Gonk Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 Afternoon all, The school have finally come around to my way of thinking and have agreed to move over to copiers for our printing. One issue that has been highlighted is how the admin officer will do the accounting as currently we set up accounts on the copiers (we're using Konica BizHubs) and they when they run out more money is put on the account and its manged like that. Having had a quick look at this issue, Papercut have the 'Papercut MF' product which will count the copies off the glass and manage the printing side. Just wondering really if anyone is using the MF product and can give m their thoughts on it. Cheers Ross
soveryapt Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 I have the MF Product here. It works nicely, though the logins can be a bit awkward if you're wanting to integrate into your existing user logins on your network and what not. It works really nicely for tracking of jobs though, both print and copy, and runs smoothly. You can set up a template printer in the settings and then once a printer is added to the server that PaperCut MF is assigned to, that printer will take on all those details, and you can copy settings between devices. The only thing I would say is make sure that the printers you have / are getting at your place are compatible with PaperCut. Most modern Konica printers are I seem to remember. I use PaperCut UK, papercut, print management, print control, print charging, photocopier control, reduces paper and toner waste, PaperCut NG, PaperCut MF, print management software, photocopy control for for the purchase of PaperCut. You will have to take a maintenance agreement for at least 1 year with them, but this includes all upgrades, etc, and support for the software / printer integration. If you don't want to take a 2nd years, make sure you notify them 90 days before your renewal date though (something I got caught out on in their small print). They also offer a setup service, which I didn't take as I knew the software and was capable, but if you're not sure of it, it's good to take as they will then help you set it up for the best setting. You can also make up "credit cards" for users, so the office would give out a new card and then the user could self service via a web interface and add that credit to their account. A useful tool if you need that kind of thing. We just use it for management and budgeting and SLT have directed I remove the direct "THIS IS HOW MUCH YOU'VE SPENT" bit of the software for the staff (there is a desktop widget you can run which will keep them up to date with how much money they have). If you ask me, it's a useful tool used right and with the backing of SLT, but you might find the usernames are a little awkward if you're integrating fully. Hope that helps Andy T
JonWPS Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 We've used it here since September, and it's worked well and as far as accounting goes has cut down on a lot of the work we previously had to put in, as account management in centralised. You can pretty much set it up how you want, so you could essentially keep doing what you have been, but in a more efficient way. Here each department is issued with credit that fits within our projected output on our copier contract, and the HOD is then able to manage their staff's use of it. Accounts are billed monthly. Previously readings we are taken individually by hand, and money taken out of budgets quite randomly to cover costs. The point about making sure your copiers will properly take Papercut is valid, and we originally had two Xerox machines which required an external input device for integration, which wasn't perfect and caused a few issues. The features to locking down and filtering the printing are almost limitless, and have been fantastic.
localzuk Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 I use it at my other school, have done for almost 3 years. Great piece of software. Our testimonial - http://www.papercut-mf.com/docs/case-studies/PaperCut%20Case%20Study%20-%20Minehead%20Middle%20School.pdf
gshaw Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 Looking at it here as well but need to make sure our copiers are compatible, what problems did you have with the accounts @soveryapt I'd like to link PaperCutMF with the copiers using HID cards that also tie in with Active Directory... is this possible? Idea being that if staff are using the copiers they login with the HID card but if they're printing from their PCs to a standard LaserJet it also tracks the usage...
Soulfish Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 Used it both here and at my last school. Great product. Here we also have it integrating with our biometric biostore database (used for cashless catering and eclipse library system) so that its nice and simple for staff to login.
localzuk Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 Looking at it here as well but need to make sure our copiers are compatible, what problems did you have with the accounts @soveryapt I'd like to link PaperCutMF with the copiers using HID cards that also tie in with Active Directory... is this possible? Idea being that if staff are using the copiers they login with the HID card but if they're printing from their PCs to a standard LaserJet it also tracks the usage... Yup that's possible. Basically, you need a keyboard emulating card reader which plugs in via USB. Then you can enable a pin feature in the software which syncs with whatever field you choose in active directory. 1
soveryapt Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 Looking at it here as well but need to make sure our copiers are compatible, what problems did you have with the accounts @soveryapt It wasn't so much a problem as they sync'd perfectly, the issue was that if you have a nice short name, the the firstname-lastname login I use for staff/students at the school is great, but if you have a long name, then it gets a bit tiresome typing in your username on the copier interface. I'm sure there are other options you can go down (assigning short codes / giving cards / etc) to users, but these get lost, etc, etc.
gshaw Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 It wasn't so much a problem as they sync'd perfectly, the issue was that if you have a nice short name, the the firstname-lastname login I use for staff/students at the school is great, but if you have a long name, then it gets a bit tiresome typing in your username on the copier interface. I'm sure there are other options you can go down (assigning short codes / giving cards / etc) to users, but these get lost, etc, etc. Haha yup before we set up LDAP for scan-to-email typing the addresses was painful... however I found a good use for my ID card as it seems to be much more effective on a resistive touchscreen than my finger ever was
localzuk Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 It wasn't so much a problem as they sync'd perfectly, the issue was that if you have a nice short name, the the firstname-lastname login I use for staff/students at the school is great, but if you have a long name, then it gets a bit tiresome typing in your username on the copier interface. I'm sure there are other options you can go down (assigning short codes / giving cards / etc) to users, but these get lost, etc, etc. We used a pin for ours at MMS, works great - people don't forget a 5 digit number generally. 1
soveryapt Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 We used a pin for ours at MMS, works great - people don't forget a 5 digit number generally. I might look into that then, though the staff here have only just taken to using a digital booking system for laptops, so I don't want to move too fast with this technology malarky! lol ..
Sylv3r Posted January 23, 2012 Posted January 23, 2012 We use PCounter here effectively for our accounting needs on our copiers. Also allows you to delete duplicate jobs + a lot more.
rich_tech Posted January 24, 2012 Posted January 24, 2012 we use pcounter here too with konica bizhubs, our setup means every staff member has a pin code which ties in to their AD username here and we can control the amounts of printing and copying done with ease centrally
soveryapt Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 We used a pin for ours at MMS, works great - people don't forget a 5 digit number generally. Just taking a look at doing this now. Is there a way to autofill the pager field (or some other chosen field) in Active Directory to set up numbers for everyone, or will I have to do this all manually?
Big_Ted Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 as a work around you could probably use excel to generate a list of 5 digits once you have that list you could import that data into papercut against the usernames. 1
localzuk Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 Just taking a look at doing this now. Is there a way to autofill the pager field (or some other chosen field) in Active Directory to set up numbers for everyone, or will I have to do this all manually? You could script it, but I think 'issuing' pins like that will cause you more trouble than you want. The way we did it was to ask people to give us a number to use - that way, they remember it. 1
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