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Print Audit 6 is an application that allows organizations and dealers to analyze the printing in an environment, control and guide how users print using print rules, and recover the cost of printing by gaining the ability to accurately bill for printing activity. An application is rolled out to each desktop to monitor printing activity, and it reports back to a central database that determines if a print rule needs to be applied. The full version of Print Audit 6 is comprised of three components: Analysis, Rules, and Recovery. If not all of the components are needed, different licensing options allow you to choose the components that suit your business.
Print Audit 6 has been installed on over 1,500,000 customer desktops and over 1,400 dealer equipment showrooms. According to Print Audit, Print Audit 6 has saved over 280,000 trees in 2009 alone, and that they have redirected over 1 billion clicks to their dealer clients' devices. |
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With the Analysis component, the Print Audit desktop application collects 45 pieces of information about each print job, including the user, the length of the print job, duplex information, the printer being used, and the application being printed from. Networked, local, USB, and direct to IP printing are all tracked. Reports can be generated to view volumes over a specified time period (including total pages, black-and-white versus color breakdowns, total jobs and number of users), asset information (including total devices, number of models, number of workstations, and local versus networked versus direct-to-IP breakdown), and costs (including per page, per user, per printer, black-and-white versus color printing, and future cost projections). Reports can be scheduled and emailed, and a custom logo can be added to reports.
The Rules component has a Microsoft Outlook-style setup, and allows the administrator to control or guide how users print. The administrator configures print limits (rules) that are set to display highly customizable pop-up messages to a user when they attempt to print a job that violates the print rule (see below). For example, there might be a rule that states a user can print up to three pages on an inkjet printer, but print jobs with more pages must be sent to an MFP. If a user attempted to print a job of more than three pages to an inkjet, they would receive a pop-up notification on their screen that their job has been cancelled and they must send their job to an MFP.
Print Audit 6: Example of a Customizable Pop-up Message
when a Print Limit Has Been Exceeded
The rule could also be set up that it would only suggest to the user that they print to a different machine and display to them the cost savings by doing so, but leave the ultimate choice up to the user. Print limits can be based on job size (in terms of pages, square meters or square feet), job cost, individual users, individual computers, applications, printers, number of copies, time printed, if job was printed to file, number of color pages, or whether the job contains color. The rules system can reduce the cost of printing by redirecting jobs to cheaper devices, increase revenues for dealers by migrating print volumes to their own hardware, save paper by implementing duplex rules, save IT time by being able to redirect print jobs remotely, and maintain document security by implementing rules for specific document titles and setting up e-mail notifications that are triggered when confidential documents are printed.
The Recovery component allows users to associate every print job with a PIN, project or client, allowing print jobs to be billed to clients or expensed to the appropriate project or department. Optionally, a pop-up window can be displayed for users to validate print jobs (see below); up to five customizable fields can be paired together for job validation.
Print Audit 6: Example of a Recovery Pop-up Job Validation Window
Charges for print jobs can be based on the number of pages or paper size. Declining balances based on cost, total pages, black-and-white pages, or color pages can be used to control the amount of printing. The administrator can specify specific devices and applications that they want to track and that they don't want to track. The Recovery component integrates with virtually any accounting system to export print charges, and is also designed to work with popular CAD systems. The Recovery component also integrates with Print Audit's Embedded and Copy Audit solutions. Print Audit 6 Embedded runs directly on the touch screen panels of Sharp and Ricoh multifunction devices and enables tracking of walk-up copying, scanning and faxing. Copy Audit is an external terminal used to track walk-up copying on devices that do not have a Print Audit 6 Embedded solution. Copy Audit also has the ability to support walk-up swipe and proximity cards.
The overall system for Print Audit 6 is controlled and configured using Print Audit's Administration Tool (see below), which is typically installed only on the central system that contains the database. The Administration Tool allows users to perform administrative functions, including configuring print rules, setting pricing to track costs, creating custom job validation fields, creating and assigning user tracking and security profiles, creating and assigning printer profiles, editing user and printer lists (by default these are generated automatically), adding applications that the administrator wants to define specific rules for, configuring desktop client settings, and more.
Print Audit 6: Administration Tool—Desktop Client Settings
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Print Audit 6 is comprised of three main components: the Print Audit desktop client, which must be installed on each workstation to be tracked; the database (Microsoft SQL or Access), which stores print job information; and the Database Communicator, which receives print job information from Print Audit desktop clients and saves the information to the database.
A step-by-step installation wizard is included for the initial setup of the system. The database and Database Communicator must be installed on a server/computer that will be running all the time; otherwise, print jobs will not be tracked when the system is off. Print Audit recommends installing all the central components on a single system. In addition to the core system components, there are a number of additional components that can be installed during the initial setup. Copy Audit Communicator is used to receive any information gathered with the Copy Audit solution. The Administration tool is used to configure all aspects of Print Audit 6. The Job Manager and Volume Reporting tools are used to edit and delete print job information, build reports based on stored print job information, and export print job information.
After the initial installation is complete, the wizard continues to walk the user through creation of the database (Microsoft SQL only—Access databases are automatically created). The Database Communicator is automatically started, and the user must enter in details about the newly created database to create the connection between the two. After this has been done, installation of the central system is complete.
The Print Audit 6 desktop application must then be installed on all workstations that the company wants to track. It can be pushed out to the network using either the customer's network push-install tool, or, when one is not available, the push-install tool that is included with Print Audit 6. Active Directory, Windows NT and Novell Directory Services are all supported for network integration. |
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The Print Audit 6 Administrator tool has the ability to create different user security profiles, meaning some users can have full access, others read-only access for reporting only, and others may be given only the ability to track their printing. A single user security profile can be applied to multiple users. Users can be prompted to enter either a PIN or their network password to access the Administrator and reporting tools.
Users can be prompted for a PIN or their network password in order to print.
PIN codes are stored in the database in encrypted form, not in plain text. Encryption is also used for data communication between the Print Audit Clients and Database Communicator.
Users can be authenticated against an Active Directory or Novell NDS server if desired.
The data stored in the Microsoft SQL or Microsoft Access database is as secure as the network and server on which it resides. Print Audit can be configured to not track document and/or user names to prevent that information from being stored in the database. Data is not transmitted to third parties.
Communication between the Database Communicator and the Print Audit Clients takes place on a single TCP port, which can be changed from the default if desired. |
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Print Audit provides installation and support services, technical training services, and sales coaching services. Installation support is provided for the initial setup of Print Audit 6. Technical training teaches administrators how to plan an implementation of the software for a client, install and configure the solution, and troubleshoot issues. Sales coaching covers how to identify hidden opportunities, how to design a unique offering, tools to help overcome the competition, and strategies to increase revenue opportunities. Print Audit's professional services team conducts both online and onsite training sessions. Technical support is unlimited and free. A North American toll-free technical support line is available during business hours, 8:00am to 5:00pm MST. Although international customers can call their head office, support is also available from Print Audit's international locations.
The Print Audit website contains a variety of support tools that are easily accessible for clients. This includes video tutorials, a knowledge base, a support discussion forum, and thorough documentation including user manuals, installation guides and security guides.
Dedicated sales representatives from Print Audit are available to help clients plan their goals for the system, and to help market and sell to end-users, including participating in presentations to end-users. |