GoPrint Pay for Print - Frequently Asked Questions

What is GoPrint?

GoPrint is a pay-for-print and Printer Management System that enables public libraries, college and university libraries, public schools, medical and law libraries, special libraries, government institutions, and computer centers, to slash escalating printer and copy costs, operating expenses, control printer usage, reduce paper waste; all helping to recover printing costs!

It intercepts print jobs before they get to the printer and holds them in the queue until the user releases the job, deletes it, or the job is automatically purged from the queue by the system auto-delete mechanism.

User implementation provides the ability to allow users to release, delete, and redirect print jobs directly from the workstation using the Web Client Popup or at a designated print Release Station.

GoPrint seamlessly integrates with all payment systems, including one-card systems, offline systems, coin and bill acceptors, student quota accounts, and credit card gateways via self-service stations.

Our labs go through endless reams of paper and unclaimed jobs stack up in the printer tray, how can GoPrint help reduce this waste?

Because GoPrint communicates directly with the print server's print spooler system to intercept print jobs, (forcing them paused in the print queue) jobs are not released directly to the printer until some form of payment action is accepted at a print release station or web client popup.

Additionally, all unclaimed jobs can be configured to auto-delete from the print queue at a scheduled time you set, therefore preventing jobs from piling up in the system tray.

Why use a Pay-for-Print Solution?

A college's cost for printing has risen considerably, including the fees for toner, paper, equipment lease and maintenance while many of these costs are being supported by specific departments. With GoPrint, students regulate their own printing and distribute the cost of printing amongst users.

Do I have to charge for printing to get control of costs?

No. Since print jobs are forced paused in the print queue, GoPrint can control the flow of the print environment and prevent the release of unwanted and unclaimed print jobs therefore helping to reduce paper waste and associated printing costs while supported your campus "Green" initiative program.

Even if you are not charging, you can see a 20% to 40% reduction in wasted printing at most institutions!

Is my site too large for GoPrint?

GoPrint's expanded and scalable architecture , was designed with growth and expansion as a core element. Today, GoPrint services many campus wide university environments and community college districts servicing multiple sites in multiple cities and as many as 100,000 student users.

Is my site too small for GoPrint?

Sites with as few as 10 workstations and one printer can benefit from this solution. Even if your organization elects not to charge for printing initially, you will see a huge reduction in unclaimed print jobs - as much as 50% - since unclaimed jobs are automatically deleted. In every instance, this system will pay for itself within the first year. For most institutions, the payback happens within 6 months.

How does GoPrint compare with other solutions?

The Goprint management team takes great pride in providing over-the-top support. Replacement hardware is guaranteed to have 24 hour replacement time, and in the majority of cases, the replacement system will arrive pre-configured with your networking and naming convention in place. So, all you need to do is plug it, power it on, and you're ready to go.

Our development team has been successful in putting together one of the most user-friendly installation, configuration, and management interfaces. All components are completely built into the system without the need to install 3rd party applications, web services, reporting tools, or issue command-line scripts.

We are a cross-platform independent solution, supporting Windows, Linux, and Mac Server and Print Release Station operating system environments: not to forget Oracle, MS SQL Server, and PostgreSQL database servers.

Our lab has frequent day visitors who use our resources, can GoPrint offer a solution for them?

Yes. A multiple payment environment can easily be implemented combining both students, staff, departments, and visitors.

What Server Platforms does the GoPrint support?

The GoPrint solution supports multiple server platforms including Windows 7, Windows 2008/2003, Windows Cluster environment, Linux, MAC OS X, Novell and Sun Solaris. GoPrint is the only Print Management software solution with this type of extensive technology.

Our Flexibility extends to the type of database servers we support, such as Oracle, MS SQL Server, and PostgreSQL.

We have a large Mac lab environment, does GoPrint offer support for Mac servers and Print Release Stations and Mac web clients?

Yes! We support Mac OS X and higher on both a server and Print Release Station and Web Client platforms.

Can printing charges be coordinated with prepaid student lab fees?

Yes they can. In situations where students pay lab fees in advance you can use the built-in quota system to grant students a print allowance based on the fee paid and the amount charged per page.

We have many research departments and staff members printing and copying and would like to charge directly to each department, is this possible?

Yes. you can create billing accounts based on department name or a specific account name or number and grant credit. Printing and financial reports can then be run, (directly from your office using our web-based administration tool) and exported as HTML, XML PDF, CSV, or XLS formats for billing purposes.

Can the system be configured to allow users to release their print job from anywhere on campus?

Yes. They can send their job to a print queue in one lab and release it at a Print Release Station at a different location.

What happens when a student no longer attends the college, can their printing account be disabled?

Yes. If the user has a GoPrint account it can be set to inactive therefore preventing them from releasing print jobs.

What payment systems are supported by GoPrint?

GoPrint has certified interfaces to Blackboard, CBORD CS GOLD, CBORD Odyssey, NuVision, Heartland, CardSmith, and Monitor. GoPrint also supports most off-line payment systems including: ITC, Debitek, ACDI, VendaPin, Jamex, and many others.

How are privacy issues handled with a Print Release Station?

Users' print jobs can be secured to require a network name or ID, and/or a card swipe or PIN number for access.

Does the GoPrint Solution require the use of Print Release Stations?

No. The GoPrint solution can be configured to release print jobs from workstations with our Web Client PC, Mac and Linux pop-ups, in conjunction with Release Stations or without Release Stations.

Does GoPrint provide turnkey installation and support?

Yes. We provide complete onsite installation, testing, training and Q & A to minimize your staff involvement and provide the easiest Self-Service experience for your users.

What documentation is included with the GoPrint Solution?

Online help is available from the moment you download the GoPrint software. Equipped with feature topics and helpful guides, installers, and video library, administrators will have no problem understanding the GoPrint software.

What kind of support and update service is available?

The GoPrint solution comes with a full year of Over-The-Top support and software updates. This includes email (our preferred method), telephone, fax, video training center, online and downloadable documentation, and our remote access preventive and remedial support process.

For the benefit of some grant and budget requirements, you may purchase up to 5 years of support with your original purchase. This insulates you from annual cost of service increases that could be reflected in annual renewals.

Can I offer a number of free copies at no charge?

Yes. In fact, you have total control over your print rates. You can set printing prices (from free to whatever …) differently based on user type, document type, campus location, day of the week and/or time of day.

Can GoPrint charge for double-sided and offer a discount?

Yes. We do support double-sided printing and most of our clients currently offer discounts for double-side to help encourage students to reduce paper waste.

What management reports can be obtained from the GoPrint Solution?

The GoPrint reporting offers a convenient web-based administrative tool providing the ability to capture printing activity and user transaction history. This information allows directors, business office staff, IT members to closely manage accounting resources and user and device printing activity. Reports can be exported in HTML, XML PDF, CSV, or XLS formats.

How do I access the GoPrint database in other applications?

The GoPrint database runs on PostgreSQL, Oracle, or Microsoft SQL Server 2005/08. This means you can access the GoPrint database just like any other database. By setting up an ODBC Data Source, you can access the database remotely or use any of the client tools management tools available with your database server.

What printers, copiers, MFP's, print languages are supported?

ALL leading network printers and multi-function peripherals (MFPs).
Printer languages: PCL 3-6, Adobe PostScript and EPSON ESC/2.
Printer features include color, multiple media sizes and types, wide format, and advanced paper handling.
Hold Queues, Shadow Queues, Load Balancing, Print Pooling, Print Redirection

Do you support Windows Clustering?

Yes, we support a Windows Cluster environment

How large is the GoPrint development team?

The software development and customer support centers employ 12 professionals.