David_PCN

Pcounter has that option now - The teacher releases documents for users, accounting is based on a per user basis (charged staff member or original student - your choice!) but their jobs are linked to that the code selected by the staff member. When the reports are run per charge code/department, it will breakdown the students and staff usage. The API route is worth checking, but what happens if a classroom moves, or a class suddenly changes? Linking to the student systems may help, but the override is very much necessary. P.S. The teacher release option is web based using IIS, simple to use and free with the base product! There's a guide for both staff and it's configuration if needed. Out of interest how does Papercut handle mixed B/W and colour jobs?

Here's a few suggestions: Control: Change it to Money - it makes more sense and the teachers often don't see credits as "budget" Deposit every Monday for the students, enough for say 25 Mono Prints Give the teachers the ability to update balances via the web tool - it's dangerous but initially makes them see money being spent Stop duplicate jobs (Tick box in Options) Report: Run a weekly report on prints done - it will let you name and shame wasteful students, give you a reason for the lower allowances when it's mainly waste (if need be increase allowance if not) Run a report on weekly deposits - it will show you and the SLT how much the teachers abuse what should be controlling this. Unless they see whats being spent, they won't let you enforce control. Alert Enable the Popup feature - Any job over 50p (the cost of 10 prints @ 5p) so they have to confirm they want it, include their balance on the message. (Can be used for staff alternatively, anything over 40 pages) Send a message after each print job when their balance falls below 50p - then they know to not waste it. (Not Staff) Just a few idea's, does anyone else use these?

I agree completely, you can audit printing easily, controlling it is also easy and cost effective, getting the SMT/SLT to agree to changes, especially to staff controls is the hard part. Controlling students with quotas should yield a 15%+ reduction in costs, add in staff and that can easily become 30%+ savings. Remember...it's not just the toner cost, it's the obvious paper, replacement and ongoing maintenance of devices, updating and management of queues as well as more which can be reduced by reducing the load and usage of devices. Pcounter has had a clean up of the controls ~ 12 months ago but it's development is prioritised towards functionality. It's also more advanced on the copier control (multiple manufacturers), non-authenticated printing and print room controls. It does much more than can be document on a simple datasheet - if in doubt, ask! Happy to answer any questions here or via PM - have supported or worked with Pcounter for over 12 years now - positive and negative feedback welcomed!

That's going back quite a while now - full support for all KM devices and most devices (Including PCL5/6 and PS3). GDI and SNMP support/feedback has also improved!

You could look at PrinterOn - It's an add on to Pcounter which allows users to print from their own laptops, home PC's or java enabled devices even if they are not authenticated for security reasons.

Where are the RM credits held? If it is in AD and can be exported then it could be imported :-)

Dropped you a pm.

It's not difficult to configure, most important is the firmware but with the newer devices much simpler. If you'd like to quote model numbers I can confirm support. Copier manufacturers do tend to veer towards one of the software solutions for various reasons, some veer towards Pcounter with their comments and testing also, others to alternative solutions as noted above.

Did you contact the Altman support? There's various options which could be tested. Their e-mail address is [email protected]

I can confirm we have active Beta test sites in the UK now - I'll try and keep this thread updated. Pcounter Station has already been updated to monitor the IPrint OES queues! We do try to ensure all solutions will work cross platform - not always easy though!

A bit of information about Pcounter: Pcounter is licensed on a per server basis - Unlimited Users and devices. It also includes departmental accounting as part of the core license so no hidden costs! For copier control it's can embed onto Sharp, Xerox, HP, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Kyocera, Toshiba and plans for OCE and Ollivetti. Alternatively it can use an external copy controller with Mifare + Magstripe as standard for any device. It's now also got Biometric support on some solutions! If you are considering Equitrac and think it's a high cost, then compare the functionality and costs - you should get a pleasant surprise! FYI: GPAS is no longer sold to new sites.

Maybe also check the advanced tab in the driver - Set it to start printing after last page has spooled in case there some controls at the end of the spool file.

Week 1 + 2 :Audit Only. Week 3 -6; Use quotas to stop waste (I recommend to set this to affect 10% of users) Week 7+; Use extra rules ro redirect jobs based on content/size or block jobs. Most Audit software has a reasonable eval period - use this to prove the requirement. Soon the message gets around, and everyone thinks about what they are printing.