Toner Levels (for supported printers)

Managing printer toner on a large fleet of printers can be a time-consuming task. The administrator must track toner usage and ensure that replacement toner cartridges are available when printer toner runs out. Often the administrator is only made aware that a printer is out of toner after receiving complaints from users. PaperCut NG can track the toner levels for supported printers and provide toner level information in reports or email notifications when the toner is low.

Armed with this information the administrator can purchase toner supplies in advance and replace toner cartridges before the printer runs out of toner. This saves the administrator time and ensures that printer downtime is minimized.

For more information on low toner notifications see the section called “Printer low toner notifications”.

Toner level information on Printer Details screen

Figure 7.36. Toner level information on Printer Details screen

How toner level information is retrieved?

PaperCut NG retrieves toner information from supported printers using the SNMP network protocol. Most modern network printers allow the toner information be queried via SNMP. PaperCut NG can retrieve toner information for printers that meet the following requirements:

PaperCut NG regularly updates the toner information to ensure the data is kept up-to-date.

A report with 'Toner Status', 'Lowest Toner Value' and 'Toner Last Updated on' fields can be generated from the Admin Console. Select the Printers tab to open the Printer List. At the bottom of the list select Export / Print in Excel format.

Tip

The thresholds for low and very low toner level warnings visible on Dashboard are configurable. The threshold values can be configured using the following config keys - toner.low-threshold and toner.very-low-threshold . Please see the section called “Using the Config Editor” to find out how to change config keys.