Although much of today’s business is carried out online, there are still hard copy requirements for essential documents such as blueprints, contracts, business plans and invoices. It has also become more important than ever for engineers to securely print from one location, such as the headquarters, or even home, to another remote office location or a colleague’s or client’s workplace. These locations may not be on the same network or even in the same country.

Remote printing has become vital because of advances in the Internet and the impetus towards globalisation. These had boosted collaboration between engineering service providers across countries. Globalisation also meant that engineers can be called on to transmit documents anytime. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in more employees working from home.

Another driving force behind the increasing use of remote printing is the convenient connectivity between devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and personal computers, and printers. With the advent of “smart technology”, remote printing has become an incredibly powerful technology that allows teams to work in a flexible way -- something that is essential for succeeding in the digital era.

Read on to find out you can extend the reach of your devices, reduce costs, and optimise your workflow with the help of remote printing.

#1: Use your smartphone or tablet to print from anywhere

Printing from your mobile device – whether it’s a smartphone or tablet – means you don’t have to hunt for a PC or lug a laptop around to print remotely

Most smart phones have printing capabilities built in. If not, you can download a Cloud Print app. To get started, simply install the driver, establish a connection to your remote device, and activate the print function. Since mobile remote printing solutions follow precisely the same method as regular printing, there is no need for training for using the new technology.

One app that does these tasks faster, easier and more securely is the HP Smart app with its Print Anywhere feature that is available on all HP+ printers or any other HP printer with print plans.

Here are five advantages of Print Anywhere:

• • Lets you print remotely, check printer status, and share printer access with others;
• • Print from the cloud, Windows 10 and Android apps;
• • Make copies on Android, iOS and certain printer models;
• • Share your printer and allow others to send remote print jobs to your Print Anywhere printer;
• • Enable Private Pickup (HP+ printers only) to hold the print job until the person who sent can access the printer.

**#2: Use a secure web server to access and protect important data**

A reliable and secure web server protects against data hacking, ensuring that documents and files are kept confidential. Security measures include automatic scanning of programs for viruses, secure socket layer (SSL) encryption and protection against spam.

For maximum network security, there‘s the HP Embedded Web Server (EWS). As it creates a dedicated, temporary VPN tunnel linking the printer and the HP Cloud Smart Device Services (SDS) feature, EWS allows only for communication with the selected printer, while reducing VPN costs.

The EWS is built into all HP printers and can be easily accessed using most popular web browsers. It make it easy to set up new HP printers, monitor usage and printing supplies, configure settings, and troubleshoot any printer problems.

A highly secure printing solution is also vital as connected devices are vulnerable to hackers. Several HP printers including the HP DesignJet T1700 are among the world’s most secure large format printers available today. Their improved security helps enterprises print CAD and GIS applications while protecting printers and data from unauthorised or malicious access. Features include a new self-encrypting hard drive on the printer to ensure the data is only readable by the printer.

**#3: Use cloud solutions to collaborate seamlessly**

With cloud computing, colleagues can collaborate effectively as they can share information securely and seamlessly across a cloud-based platform with their mobile devices, laptops and desktop computers. Efficiency is also enhanced as there is no need to download large files to attach to emails as you can send these files directly to the recipient’s printer.

Once you’re on the cloud, easy access to your company’s data will save time and money. Since most cloud-computing services are pay as you go, this means you don't pay for what you don’t use. Even with data storage, you'll only pay for the space you use.

**How to select a cloud-based solution for remote printing**

Different cloud-based platforms have their respective strengths – and weaknesses. So, if remote printing is your highest priority, you require a cloud-based platform that is designed to meet the print-from-anywhere objective. It should be totally secure, convenient to use, increase efficiency and productivity while data should easily replicate or migrate between VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V environments and to Microsoft Azure.

**Go with the industry mainstay**

Long recognised for its printing technology prowess, HP has now raised the standard of remote printing even higher with HP+ — a totally cloud-based ecosystem designed for the new way businesses work. HP+ offers unsurpassed integration by consolidating HP's latest printer hardware, supplies and its Smart App, which now also resides in the cloud.

HP+ Smart Security monitoring helps to detect and prevent malware attacks. Meanwhile, the cloud resiliency feature will detect and mitigate connectivity issues automatically. Users can take advantage of this array of impressive features easily with one unified Smart Dashboard.

Given broad availability of fast, high-quality Internet connections to mobile devices, laptops and desktop computers, many employees are now working remotely. This trend can also be seen in the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) sector. As a result, more engineers are realising that remote printing can increase efficiency and collaboration especially for those working from home, onsite or are on the move.