Configuration

The installation setup wizard manages the basic configuration setting default options to support immediate print monitoring and print charging and to create a virtual web folder (requires IIS and ASP to be enabled - see product installation manual for details).

The software installs a database to store users and their print history. To minimise administration, the software is configured to automatically add users upon first print.

The user database will naturally grow over time as new users are detected for the first time.

The print administration console supports the configuration of monitored printers, users, groups, departments, payment receipts, scheduled balance management and program access control options.

To provide users with the Ranger Print Manager Print Client, the installation folder must be shared giving domain users read permission on the share and read and execute permission on the folder. The Ranger Print Manager Print Client must then be started with instructions to the location of the Ranger Print Manager data folder

Prerequisites

Ranger Print Manager software needs to have centralised visibility of all printing on the network. Therefore it should be installed on the print server. It is recommended that the print server be a Windows server (although a dedicated workstation may also be used) that is capable of hosting the print queues and processing the potential high volumes of data associated with printing.

It is necessary to ensure that the users are printing via the print server. This means the computers (user's profiles if roaming profiles are used) are configured to print via the print server printer queues. If the users are able to print directly to the printers, bypassing the print server, then Ranger Print Manager cannot intercept the print jobs and perform its function.

Other than selecting a computer to support the role of a print server, there is no specialised or dedicated hardware required for Ranger Print Manager to operate.

The product is not restricted by any maximum queue limit; therefore the maximum capability is typically limited by the performance of the print server.

If required, the product can be installed and configured to support load balancing and redundancy. The product can support working in a clustered server environment.

Printer Support

Ranger Print Manager allows different charges to be applied for single/double sided printing or black/colour printing on all printers that can produce print spools in the following formats;

• PCL5
• PCL6
• Postscript
• ESC/P2 (Epson)
• and most GDI printers

Ranger Print Manager can also support any printer whose driver uses Windows EMF spool format. Colour detection is not currently supported for Postscript printers.

The print scanner can support print jobs spooled from Windows, Macintosh and Unix based clients.

Ranger Print Manager can support printers that are attached directly to the network and those that are attached indirectly via a print workstation. In either configuration, the print job must be spooled to a centralised print server

Administration

Ranger Print Manager is administered via the Print Administrator Console. The toolbar provides access to the main sections of the program including; Users, Groups, Departments, Scheduling, Receipts, Access Control, Services and Printers. Importing, exporting and reporting functions are available from the file menu.

Print Administrator Options

Users

List of all users known to Ranger Print Manager with options to create new, edit or delete user accounts. Ranger Print Manager uses a separate database to store its user accounts. By default the users are added when they first print. Import facilities allow users to be loaded into the database from file or directly from Active Directory (AD).

Groups

List of groups (these relate to NT security groups) that have been defined in Ranger Print Manager. Each user must belong to one group within Ranger Print Manager. If the user belongs to multiple groups in Ranger Print Manager and/or in AD, the group assigned is the first matching group found in the Ranger Print Manager list.

Departments

A list of departments, typically subject areas (eg Maths, English) which can be assigned a print balance. Printing costs may be assigned to departments as an alternative to the default of charging to the user. Depending on configuration, a user can be presented with a complete list of departments or a restricted subset.

Scheduling

Interface to configure scheduled tasks which automatically adjust a user, group or department's print balance. Options include adding to, subtracting from, or overwriting balances.

Receipts

Ability to manually adjust a user's balance adding, subtracting, or resetting the user's account balance. This method creates a transaction record which can be viewed when producing transaction reports.

Access Control

Ranger Print Manager supports distributing administration of Ranger Print Manager (delegation of control) to other users. Access Control provides print administrators with control over how much access is given to a user or group of users. Access can be set to none (explicitly denying program access), limited access (giving access to only parts of the software) or full access (giving complete access to the software).

Additional privileges can be defined providing finer control over the database records - eg giving read-only access, edit, or full control including delete.

Services

List of the program services with the ability to start, stop, install or remove them from the print server.

Printers

List of printers known to Ranger Print Manager. Each printer has a status indicator to show whether the printer is being monitored and charging is enabled. Summary statistics of number of print jobs and pages processed is presented.

Ranger Print Client

The Ranger Print Manager Client is designed to support the user and provide them with information and services to support print management. Features can be tailored through the print administration console. Options include; allowing the user to update their account details, change their pin number, allocation of recharge vouchers and transfer funds.

By exposing print receipts to users, they are able to see the cost involved in printing even if they are not actually charged for its use, supporting education and environmental awareness.