Much of PaperCut MF flexibility and usefulness comes not from the features you can see, but from the advanced hidden features. PaperCut MF is packed full of handy tools, utilities and options and you will read about these throughout this guide. To provide a quick overview now, the most popular hidden features are:
PaperCut MF is implemented using 100% server-side logic and no client software is required. A simple lightweight client tool is however provided so end-users have access to advanced features such as shared accounts and the option of viewing their account balance in a popup window.
Deploying client software can be a time consuming and fiddly process. To streamline the process PaperCut MF allows its client to be run directly off a network share - no need to install locally, or mess around with deployment tools! Just set the executable as a startup program and it will run and auto-update itself thereafter.
See the section called “User Client” for more information.
PaperCut MF is a 100% web based application. Full system administration can be performed from anywhere on the network via a standard web browser - no special admin software is required! To access the administration section, point a browser at the server on port 9191:
http://[server_name]:9191/admin
Encrypted SSL/HTTPS access is also available on port 9192:
https://[server_name]:9192/admin
Access is granted to the built-in admin, or to any user that has been
granted administrator level access.
Web Print enables printing from user-owned devices without the overhead of installing printer drivers and managing workstation authentication to the server.
Microsost Office or Adobe PDF files are uploaded using the same User Web Tools available on network computers. Web Print is fully integrated into PaperCut's standard print charging/accounting/quota process. It does not matter if you're a staff user allocating to a faculty or department account, or a student charging to your free print quota, the user account allocation experience the same as that seen when printing from a networked desktop system.
PaperCut's Web Print has been deployed across hundreads of education campuses and is an ideal solution for offering print services via student owned laptops and netbooks.
See Chapter 21, Web Print (Driver-less printing via a web browser) for more information.
Many organizations would like to track their printing on more than a per-user level. With the Shared Accounts feature, users can allocate jobs to cost areas such as Faculties, Departments, Projects, Clients, Cost Centers, or Pools. Shared accounts are selected via a customizable popup window. Two popup window types are available:
Standard - A simple account selection window design ideal for most users.
Advanced - An advanced acount selection window designed for the power user including features such as search, preference list, recent selections, comment entry and invoicing options. This is ideal for businesses including Engineering, Law, Accounting and Architecture Firms.
Access to accounts is controlled via integrated network group membership or optionally PIN's.
See Chapter 8, Shared Accounts for more information.
PaperCut MF is an enterprise level application designed to be managed and controlled from a central location. Multi-server environments are common in large organizations and PaperCut MF handles them with ease. All servers are configured to report back to the central Application Server. This ensures that all management, logging and control is centralized. Secondary servers and workstations with local printers simply run a light weight monitoring component that communicates to the central server via XML Web Services calls.
Servers and workstations can run the seconary server software on any supported operating system no matter what operating system is used on the Application Server because PaperCut MF supports mixed or heterogeneous networks as well!
See Chapter 15, Configuring Secondary Print Servers and Locally Attached Printers for more information.
Scripting can be applied on a per printer basis to provide programatic control during the print process. Possible applications include:
Route the job to the cheapest compatible printer and notify the user of the change (least-cost routing)
Prompt users to print large color jobs on a compatible low cost grayscale printer
Charge printing during class time to the department
Inform user when printer is in error and suggest a compatible alternative
See Chapter 18, Advanced Scripting for more information.
Did you know that the end-user interface can be quickly customized to make it look like an official part of your organization's infrastructure? With some simple HTML, you can make the PaperCut MF end-user interface look just like your existing web site or intranet site.
See the section called “Customizing the User web pages” for more information.
It seems like everything these days is Web Services enabled. Not to be outdone, PaperCut MF exposes dozens of API's via secured XML Web Services. This provides advanced administrators and developers with the ability to programmatically remotely control, integrate and manage the application. The possibilities are endless... some of our users now have their library fines hooked into the PaperCut MF system!
In addition to the Web Services API's, system administrators may hook into the inner workings of PaperCut MF using server commands and scripting.
With server commands you can use batch files or scripts to automate system functions such as:
Schedule "online" backups to coordinate with your existing backup processes. No need to take the system down to take a data snapshot.
Create users in PaperCut MF automatically and as part of your existing user creation scripts.
Automatically import/sync list of accounts from a file, 3rd party system or existing directory structure. (Great for Engineering and Architecture firms)
See the section called “The XML Web Services API” and the section called “Server Commands (server-command)” for more information.
PaperCut MF ships with its own preconfigured and self-maintaining database. The system however is database independent and can be run on top of a number of leading database systems. Maybe you have an existing Microsoft SQL Cluster and would like to take advantages of this infrastructure. No problem! PaperCut MF can be quickly configured to hook into your preferred database.
See Chapter 20, Deployment on an External Database (RDBMS) for more information.
Software is only as good as the development process. PaperCut MF is developed in an open and transparent fashion by a small development team. Suggestions and feedback are encouraged and source code access is provided to our customers. The team works closely with key system users to architect new features. A member of the development team is online for 8 hours a day and is always happy to chat. Come visit us on our Live Web Chat page!
See the PaperCut Software website http://www.papercut-mf.com/ for more information.