Scan To malFUNCTIONS

We have talked a lot about the scan to functions of business copiers in the past.  One thing we have not touched on that comes up a lot is troubleshooting the scan to functions when they stop working.

In most cases, our customers call us first because, well, if it’s a copier function, and it isn’t working, it would make sense that it’s a problem with the copier.

THE TRUTH!!!

As it turns out, that is not usually the case. In fact, most of the time, if the scan to functions were working previously, it is probably because there has been a change in network connectivity and the copier has lost it’s direction.

A Little Analogy

It’s kind of like snail mail.  If I move to a different town and want to receive my mail at the new address, I need to notify the postal carrier of the change, otherwise my mail will continue being sent to the old address.

It’s all about the IP

copiers operate with IP addresses just like computers do.  The IP address tells the copier where to send information like scanned documents.

So when a copier’s scan to functions are initially set up, they are configured to the current IP address, subnet mask, etc. (IT networking jargon).  When a wireless router, print server, internet provider, etc. is changed the copier needs to be updated as well.

Once the copier knows where to send the scans again, the scan to functions should be back up and running instantly!