EFI Acquires Entrac - Money at the Edge of the Print Cloud

It's so great to see EFI on the move and their stock price strong! But I better find some other companies and technology to write about here soon, or this will start looking like an EFI-centric Blog!

EFI wasted no time in putting their brand on Entrac's minimalist www site, but it looks like a very complementary story coming out of this low-key Toronto company.

According to Toby Weiss, EFI Fiery business unit GM and senior vice president, "...the Entrac payment technology offers new possibilities for future EFI products in both our traditional print-for-pay markets as well as the enterprise markets. For example, adding EFI's PrintMe cloud printing to existing Entrac products will make it even easier for customers to begin offering self-service printing to mobile workers, students, guests, and patrons."

The company's products consist of attractive hardware that connect to output devices like copiers and fax machines. The devices come in a variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from small color screen "terminals" (my description) that sit next to a copier, to a full Kiosk.

In a print for pay situation, the terminals decrease the amount of "babysitting" that staffers need to do to support self-service customers. In enterprise and institutional environments, these types of devices would enable cost control, allow enhanced services to be provided to users, and provide the ability to capture payments in a variety of ways that weren't possible before.

I'm looking forward to seeing how EFI expands the market and technology of these products. At some point, I would think they would integrate this with FieryVue and the functionality of their SendMe products. Exciting Stuff!