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Monitoring

Monitoring module is a part of the system which shows printing and copying environment at a client place. In this part, certain accounts for devices and users are created and the printing and copying environment is shown in the range of architectural and administrative structures. There is also a tool to create a financial skeleton for each user what means that any costs of devices usage can be assigned e.g. service contracts.

Large advantage shows every change at the work station registered. The system agent informs the system about each installation and uninstallation of a device’s driver as well as about each change of the device or port’s name.

Focus Print® monitors printing and copying system in both ways. The first way is with the help of the agent which passes the message about the quantity of printed documents by a user. The agent also knows the name of the document and there is a possibility to have the whole text of the document. The second way is with the meter reader of printers that are automatically taken from the devices with the use of SNMP protocol.

No only data regarding printing and copying system are registered in the Focus Print® console. There is also the data concerning users of the system. Focus Print® also registers each system account from which the printing work was generated and assigns work for the user’s account. It synchronizes fully with the base that stores information about systems’ accounts (AD) and updates system login for user’s physical account up to date.

Focus Print® creates certain cost areas to which volume and cost of generated printing and copying work is assigned. There is an architectural tree in the console: localization, floor, room that are the client’s structure place visualization and where the devices and users are mapped. Focus Print® also enables to create devices’ visualization in the architectural structure. This possibility lets searching and localizing rapidly devices by administrators.

In the range of mapping the administrative structure of the client, Focus Print® and AD’s database synchronization mechanism is used. That gives information about organizational structure. Mapping the user to his/her administrative structure is done automatically. The system enables also to map the device to a relevant organizational structure.

Authorizations and Rules

Focus Print® defines rules for users and authorization levels in regard of certain information. Defined user can have the rights of an administrator, department manager, reporting employee, store man. The department manager can have the authority to see or prepare reports about printouts, copies and scans that he or she creates and his/her employees. The authority can refer to any definition rule e.g. only duplex, only mono. The administrator can define the exceptions to the rules for groups where users belong and define the copying and scanning rights. The administrator can also define the rights of color printing or one-sided one and at the same time to force two-sided printing or mono. This print is still secured within the authorization at the certain device and it will not be realized without this authorization.

Limits

Focus Print® enables monthly limits for users. Those limits can be defined in a monetized way in any currency. Each next printout shows the value status referring to the value limit or quantity of pages – separately for color and mono pages. Limits can be defined as soft and hard. Soft limit is an information. It generates the e-mail message to defined person e.g. a manager of a user or just to the user after the limit is overdrawn. The message communicates about 90% of used limit so that the user could control his/her activities. This percentage can be defined in any way. In the case of the hard limit, after it is overdrawn, the printing rights are taken away. The new update can be done by the administrator or/and after the manager acceptation.

Printing Devices

W Focus Print® marks two types of devices:

Managed Printers – are all devices with the function of printing management e.g. follow up printing, printing parameters change, finalizing the printout at a different device. Additionally, those printers have printing count from accounting mechanism providing by various devices and by SNMP of these devices. Moreover, those printers can monitor consumables usage, consumables change registration or monitoring work as well as consumables costs calculation.

Monitored Printers – do not manage the printing or do not count the printouts. They monitor resources and do cost count based on agent’s data from agents that monitor printers. Agents are installed on computers with directly connected printers or on print servers. Agents can also be installed remotely without the need to provide installation at the computer.

Devices Localization Management

Focus Print® enables to create architectonical structure visualization at the client’s place and rapid availability to find certain device. Focus Print® assigns registered devices to a tree localization structure. All devices can be assigned for the certain localization at the company. Localization manager not only assigns the device to chosen localization on the tree but precisely terms its localization on the building schedule/map. In this case, there is a need to add building schedule or floors for each tree level where we plan to define visualization for devices localization.

Projects

Focus Print® enables to create special areas of cost generating, independently from organizational structure. If there is a need to count the printing costs connected to certain case, client or department, it can be done by grouping the costs.

Focus Print® enables to create projects where certain groups and users can be assigned. Defined users have possibility to allocate exact printouts to the project.