Follow me on a fleet of 30mfp

[Bix]

hi, today I'm here to ask for a consultation.


I have a client with 30 printers scattered in various cities (10-30km distance). They have a unified network and they asked me if they can print everywhere. So if I send a document to print, I authenticate with the badge and start printing where I prefer.


Yes, the best solution is SafeQ. But the budget goes up a lot! So, we were looking for a cheaper solution.


The important function is to be able to print wherever you want and authentication. As an alternative to SafeQ there is the option I have seen that Konica Minolta offers "Follow me". The cheaper alternative is the installation of LK-114.


The LK-114 problem is that the printer becomes host can handle 10MFP maximum. Could it be possible to have 3 hosts and thus cover 30 printers?


My concern is that this cost savings could cause problems with the printer functions. The entire load of files would end up in a single printer which, if it were to break, could block the entire infrastructure.


Any advice to save money but still have a reliable structure?

[Max]

How about PaperCut ? They have follow me print. Not sure about the prices though.

[tsbservice]

How about PaperCut ? They have follow me print. Not sure about the prices though.

I was going to suggest PaperCut also. KM i-options aren't very popular around and I don't have experience with them but someone else may shed some light here.

[diedux]

Hi Bix,
The best solution is when a result meets everyone’s expectations.
Well, I'm just trying to be vendor-agnostic at CTN, after almost 10 years with PaperCut


In most cases, every "cheaper solution" ends up with all the consequences of being a cheap solution. It's hard to say something specific about your case without knowing details about client infrastructure.
Can you shed some light on what printer/MFD models do you have? Do your client use/have a print server?


BR.

[Bix]

Hi, thanks everyone for your opinions.
This is a customer with multiple locations in one city. The clinete has a print server and the network, even if in branch offices, is the same.


They have a print server.
The models are a mix of 227, 458 and 4052.
Thank you very much!

[diedux]

Hi, thanks everyone for your opinions.
This is a customer with multiple locations in one city. The clinete has a print server and the network, even if in branch offices, is the same.


They have a print server.
The models are a mix of 227, 458 and 4052.
Thank you very much!

Thanks for the info.
Good news that you don't need i-option web browser licences (LK-101 v3) nor additional memory (UK-204), it's included with all mentioned devices by default. If a client has fully authenticated environment (Windows domain network), then this would be a simple installation. Single print server with PaperCut on top would handle this.


I can't discuss prices here, but if you are interested you can contact me directly via PM.
Here's how embedded looks on KM:
PaperCut MF - print, copy and scanning control for Konica Minolta MFDs. | PaperCut


BR.

*edit: web browser on Minoltas with PaperCut is a mandatory thing.

[emujo2]

Pharos, Output Manager, Y soft, Equitrac, and I just heard that Printer Logic offers follow me priniting as well. Some of these prices are based on number of users, some number of devices..I would also ask each vendor about scalablity, cloud based versions (to save you the costs of dedicated hardware), and what else might be offered free with the software (paper cut now includes OCR for scanning for instance). What about the initial setup, how much money do you need to outlay (professional services) to get your devices ready, do your devices already have card readers (if you want to take advantage of this). Do you have machines that will cannot embed the software and must use some kind of release station. There are a million factors that may push to one or the other, but I can say that everyone of the 3rd party software for follow me/cost accounting software is better than the tolls that come with the device itself. E

[SalesServiceGuy]

Is the customer using Active Directory? If so, cheaper solutions usually will not work or support is poor.. I recommend Papercut MF. Not the cheaper Papercut NG.

The customer has to bite the bullet and pay for what works.

I also recommend you do not try and install it yourself. Build into your cost fours hours of Professional services for an experienced Papercut installer to do it right.

The customer will likely want to use the PIN codes for users to authenticate themselves to gain access to the copier. Certainly Card Readers are available at extra cost.

[SalesServiceGuy]

hi, today I'm here to ask for a consultation.


I have a client with 30 printers scattered in various cities (10-30km distance). They have a unified network and they asked me if they can print everywhere. So if I send a document to print, I authenticate with the badge and start printing where I prefer.


Yes, the best solution is SafeQ. But the budget goes up a lot! So, we were looking for a cheaper solution.


The important function is to be able to print wherever you want and authentication. As an alternative to SafeQ there is the option I have seen that Konica Minolta offers "Follow me". The cheaper alternative is the installation of LK-114.


The LK-114 problem is that the printer becomes host can handle 10MFP maximum. Could it be possible to have 3 hosts and thus cover 30 printers?


My concern is that this cost savings could cause problems with the printer functions. The entire load of files would end up in a single printer which, if it were to break, could block the entire infrastructure.


Any advice to save money but still have a reliable structure?

Does the customer use Active Directory? Does the LK-114 support Active Directory? Likely not.

[drowranger]

Hi My recommendation is either Papercut or safe Q with Ysoft MFX card readers ( almost same ldd for all devices) as well. My first question is how many users we are looking at ?
Good thing with papercut is you can trial for 40 days and unlimited site servers which increases reliability in your case. Please check the sizing chart since you will require Separate database server for 5000+ users.
4052 and 227 might need uk 204/211 since its not stranded over here.. not sure about your region.
Good luck..