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Many organizations run PaperCut NG in either a silent logging mode or as a way of enforcing sensible quotas. On the other hand, other organizations choose to run PaperCut NG in “charging mode” requiring users to make payments in advance. Recording and entering payments can be a time consuming process for staff or system managers. PaperCut NG offers a web interface for user account management to assist with the process, however there is still the need for someone to manually assign credit. The TopUp/Pre-Paid Card system included with PaperCut streamlines the payment process and moves much of the manual handling over to the end-user.
Cards are also known as:
Vouchers
Re-Charge Cards
Pre-Paid Cards
The card system is best described by walking through the payment process:
Amy is a student at a local high school. The school uses PaperCut NG for their charging. Amy is allocated $5.00 a week for printing and Internet use. This week she has used all her allocation but still has one assignment to print on Friday. She purchases a $5.00 Card from the school canteen. The card contains a 16-digit identification number. She logs onto the schools intranet site, enters the PaperCut section, and enters the card's ID number. Her account is automatically credited $5.00.
Andrew is a system administrator at the same high school. At the start of the term he used the PaperCut NG card wizard to generate 500 TopUp/Pre-Paid Card of $5.00 value. These were generated in 2 batches. The first batch was prefixed with C1 and the second batch L1. The C1 batch was sold at the school canteen and the L1 batch sold at the school library. The cards are kept secured at these locations.
The card wizard generated a number definition file for each batch. Andrew imported these numbers into PaperCut. Andrew took the time to customize the look of the cards to include the school logo and simple instructions on how to redeem the card.
During the year Andrew is able to track the cards sold and uses the batch prefixes to track where students like to purchase cards. Andrew also keeps an eye on the event log and has disciplined students attempting to guess card numbers.
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