Equitrac Corporation, a print and cost management solutions provider, is pleased to announce that Buyers Laboratory Inc. (BLI), the leading independent office-equipment testing lab and business consumer advocate, granted Equitrac Office 4.1 its highest rating – five stars – following a comprehensive evaluation.

Equitrac Office provides simple yet powerful network-based authorization, authentication and accounting for all printer and copier use. Available as both device-embedded or terminal-based solutions, Equitrac Office 4 supports networked multifunction printers (MFPs) from every major office equipment manufacturer as well as multiple print workflows, database types, operating systems and user identification methods - all of which speeds and simplifies direct integration with your existing IT infrastructure.

Equitrac Office Deemed "Outstanding"
BLI recently evaluated Equitrac Office 4.1 connected to a Xerox MFP. In its Solutions Report, BLI deemed Equitrac Office "an outstanding product" and highlights its myriad strengths. Testing revealed its ease of use, comprehensive reporting capabilities, ease of administration, top-notch security features and more. The report highlights compatibility with virtually all MFP brands, its array of authentication options as well as its ability to scale for any size organization. Further, it discusses flexible deployment options, with embedded versions available for control-panel operation from Xerox, Canon, Ricoh, HP, Sharp, and Kyocera, as well as versions that use an external terminal.

Telford & Wrekin Council Estimates Incremental Cost Savings at 25 Percent
For the Solutions Report, BLI also interviewed the Telford & Wrekin Council, a West Midlands, England, borough that has more than 6,000 employees in 180+ different locations. The Council recently implemented Equitrac Office following its own evaluation from which it concluded that "Equitrac Office was the best tool for helping streamline administrative functions, reducing office operating costs and being more environmentally responsible."1 The results: "according to the Council, it experienced immediate improvements and new control over printing operations, with estimated cost savings of 15 percent in the first three years and 25 percent after four."2

All Equitrac Solutions Awarded Five Star Rating
Equitrac President and CEO Michael Rich explains, "All of our print management solutions have been awarded the BLI Five Star rating – Equitrac Professional last Fall, Equitrac Express and Equitrac Office just this month. We could not be more pleased. Still, we continue to listen closely to customers in all of our key markets across the globe – professional services, education, corporate and government – to understand how we can continuously develop our solutions to help customers reduce costs and contribute to a more efficient and resourceful print environment. Print management is quietly emerging as a key technology for cost management and environmental initiatives, and Equitrac solutions help customers push these programs forward."

BLI Praises Equitrac Office
"Based on our comprehensive laboratory evaluation and interviews with Equitrac partners and customers, BLI granted Equitrac Office its highest," said Daria Hoffman, managing editor, BLI. "The solution clearly delivers immediate and long-term return on investment, reducing both print operations costs as well as waste and carbon footprints."

About Buyers Laboratory

For 48 years, Buyers Lab (BLI) has been the leading independent office-equipment testing lab and business consumer advocate. In addition to publishing the most comprehensive and accurate test reports on office document imaging devices, each representing months of exhaustive hands-on testing in its US and UK laboratories, the company has been the leading source of competitive intelligence for industry professionals on copiers, printers, fax machines, scanners, duplicators, wide format devices and multifunctional products. The databases cover over 12,000 products globally and have a long-standing reputation for being the most trustworthy and complete source for specifications and side-by-side comparisons, all of which are available as part of bliQ, a web-based encyclopedic resource. Subscribers also have access to renowned Lab Test Reports, First Look Reports, Solutions Reports, Environmental Reports, news articles and a complete library of product literature, as well as valuable tools including a Product Configurator and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator.

Buyers Lab also provides business consumers with How-To-Guides, a Needs Assessment Wizard and Free Vendor Quotes via Buyers Lab Advisor website as well as independent purchasing advice and consulting from Buyers Alliance procurement experts. Business Consumers and Manufacturers can also select from a vast array of confidential for-hire private testing services that include document imaging device beta and pre-launch testing, performance certification testing, consumables testing (such as toner, ink and photoconductors) and software and solutions and print media testing (including virgin and recycled papers).

1] Buyers Lab Inc. Solutions Report, Equitrac Office 4.1, page 18
2] Buyers Lab Inc. Solutions Report, Equitrac Office 4.1, page 19