Prevent jobs being released to a printer in error

When a printer or device is in error, print jobs can get lost, refunds might be needed, and highly-sensitive documents could be compromised. Support demands can quickly escalate when you have to deal with frustrated users on top of resolving the error.

PaperCut NG/MF gives you the ability to choose whether or not users can release jobs to printers that are reporting an error. If you choose to block jobs from being released to a printer or MFD reporting an error, a message is displayed on the Release StationPrint Release Stations place a print job on hold and allow users to release it when required. Often a Release Station is a dedicated PC terminal located next to the printers, however, Release Stations can take other forms such as a web browser based interface. Some common examples where Release Stations can be used include secure printing, approved printing, and authentication. In a secure printing environment jobs are only printed when the user arrives at the print area and confirms his or her identity. This ensures the user is there to collect the job and other users can't "accidentally" collect the document. In some organizations it may be appropriate to hold jobs until they are approved by selected individuals. A good example would be a teacher approving printing on an expensive color printer. Hold/Release queues can be used as a form of authentication in an unauthenticated environment. Users must authenticate prior to releasing their jobs allowing PaperCut NG to confirm their identity. interface Held Jobs pageindicating that the job has not been released as well as directions for how to resolve the error. The user can then choose to either resolve the error or release to an alternative MFD in a Find-Me environment.

Not only do you have the control to block users releasing jobs when an error is reported, but when used in combination with the System Health Monitoring interface, you can be notified when printers/devices go into error so you can resolve the issue quicker, further improving user experience.

By default, this functionality is not switched on. You can switch this on for:

• individual MFD Release Stations

• individual Standard Release Stations

• all web-based Release Station interfaces (including the Admin web interface Jobs Pending Release, User web interfaceThe User web interface provide a range of services for users, including a summary of usage and balance history, a list of the shared accounts that the user can use for printing, the current costs for printing usage, ability to add balance by using a TopUp/Pre-Paid Card or an external payment system (when using the payment gateway module), transfer funds to other users, view a history of balance transactions, view a list of the user's recent printing, and view print jobs pending release (when using a Release Station). Jobs Pending Release, Release Manager interface, and the Mobile Release interface. For more information about these interfaces, see Release Station interfaces).