Xerox have announced their new VersaLink and AtlaLink Xerox devices.

On March 29th 2017, Xerox CEO Jeff Jacobson kicked off the company’s largest product launch in its one-hundred year history.

Held in New York, the announcement focused on how Xerox intends to transform the traditional MFP into a “smart workplace assistant” - a common theme in the technology world right now, but a welcome change to the printing industry.

Jeff informed the sizeable crowd that Xerox would do this by turning its renowned technology research centre, PARC, into a venue that would be “one-hundred percent dedicated to serving the needs of the new Xerox customers and this industry”.

Such news is highly encouraging, with PARC historically assigned to the development of new technologies that had very little to do with Xerox’s core products and services.

The star of the show, however, was a huge range of new devices for businesses of all sizes.

29 new ConnectKey-enabled products

During the event, Xerox announced twenty-nine new ConnectKey-enabled products that fell under two product family names:

• Versalink (19 MFPs and 12 A4 devices)
• AtlaLink (10 new A3 MFPs)

The new devices come in a variety of sizes, speeds and with varying capabilities that match the needs of large enterprises, as well as small- and medium-sized businesses.

The products all feature a new touchscreen interface which is clean, simple to use and logically laid out. Mechanically, the devices are likely to be mild iterations of the hardware they replace, but the focus is clearly on creating a more pleasing user experience.

Xerox wants to provide hardware that reflects the evolving needs of modern businesses, and the addition of a smartphone-like touchscreen is one of several elements that are designed to transform traditional printing devices into smart, connected workplace assistants.

Printing, copying and faxing will therefore be replaced with personalised workflows, multi-layered security features and one-touch access to the cloud. “We understand the changes that are occurring in the workplace,” explained Jeff.  “The process of getting work done has moved from the desktop to your pocket. It’s very personal, and we’ve built a portfolio of true workplace assistants tightly connected to the mobile and cloud technology environment that accommodates this evolution.”

Key attributes of the new devices

VersaLink devices are designed for distributed teams and small workgroups, while the AtlaLink series is intended for use in organisations where there are large print volume requirements.

The key attributes of the new devices include:

• Streamlined business processes. Apps built directly into the new devices will help businesses create workflows tailored to their operation - a brief overview of the apps that are available already can be seen here.
• An intuitive user experience. The smartphone-like touchscreen interface will be approachable, easy to use and based on an input method with which most people are now highly familiar
• Mobile- and cloud-ready. The new Xerox devices will connect to Dropbox, Google Drive and Office 365 to enable documents to be transferred easily, regardless of user location
• Greater security. System components are protected from unauthorised access and confidential communication kept safe thanks to industry-leading encryption methods

If you would like to learn more about Xerox's new devices and their capabilities, contact us and speak to one the Xenith consultants.