Xerox recently announced the release of several new multi-function products (MFPs) in its WorkCentre and Phaser product lines, as well as new additions to its extensible interface platform (EIP) software line.

The new EIP product is the Fiery Network Controller, which Xerox says allows for better color management during print jobs through task automation. Users can access the Fiery application directly from their desk computers, and the program interfaces to the preferred color printer. “The Fiery controller gives better color printing control and printing calibration,” says Jeff Coffed, manager of worldwide product marketing for Xerox. “For the office market, it's exciting to have this level of control.”

Coffed says that the new controller allows users to choose their workflow—either print to a central depository to use a network server or to a Xerox-specific workflow. Fiery works well in marketing departments where different levels of color or print speeds are needed—high levels for collaterals, low levels for proofs.

One of the new Xerox MFP series has the capability to run Fiery and other EIP software, the Workcentre 7300 series. The 7346 is the newest addition to this line. Responding to demand for higher quality and faster printing speeds in color, the new 7346 operates at 40 pages-per-minute (ppm) at color and 45 ppm for monochrome. More importantly, says Coffed, it has a ramped set of security features to keep confidential documents safe. “We look at this as security at all points of the device: document security, security on the device, the device's hard drive and how it acts on the network,” he says. At the most basic level, documents can be easily password protected or digitally signed, and secure print jobs will not be released from the queue until an authorized user swipes an identification card.

Encryption is at the heart of the 7346's security, all the way down to the hard drive. There is an option for users to select an image overwrite after certain print jobs, meaning the machine scrubs its hard drive clean after every print job—a level of security that conforms to the Department of Defense's specs. “Even if you physically remove the hard drive, the data is encrypted,” says Coffed.

This might sound like an extraordinary level of security for some, but Coffed notes that many industries that print large volumes still need high security. “There are some verticals, like legal, medical and HR, that have the need for confidentiality and security,” says Coffed. “And just in the general workforce, a manager who's printing out a performance review or an employee printing out their own review, they want to make sure it's secure.”

In addition to the new Workcentre MFP, there were two new additions to Xerox's Phaser line of printers and MFPs, the 3635 MFP and the 5550 laser printer. Both models focus on fast print speeds for high-volume printing environments, with the 5550 printing at 50 ppm and 35 ppm on the 3635, both in monochrome. The 3635 MFP, like its Workcentre counterpart, also has a number of standard device management tools built in, as well as new security features.