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Tag: office equipment

Higher Information Group acquires New York technology company

 

Higher Information Group (HIG) announced on Thursday that it has completed the acquisition of Elmira, New York-based Office Equipment Source (OES)

HIG, based in Harrisburg, offers a number of information management services including office equipment sales, document storage, marketing and design and IT.

The company purchased OES, a family-owned technology company specialized in office equipment, print management solutions, facility management and managed network solutions, for an undisclosed amount of money.

“OES is an exceptional company offering a range of document technology solutions with an outstanding reputation for service and commitment to the community,” said John Frisch, owner and president of HIG. “The partnership will supercharge our capacity to serve customers and accelerate our mission of helping businesses transform their day-to-day operations so they can focus on what matters most.”

As part of the deal, HIG said that it expects to retain all existing OEW sales, services and support staff. The company’s principals Mike Mitchell and Drew Mitchell, will continue with the company in executive roles.

“OES and the Mitchells are extremely proud to begin this new journey with HIG,” said Drew Mitchell, the company’s vice president of operations. “We believe this opportunity will empower our customers and our employees to deliver the most extensive and up-to-date service portfolio in the industry.”

The acquisition extends HIG’s presence across the southern border of central Pennsylvania and east to Philadelphia, throughout north central Pennsylvania and into central New York.

A Conversation With: Joe McMonagle

(Photo: Submitted) –

Joe McMonagle, 73, has been president of Quality Digital Office Solutions since 1992. The company was recently chosen by Central Penn Business Journal readers as the preferred office equipment company in central Pennsylvania.

McMonagle has an associate degree in business from Community College of Philadelphia.

He lives in East Hempfield Township with his wife, Helen, a liturgical musician. They have a daughter, three sons and eight grandchildren.

Q: What does a typical business relocation look like now from your perspective, given the change from paper filing to cloud-based document management?

A: The cloud-based is obviously a lot more efficient, easier, has the ability to take paper documents and go right from scanning into the cloud stage, with folders for each and every client. (The cloud) gives the ability to take and store things, but more importantly, the ability to not spend a lot of time looking for paper documents, the ability to type in a key word, date or an invoice number and recall all kinds of information. File cabinets are no longer needed, so that frees up space, especially when you’re leasing and paying per square foot. There is a cost-saving in addition to not printing a piece of paper, you also have an ability to better utilize your office space.

What is the most interesting innovation in office equipment you’ve seen in your 27 years at the helm of QualityDOS?

The ability to now print, scan and fax is obviously one of the bigger ones. The cost of copiers has decreased dramatically. The cost of color printing has decreased but the capability has increased. The clarity of color copying has greatly improved. Companies are getting print quality from a copier. Years ago, you’d go to a print shop and spend $2 for something that now your copier can do for 10 cents.

How do you identify your clients’ needs and identify the best business solutions to meet those needs?

Once an appointment is obtained, we go in with a list of questions for the client. We talk about a scope of work, how they’re doing things, how the paper moves from point A to point G or Z, how it flows through the company. Then we have the ability to look at it and ask the right questions and make a recommendation. Maybe you don’t have to make six or seven copies along the way, you can just use the scanning and software to move it from the copier to all six people quickly and efficiently, so they don’t have to print. And more importantly in developing that relationship, it’s just listening to what the client has to say. We’re not just selling a piece of hardware, we’re going to sell a solution that makes their company better and improves their bottom line.

Do you have the most up-to-date equipment for your own use or do you have a few legacy items you hang onto?

Most of my legacy items are gone. My 3-by-5 cards are gone. I have up-to-date equipment. We use a customer reference system that is available on my phone or my iPad or laptop. We have the ability to look at a piece of equipment and analyze it before we even get to it. The piece of equipment sends us a notice that the toner is low, so we can send toner to them before they need it. It tells us these rollers that last 100,000 pages, we’re almost at that number, so maybe we should take rollers with us and change them before they break down. We’re able to do system upgrades to the equipment at 2 in the morning. We’re able to make the changes in the off hours so there’s no downtime for the customers.