Yesterday’s announcement (on September 15, 2025) from Toshiba regarding its patented eTAG cloud technology marks the culmination of a shimmery, silver-lined formation after the cloud of COVID. The Encompass Tag & Assessment Generator™ (eTAG™) was a necessity born during the global pandemic, when service technicians were not allowed to go out on calls, remembers Scott Robinson, the OEM’s VP of managed print services (MPS), who is celebrating his 26th year with Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) this month. (He was with Ikon Office Solutions prior to 1999.)
“E-signing contacts was not an issue during COVID-19,” Robinson says; however, tagging inventory remotely was problematic, which made colleague Matthew Bull’s head spin. Bull, a 13-year Toshiba veteran, directs the manufacturer’s technical services programs. “Matt searched for a solution but could not find one,” Robinson told The Cannata Report. “So, he created one.”
The introduction of eTAG definitely signals a bright spot, Bull agrees. Ideally suited for office multifunction printer (MFP) fleet management, the new remote printer registration software is cloud-based, which makes it mobile on iPhones and Androids. It also is QR enabled. The solution is so innovative that Toshiba applied for and has been issued a U.S. patent. That legal twist was a pleasant surprise, Bull adds, but Robinson thinks he’s being modest, calling eTAG “a truly unique offering.”
Toshiba’s U.S. Patent Not Pending
What makes it so special? First of all, eTAG is manufacturer “agnostic,” so to speak. The cloud tech is versatile, registering devices made by Toshiba, sure, but it also can skirt around print drivers to play nicely with printers from other OEMs, including those made by Brother, HP, Lexmark, and other competitors. More importantly, perhaps, eTAG can help IT directors and CIOs to more efficiently manage their equipment assets. “Some customers may have between 200 and 400 assets,” Robinson illustrates, adding that Toshiba now can remotely track laptops and other equipment inventory, too—not only printers.
In inventory control settings, manually affixing stickers is a tedious, laborious process. “It can be extremely ‘high touch’ and time consuming,” Bull confirms: a task that he and his Toshiba teammates have rendered literally hands-off with eTAG. It’s easy to use, too. All an end user (say, a busy school teacher) need do is scan a device’s QR code, which includes an identification number.
eTAG’s drag-and-drop import/export features are fully functional right now, points out Bull. “It’s available to the dealer network under our Elevate Sky [workflow] umbrella,” he explains. By next month (October 2025), dealers should be able to take advantage of all the new solution’s benefits. Now that the world has moved past the COVID pandemic, Toshiba is seeing a healthy mix of on site and off site eTAG applications, reports Bull.
The OEM’s software engineers have been listening to clients, including Binny’s Beverage Depot. Toshiba will continue to solicit feedback and input from early adopters of the technology, which presently is in use at 70 sites covering 4,500 assets. “We are receiving some 8,000 to 10,000 changes per month from clients,” notes Bull, so the eTAG product only will continue to improve and get better amid the tweaking. “It’s definitely fluid,” he concludes.
TABS hears dealer owners and managers, too. Several dealerships have requested eTAG integration with e-Automate MPS from ECI Software Solutions. Bull foresees eTAG being deployed, in the not-too-distant future, to enhance the storage of toner and other supplies. Predictive AI (artificial intelligence) should enhance service and supplies updates, he envisions, as early as Q1 2026. And, to avoid service calls, chatbot assistants will make suggestions about how to remove copier jams, for example. By late next year, toner refills may be delivered on a given date that is specified by AI.
