Need Help Managing Your Library’s Printers and Print Jobs?

As a librarian, the software your library uses provides the foundation for your success. Selecting the best ones for your needs can be time-consuming and overwhelming. Outsource IT Solutions Group (OSG) in Naperville has the experience in many of the applications today’s librarians use. In this article, we’ll review a popular solution –PaperCut for print management.

PaperCut Makes It Easy To Manage Your Print Devices

It’s so frustrating when paper gets stuck in printers, or when it’s late in the day, you’re ready to go home and a patron asks you to print out a 30-page document, only to find that the toner in the printer has run out.

These may be small inconveniences for some, but for a busy librarian, your printers are a lifeline for so many of your duties. You must ensure they remain in working order and ready to accept the print jobs you and your staff send.

This is where a print-management software application like PaperCut can really help.

PaperCut makes print management easy and painless. From simple tracking and monitoring of print jobs to integrating BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) printing or advanced custom job management, PaperCut can be a librarian’s best friend.

How Does PaperCut Work?

PaperCut works by intercepting print jobs as they pass into a print queue. It watches the queues and extracts job information such as page counts and uses this to implement:

• Logging, charging, control, quotas, reporting or a combination of all.
• Security features like secure print release, archiving and watermarking.

Typically PaperCut is installed on a server but also supports local workstations. Many sites complement the solution with optional embedded software on touch-screen MFDs (Multifunctional Display), and/or use PaperCut’s mobile/tablet print options.

PaperCut supports anything from a small desktop printer all the way up to largest MFDs with advanced touchscreens.

There Are Two Versions Of PaperCut To Choose From

You can choose between the do-it-yourself version, PaperCut NG, or the fully supported PaperCut MF depending on needs.

With PaperCut NG you can use a customizable web interface to keep track of your paper usage and budget:

• Track and control an unlimited number of printers.
• See how many pages are being printed by who, what and when.
• Change user behavior and encourage duplex, discourage email printing and be friendly to the environment.
• Assign quotas or budgets to your users, departments or groups.
• Increase document security and track the origin or archive content using digital signatures and watermarking.
• Simplify mobile and BYOD printing to allow users to print from their mobile devices.
• Upgrade to PaperCutMF whenever you want.
• Works on any platform: Win, Mac, Linux, Novell

You can do more with PaperCutMF and the Multifunction Display (MFD) embedded software. It has all the features of PaperCutNG plus you can:

• Manage, copy, scan and fax from your MFD.
• Authenticate users with swipe or proximity cards,
• Use Find-Me Printing to print to a single global queue, walk up and collect at any device.
• Use Secure Print Release to ensure sensitive documents don’t start printing until the user is there to collect them.
• Administer centrally and get full visibility of device activity from anywhere with your browser-based admin tool.
• Scale from 5 to 500,000 users.

What’s The Main Difference Between PaperCut NG and PaperCut MF?

The short answer is that PaperCut NG is a DIY product that allows you to implement print monitoring and control.  PaperCutMF extends the functionality of PaperCut NG with a higher level of hardware integration. It has embedded software that installs on most leading MFD/MFP (Multifunctional Printer) brands to support secure print release on the device’s touch screen, as well as tracking copy, scan and fax activity.

How Does PaperCut Help To Save Money?

The intuitive reporting capabilities will allow you and your staff to better manage which printers belong where and to understand print cycles.

You’ll also have a better on-hand inventory of supplies where you might have higher printing requirements and require additional equipment or support.

With either of PaperCut’s applications you’ll:

• Minimize waste.
• Save on paper and toner/ink.
• Improve document security.
• Save your system administrator’s time
• Encourage end-users to improve printing behavior.

You’ll also see a significant reduction in waste, which translates into lower costs. You’ll benefit from a lot less administrative hassle with print management, and great features and overall support.

The amount of cost savings depend on the features you use. Most organizations see significant savings and an ROI (return on investment) in only a few months. They save up to 20% by implementing just the secure print release and find-me printing functionality.

Mix in print policies to encourage duplex or your own rules, and you’ll soon not only be saving paper but also making users more productive and doing less admin work. Time is money too!

For more information about the benefits of PaperCut, contact Outsource IT Solutions Group. We’re always happy to help.

Whether you run a small community library or need help for your state-wide public library system, OSG in Naperville has the experience to help you sort out what system best meets your needs. And once you do, we can install, implement, integrate and manage it so you’ll always have an efficient, reliable and secure solution for you and your patrons.