Controlling the Cost of Computer Printing

1. Controlling the Cost of Computer Printing PCOUNTER Cost Recovery for Network Printing Print Auditing, User Accounting & Printer Management

2. Altman & AssociatesProviders of High PerformanceNetwork & Systems Management Software Distributed and Supported by www.altman.co.uk

3. Established in 1988 as distributor of mainframe system management tools Business has evolved to address similar issues on contemporary network platforms such as Novell and in more recent times, Windows NT & 2000 based systems Altman & AssociatesCompany Background

4. Altman & AssociatesCompany Objective To source, develop and support unique, niche software tools and solutions that address key network management issues

5. Altman & AssociatesNetwork Management Partners • A.N.D. Technologies Inc. • Avanti Technology Inc. • Blue Lance Inc. • Connectotel Ltd • Ingenuity Software • Knozall Systems Inc. • Visual Click Software Inc.

6. Audit & Security Automation & Synchronisation NDS / eDirectory Management & Reporting Storage Analysis & Management Performance Management Print Auditing & Accounting Product SummaryNetwork Server Management

7. PrintAccounting Why is there a need ? • 1. Explosive network growth • Greater access for all network computer users • 2. Lack of Accountability • Users rarely have to justify resource usage • 3. Low cost of printer hardware • Total cost of ownership not budgeted for

8. The Need for PrintAccounting The True Cost of Ownership (Source: IBM) Hardware - 11% Service - 3% Supplies - 86% Consumables!

9. The Need for PrintAccounting KEY FACTORS The “Paperless Office” never happened Thinking “GREEN”is morally, politically and commercially expedient

10. The Need for PrintAccounting Why are organisations unaware of the print cost problem? • They have no idea what the cost is, usually because they have no means of accounting for it. • The “users” often have no responsibility for the budget which pays for the consumable items.

11. PCOUNTER Feature List • Totally automated centralised tracking, control and accounting of all users’ printing • Full Audit trail of print output - WHO printed WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and HOW MUCH • Accounting on a cost & page count basis for any PCL, Postscript, Epson ESC/P or ESC/P2 device - HPGL devices costed by area used • Accounting by user (anyone with a network login) on a cost and page count basis • Optional assignment of print quotas (ideal for students in education)

12. PCOUNTER Feature List • Charge-back facilities to allow any user to cross charge to departments, bill to clients or allocate costs to projects • Re-direction / restriction based on page count or job size • Secure “Release Station” option - secondary release of print jobs by input of user password or for pay-for-print card based operation • Automatic rejection of unsupported job types or incorrect paper sizes • Optional workstation accounting for locally attached printers

13. PCOUNTER Feature List • Supported on all versions of NetWare (including NDPS), NT server and Windows 2000 • Accounts for printing from any network PC • Easy implementation: no changes required to server, workstation or user configurations • No requirement for additional server or workstation resources • Discrete tracking: users need not be aware that their printing is being counted

14. PCOUNTER Network Print Accounting Set-up and administration • No user set-up is required - users are automatically tracked by their network login • Default queue/device settings can be defined to avoid repetitive set-ups of similar print devices • Print credits can be quickly assigned to individuals or groups of users • “Zero Administration” option is available by linking to a money loader machine which accepts coins/notes and updates students’ Pcounter quota balance automatically

15. PCOUNTER -Printer/Queue Configuration

16. PCOUNTER -‘Rules’ based control Restrict, hold, stop or redirect jobs based on MB size, page count, copy count, device down or document name

17. PCOUNTER -“Charge-back” accounting • Pcounter provides a number of configuration options to facilitate charge-back accounting. • 1 or 2 level charge codes • Force selection from a list of pre-defined codes • Associate selected codes with specific users • Exclude specified users from accounting

18. PCOUNTER -Centralised Queue Management • Viewing & modification of all print jobs. • Modification of Windows NT printer properties, Novell NetWare (Bindery & NDS) queue properties: Users, Operators. • Create/rename/delete printer queues. • Pause/resume/purge/restart/delete printers, queues & print jobs. • Cut & paste/view print documents, move jobs between printers and queues - even between Novell queues and Windows printers. • Drag & drop files onto printers/queues and drag documents from one printer/queue to another.

19. PCOUNTER -User Account Balances

20. PCOUNTER -User Account Balances When used for quota management, users can check their own Pcounter account balance at any time from any network PC, by floating their mouse over the $ icon in the Windows Task Bar.

21. PCOUNTER STATION RELEASE STATION Pcounter Station can display a list of all users' print jobs showing user, document name, page count, cost, which printer, the size and when the job was submitted. Jobs can be set to be deleted if left on the queue for more than X hours / days.

22. PCOUNTER STATION SECURE RELEASE STATION Pcounter Station allows a user to be selected from a list of network users, then, optionally, on input of a password, a list of pending print jobs will be displayed that can then be released on demand.

23. PCOUNTER STATION Configuration Options • Program Functionality Options • Operator Console • Release Station - Pcounter Station will be the only application available and locks down the desktop so that no other applications are accessible. • Numerical Format Options • Currency • Units • User Identification Options • All users / all print jobs • User name • User name & network password • Additional options: • Display only pause/held • Display page counts and costs • Allow deletion of print jobs by users • Specify DLL link for own-code program to interface with other applications such as smart-card based accounting systems

24. PCOUNTER Automated Administration Options Mass User Management This is achieved using a utility called ACCOUNT.EXE which provides single or mass user processing for updating of deposits, credits, setting quotas or resetting balances. Scheduled updates Pcounter’s Administration function provides the capability to schedule updates on a single or multiple user basis - ideal for “drip-feeding” quotas, or resetting balances on a periodic basis.

25. PCOUNTER Automated Administration Options NetPrint Money Loader A wall mounted vending device consisting of a high security steel case containing a processor and network connection, coin and note acceptors, lockable boxes, alarm, panel mounted keyboard and mini VGA display. Users login via the keyboard and deposit money which is automatically credited to their Pcounter account balance.

26. PCOUNTER -Extensive Reporting Pcounter Print History All print jobs are logged showing document name, printer, date/time, workstation, Client code/sub-code, Paper size, features, size (Mb), page count, cost and balance. History can be displayed per user from Pcounter Administrator or per device from within Pcontrol.

27. PCOUNTER -Extensive Reporting Pcounter provides a number of reporting options - by User, Printer, Client codes, Groups and Deposits and relevant sub totaling. Reports can be output can be output to screen, printer, text file, HTML file or email.

28. PCOUNTER -Extensive Reporting Preferences can be set for style and reporting viewing (default Pcounter Padmin, Web browser or Excel, CSV) Multiple logs can be selected and processed into single reports

29. PCOUNTER -Extensive Reporting Reports can be generated and displayed on screen, sent to a printer, saved as text or HTML, or emailed. Examples are shown here as screen output:- - by user, showing jobs, pages and cost - by device showing jobs, pages and cost

30. PCOUNTER -Extensive Reporting This example shows print page count totals per printer, broken down by day over a selected week

31. PCOUNTER -Extensive Deployment The No.1 product for student quota management 500+ sites in UK education, 5000+ worldwide Campus wide deployment at: Cambridge UniversityOxford UniversityUniversity of GlasgowUniversity of GreenwichUniversity of Highlands & IslandsUniversity of HuddersfieldUniversity of ManchesterUniversity of NottinghamUniversity of North London PLUS hundreds of FE/HE Colleges & Schools!

32. PCOUNTER Information Pack • Product Fact Sheets • Questions & Answers • User References • Pricing A FREE 60 day evaluation is available on the web including a graphical step by step installation guide in PDF format and full product documentation www.altman.co.uk

33. How can we help you ? • Evaluation, sales & technical materials • Pre-sale technical support and deployment assistance for resellers, integrators and end users • On-site implementation, configuration and training service available

34. Altman & AssociatesNetwork & Systems Management Questions ... Telephone: 01937 541400 Fax: 01937 541500 Web: www.altman.co.uk Email: info@altman.co.uk