The practice of counterfeiting currency is as old as money itself. What’s new is the spin that modern technology has given this ancient crime. In the past, forgers who created fake currency needed not only offset presses and special inks, but also high-level skills with engraving plates.
Today, state-of-the-art printers and copiers have taken over where this illegal art form left off. At the end of the 2009, there was approximately $893 billion in United States currency in circulation, along with $69 million in counterfeits. The vast majority of those counterfeit bills were made by amateurs using high-tech digital copier and printer products.
Printer and Copier Security Options
There are two main ways to protect your business from fake currency. If you accept cash at any point in your business operations, it’s critical to train front-line employees on how to spot fraudulent money before it’s even accepted as payment. The U.S. Secret Service website offers detailed information on the ins and outs of detecting counterfeit bills.
The other way is to help prevent counterfeiting in the first place by securing your company copiers and multi-function printers. Ordinarily, we talk with our customers about user authentication and account tracking for managed print services. However, these features also offer an added layer of protection against the chance that someone might use your office equipment for counterfeiting.
User Authentication with Electronic Office Equipment
Most user authentication practices involve a PIN (personal identification number) code. However, fingerprint recognition, swipe cards and RFID (radio frequency identification) key fobs can be added to certain copiers and printers. All these methods allow you to set usage parameters and control who can use a particular machine and for what purpose.
Account Tracking for Usage Reviews
Account tracking goes hand in hand with user authentication. It allows you to run user reports at any time. These reports can show you who used a copier or printer for how long and for what purpose. The primary purpose of account tracking is to control costs, but implementing it together with user authentication can be a strong deterrent against misuse of company equipment.
Read more about the benefits of user authentication and account tracking. Together, we can all do our part to reduce counterfeiting, which, in the long run, helps us all.
If you operate a business in Canton, North Canton, Akron, Youngstown or elsewhere in Northeast Ohio or Western Pennsylvania and want to know more about setting these features up on your copiers and printers, contact us. If you don’t have an IT services provider, we can help you with that, too.
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