Moving office in Brisbane? Your photocopier relocation checklist

Moving week

Print or note the machine's network settings, because the new office will need them. Run any big print jobs early. Then have the machine prepared for transport.

• Write down the network settings, the scan to email details and any saved user lists.
• Finish the large print jobs and clear the queue.
• Secure or remove the toner, empty the trays and lock the scanner if the model has a lock.

The last step prevents the classic disaster, toner through the inside of a truck.

Moving day

Copiers ride upright, always. Measure doorways, lifts and stairs at both ends before the day, not during it. In Brisbane CBD buildings the goods lift often has to be booked, so check the building rules early. In the new office, let the machine settle before you power it on, especially in summer when a cool building meets a machine that has sat in a hot truck.

Day one in the new office

Reconnect to the network, set up printing on everyone's computers and test scan to email. Scan to email is the piece that breaks most often after a move, because the office internet and email have usually changed too.

• Plug in, power on and wait for the machine to warm up.
• Enter the network settings, or the new ones from your IT provider.
• Add the printer on each computer.
• Send a test scan to email and to a folder.
• Make a test copy, including through the feeder.

Things that catch people out

The same few problems turn up on almost every move. A machine that arrives and nobody knows the password for scan to email. A lift too small for the machine on its trolley, found out on the day. A power point in the new office on the far side of the room from where the desk plan put the copier. A leased machine moved without telling the provider. Ten minutes of checking at both ends avoids all four.

If you are unsure about any of it, phone before the move rather than after. The conversation is short, and it is much easier to fix a plan than a machine.

Who owns the copier

Before anything else, find out whether the copier is owned or leased. A leased machine belongs to the finance company, and the agreement may say who is allowed to move it. Some providers want to approve the move, some insist on sending their own technician and some charge for a relocation. Reading the agreement a month out is easier than discovering it on moving day.

Measure the route

A floor standing copier is wide, deep and heavy. Measure the doorways, the lift, the stairs and the corners between the old position and the truck, and between the truck and the new position. Ask the building manager at both ends about goods lifts, loading docks and booking times. If your building asks for a booking, a certificate of currency or an induction before a mover enters, arrange it early.

Write down the network details

The part of a copier move people forget is the settings. Before the machine is switched off, write down what you will need again.

• The machine's network address, and whether it is fixed or automatic.
• The scan to email settings: mail server, port, account and password.
• The scan to folder destinations and the accounts that write to them.
• User codes, department codes and any secure release settings.
• The address book, if the machine holds one.
• The internet provider and the router at the new office, because they will often be different.

What a professional move includes

A proper move is more than a trolley. The machine is shut down in the right order, the toner is secured, the trays are emptied and the moving parts are locked. It is carried upright on the right equipment. At the other end it is levelled, connected and tested. Then the settings are rebuilt and checked from a real computer. See photocopier removal and movers for how we handle it.

A simple timeline

After the move: a test list

• Print a page from each computer that uses the machine.
• Copy a page, in colour and in black and white.
• Scan to email and check that it arrives.
• Scan to a folder and check that the file is there.
• Staple, punch or fold a test set, if the machine has a finisher.
• Check that every tray feeds without a jam.

If something fails, phone us in the first week. A machine that has been moved sometimes shows a fault that was already waiting, and it is easier to sort while the move is fresh.

Moving a copier inside the same building

A move from one floor to another, or from a print room to an open plan area, is a smaller job with the same risks. The machine still has to be shut down and prepared, the lift still has to be booked and the network point at the new spot still has to be live. Many offices skip those steps because the distance is short, and then wonder why the machine will not print on Monday.

What to tell the movers

If a general removalist is moving the office, tell them the copier is a separate job. Ask them not to tip it, not to lift it by the covers or the trays and not to move it with toner in the wrong place. Better, have the copier prepared and moved by people who do it for a living. We work with offices and removalists on the day, and we leave the machine running at the other end.

The cost of getting it wrong

A copier that is moved badly can arrive with a loose belt, spilt toner, a scanner out of line or a drum that has been marked. Any of those can mean a repair that costs more than the move would have. And a machine that is moved well but not reconnected costs a day of lost work while somebody works out the network. A little planning avoids both.

Selling or replacing the copier instead of moving it

Sometimes the right answer is not to move the old machine at all. If it is near the end of its life, a move is a good moment to replace it. We buy used photocopiers and take trade ins, and we can deliver and set up the replacement at the new office on the day you arrive.

Or hand the whole thing to us

Our Brisbane team does photocopier relocation, setup and installation as a single service: prepared, moved upright, reconnected, and printing before your team notices it was gone. See photocopier relocation, setup and installation. Moving into or out of anywhere from the CBD to Ipswich, Logan or the northside, phone (07) 3073 5255 and cross the copier off the worry list.

If the old machine is surplus after the move, we also buy used photocopiers.

Keep reading around Brisbane

Relocation and setupCopier moves, installation and network setup, tested before we leave.→News and tipsPosts on keeping, moving and replacing office copiers.→We buy photocopiersSell a used commercial copier or office printer to us. Figure agreed on the phone.→Scan to email not workingScans that never reach an inbox or a shared folder.→