- Do we monitor only and try changing
the way people operate when their usage is excessive compared to other
users?
- Should we give users an allocation
and they have to pay once it is used up?
- Let's charge them 100% from day
one.
All the above approaches have been tried
and many variations between the two extremes. From the feedback I have
received over the last seven years, I am confident in suggesting option
two as the best strategy. However, it took a while for me to realize
why.
This strategy is easier to introduce to all parties involved as it avoid
conflicts with users, parents of users and those who are concerned with
reigning in costs.
If you give the students an allocation (sufficient to complete their
years work or whatever you decide is a fair thing), you are not
increasing fees or imposing fees where they did not previously exist.
This avoids discussions with students, parents and staff members who do
not subscribe to the 'user pays' principle.
The REALLY interesting thing about this approach is that those given the
allocation behave as if you had given them coins or notes to the value
of the allocation and look upon any print job or Internet surfing as
depleting their newly gained revenue. They will avoid doing that print
job now and wait until they get home. If they have to print now, they
will proof read and correct on-screen, check each print job for blank
pages and select duplexing if available. Anything to avoid spending
their own money. Effectively, you have thrown the responsibility
onto the user and in the majority of cases they respond beautifully and
your costs drop dramatically. Now those with budgetry constraints and
cost cutting projects are seeing the benefits.
Again, from years of feedback, I estimate the typical saving for a
school using Gaia Print Charger
and/or Gaia Net Charger to be four
times the price of the license they purchase in the first year and five
times the purchase price every year thereafter whilst our software is
running on that site.
I do not believe you would achieve anywhere near the above savings from
option 1.
Option 3 is likely to cause so much aggrevation as no one likes new fees
being introduced.
Prepared by:-
John H. Denham,
GAIA Computing P/L,
http://www.gaiacomputing.com.au Ph +61 3 5444 9588 Fax +61 3 5443
2847 |
