Document security is an important requirement in the modern print environment. In a standard environment a user's job prints immediately and may accidentally be collected by another user. This problem is usually addressed with print release by implementing dedicated release stations, embedded MFD applications, or specialist hardware. PaperCut NG's Mobile Print Release provides an alternate cost effective solution that leverages the powerful devices that exist in almost everyone's pocket - the mobile phone.
Features:
Release held jobs from any print queue with Hold/Release enabled
Simple intuitive interface, optimized for touch screens
Designed to work with most modern cell and tablet devices
Quickly locate printers with keyword searching (location, name or code)
Can be used in environments with Find Me Printing configured, giving the user ultimate control over where and when their jobs are released
Support for QR code printer location/lookup
Requirements:
iPhone iOS 5 and newer (both iPhone and iPad)
Android ICS and newer (Chrome recommended)
Other modern mobile web browsers
Once logged in, the user is able to see a list of printers that are available to them. The printer's name, location, and alternate ID (if set) are displayed. Mobile Print Release also displays recently used printers, as well as popular printers.
Selecting a printer will show the held jobs that the user can release on the printer. The list includes jobs held in virtual queues that redirect to the selected printer. In the screenshot below there are no jobs available for release.
In the screenshot below we can see there are many jobs available to release. Simple details such as the job name, cost, number of pages, and time that it was queued are displayed.
Clicking the arrow next to a job will display more detailed information about the job. In the case where there are multiple jobs with similar names, users can utilize this information to differentiate jobs.
If the user only wants the perform an action on a subset of jobs, they can use the checkboxes to the left of the job titles to either select or deselect them. By default, all jobs in the list are selected. Users can release or cancel the selected jobs by clicking on either the green or red buttons at the bottom of the screen.
Other highlights for Mobile Print Release include:
Avoid logging in every time with the "Remember Me" option
Search for printers using name, location or alternate ID
Jump straight to your favorite printer simply by bookmarking the page (or adding to home screen)
One of the benefits of Mobile Printer Release is that it allows you to offer secure release on any type of printer. There is no need for any dedicated hardware. A common configuration is to have two queues for a physical printer; one direct queue (normal printing) and one secure queue (a hold/release queue). When document security is important users can select the secure queue and release the job from their mobile phone. Alternatively, many sites opt for a 100% secure environment, mandating release on every job. Mobile Print Release leverages the existing hold/release functionality in PaperCut NG. Hold/Release queues will need to be set up to use Mobile Print Release.
Mobile Print Release is a core feature included in PaperCut NG. It's a mobile web application, which means there's no need for users to install 3rd party applications or access an off-site App store (such as Apple's iTunes store). The advantage of this model is that all network traffic and application deployment is managed securely in your own network.
The application can be accessed by opening the phone's Internet browser (while connected to your network's local WiFi) and going to any of the follow URLs:
HTTPS
https://[servername]:9192/mrhttps://[servername]:9192/mobile/release
HTTP
http://[servername]:9191/mrhttp://[servername]:9191/mobile/release
"/mr" is a shortened version provided for convenience. HTTPS is highly recommended, as users will authenticate themselves via this connection. By default PaperCut NG installs with self-signed certificate and will raise warnings in secure browsers. Consider installing a signed certificated, or use the HTTP URL. We would only recommend HTTP as secondary option, and only on secured WiFi.
Users can bookmark or "Add to Home Screen" the Mobile Print Release App on their device to quickly access the application. Held job pages can also be bookmarked, which is convenient for users who often release from the same device.
Tip
Mobile Print Release can also be deployed to iOS devices as an App. Simply have the user access
https://[servername]:9192/mr/install. This will install a web profile that automatically
creates the home screen icon, which may be preferred to manual bookmarking on some sites.
iOS users can also print directly from their device using PaperCut NG's iOS printing solution. These two applications can be used together to provide a comprehensive mobile printing solution.
Here are some tips to help educate your users to get the most out of Mobile Print Release:
When implementing Mobile Print Release across a large network, it can be hard to educate the users of how and when to use the application. Many administrators have used stickers with URLs printed on them to direct users to access the application. Informational posters give administrators a more noticeable and detailed space to explain the enhanced printing architecture.
Regular users of Mobile Print Release can improve their experience by bookmarking the printers that they use the most. When used in conjunction with the "Remember Me" option, users can release their jobs extremely quickly. This allows users to click on a single icon on their mobile device and go straight to the held job list that their print job can be released from.
Sites with hundreds of printers will want to educate their users to utilize the search function in Mobile Print Release. The Mobile Print Release printer search field provides a quick way for users to find their desired printer. The search terms are matched against the printer's name, location and alternate ID. The alternate ID is a short admin-defined code that can be assigned to a print queue. Printer names are usually designed to be read on a desktop, assigning an alternate ID gives users identifiers which are easy to remember and type on a mobile device. A suggested approach is to use a 4 digit code (eg 1234) as the alternate ID. Printers can be labelled with stickers with the alternate ID to indicate what term users should search for.
You can use the location or alternate ID to access the printer's Mobile Print Release page directly:
https://[servername]:9192/mr/[location]https://[servername]:9192/mr/[alternate_id]
While your users can use printer search to locate a device, QR codes provide a mechanism to launch Mobile Print Release directly with the printer automatically selected. The process would work as follows:
The user scans the QR code using their mobile
The mobile's browser opens listing their print jobs (They may need to authenticate if they have not before)
The user selected their jobs, and clicks "Release". The jobs will print immediately.
Below is an example of a sticker that could be adhered to a printer. The QR code results in the URL
https://printerserver:9192/mr/1234. Note that this URL uses the alternate printer ID of
1234 (See above).
The following configuration keys can be used to configure Mobile Print Release. Configuration keys can be edited at → → .
| Config name | Description |
|---|---|
mobile-release.max-recent-printers |
The maximum number of recently used printers displayed in Mobile Print Release interface. These printers
are the ones that have been recently used to release jobs via Mobile Print Release. It helps users in
selecting their preferred printer quickly. The default value is |
mobile-release.max-popular-printers |
The maximum number of popular printers displayed in Mobile Print Release interface. These printers are
organization's popular printers. The default value is |
mobile-release.session-timeout-mins |
Inactivity timeout for Mobile Print Release interface. The value of 0 indicates that the session will
never time out. The special value DEFAULT indicates that the PaperCut's default value will be
used. The default value is |
Table 23.11. Advanced Mobile Print Release Config Keys
Please see the section called “Using the Config Editor” to find out how to change config keys.
It is also possible to customize the logos and the look of Mobile Print Release. Please see the section called “Customizing Mobile Print Release” for details.