Danwood DNA

[Jobos]

One of my schools is having a couple of photocopiers from Danwood and they want to install software on the network called Danwood DNA. It looks innocent enough as it just sends usage info back to Danwood and orders toner automatically. Just wondered if anyone has come across this software before?

[kidpressingbuttons]

Yeah we use it here- works well!

Just be wary that you need to order waste toner bottles over the phone- caught me out massively...

[synaesthesia]

Is this the Danwood that everyone should have been massively avoiding for their contractual scams?

[maark]

we use it here and they are quite good at sending out toners automatically although any stand-alone ones you will have to ring in for supplies

[PotNoodleTech]

You may want to do a search for Danwood the results will not be favourable.

[Ben_Stanton]

We use DNA here, saves lots of hassle when it comes to ordering toner, submitting meter reads and scheduling maintenance etc. (as above, this doesn't include waste boxes or staples) - still a call/email job there). We have recently renewed with Danwood for another 3 years with a complete refresh on all hardware.

 

I know they used to have a pretty bad rep, lots of dodgy 'ever green' contracts costing billions and never being released from it etc.. However, they have been taken over, stripped of deadwood and streamlined. I would have no problem recommending Danwood at all. I've not tried, but I'd guess if you did search, it would all be old news...nothing of the sort anytime recently (happy to be corrected on that).

 

Feel free to get in contact if necessary... the old Danwood have gone, i'm fairly certain of it!

Edited February 9, 2016 by Ben_Stanton

[Jobos]

Thanks guys, that's put my mind at rest over the DNA question. I agree with @Ben_Stanton over Danwood being a different company now and there prices were much better than the other quote we had.

[MatthewL]

It's not uncommon for any large supplier to install software for meter readings and toner ordering. Generally the software on the server will communicate with the MFD via SNMP then upload back a few times a day. Some of the automated toner ordering processes can be messy and it doesn't take into account staples and waste boxes so one to watch out for.

[googlemad]

I don't know if it's resolved in the newer version but the old version for us used to frequently just stop working and sending anything to Danwood for no real reason.

 

I have it set so it reboots the Windows service overnight now and has the fail options set up too so if it falls over it automatically attempts to start itself back up 3 times