network printer

aidanmcg32

hi we have 10th computers in our office. we have two printers attached to one. a plotter and a laser. these are just shared across the network. how can I manage who can print on these printers and stop the amount of waste? at the min people print from their own computer and just leave stuff lying there.I would like something where they would have to go to the pc the printer is attached to and pick their job from a queue.

Static M.e.

For that kind of functionality, you have to;

a) have a network printer which supports it
b) pay extra to have it switched on.

UCD does have some software which does the trick, but again you have to pay for it

For 10 Computers I would just log who prints what, and talk to the people that are wasting the paper. Tell people you will fine them for wasting the paper etc

aidanmcg32

how can I log what they print? how much would the software be

Static M.e.

If you have any Windows Server, set up the print managment service on the Server. Add all your printers to that and from there you can manage who can print to the servers.

You can also get the printers to hold printed documents for time, if you want to check back thought them, and setup Auditing then to see who is printing what..

Im sure you could get some software to do the job if you dont have any servers, but the fact that the printers are all attached to one computer makes the job easier.

Have a look at these types of product, you might be able to find something which does everything you need in a little box

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/18972-18972-236253-34210-396578-3980754.html

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/18972-18972-236253-34214-64302-27316.html

rolion

I'm not allowed to get business using this site ,but just to share my thought are free...

TBH,at 10 client pc you shall start looking for a small server,for centrally management of data,printing and emails.Also,a small backup as well.

Once the server in place,get the printers installed on the server,then use a special software that gives you a very complex reporting function based by user,number of pages,paper format A4/A3,paper bw or color,customer that print job belongs to...also,set pin number for every user so only the user knows it when sends print jobs. You can even set costs for each page and then,when project/job finished,you can use the number resulted per page to charge to customer.

I'm using for some clients this product and they are delighted.More than likely ,most of this type of software will run on a server.

Regards.

aidanmcg32 wrote: »

how can I log what they print? how much would the software be

ressem

I've used Papercut (www.papercut.com) for implementing per-user billing, logging and print release stations, when management didn't want to replace their printers.

It can run on XP or mac, it doesn't require a server OS available though it helps.