HP and its partners have announced a group of new solutions designed to lower business printing costs.

Customers will gain increased control over printing resources with a new solution called Imaging and Printing Job Accounting and Security, said HP. It developed the solution with partner SafeCom to encourage IT managers to set up printing policies in order to reduce departmental use of paper and toner, HP added.

A new offering HP has developed with partner Standard Register called Print Optimisation Solution will report on printer usage and offer interactive messaging to educate users on the cost of printing, HP said.

Additionally, customers will also have less need of fax machines because of a new solution the firm has developed with partner Captaris called LAN Fax Solution. This allows users to send and receive faxes from an MFP, digital sender or PC.

“Today’s announcements address the growing demand for expertise and technology to improve imaging and printing efficiency, while still enabling customers to mitigate the rise of printing costs and the risks associated with security and compliance,” said John Johasky, worldwide sales and services imaging and printing group vice president.

HP separately announced a solution targeted at its banking industry customers.

Financial institutions will have access to increased security for their printers with a new Check Printing Security solution HP has developed with the Troy Group. The solution also meets stringent cheque processing standards to avoid cheque fraud, HP said.