Following on from our contactless printing blog, we are going to delve in to some examples of how different print management products enable pull print / release on a mobile device in order to minimise the need to touch a shared office printer for secure release print.  We will cover the multi-vendor products we primarily deal with which are Kofax SafeCom, Kofax ControlSuite, and PaperCut.

Each product follows a similar principle, in that a QR barcode is generated for each physical print device, which is then printed and stuck on to the printer itself.  When a user approaches the print device, they can scan the QR code using their mobile phone, authenticate, see a list of print jobs ready for release at the device, and initiate the print action.

SafeCom

1. Scan the QR code located on or nearby a print device by opening the SafeCom Mobile app, and tapping start to activate the camera.  When the QR code is found the app will move on to the authentication screen.

2. Enter your Windows username and password.

3. Select which jobs to print from your secure release queue.  In addition to releasing a job, users can see additional information, retain, delete, and select multiple copies.  The values below the job name indicate the cost of the job if pay is enabled, and the number of pages.

ControlSuite

The ControlSuite mobile app Business Connect is more comprehensive in it’s feature set in comparison to both SafeCom and PaperCut.  For print it can be used to release using QR, and in addition use NFC / Bluetooth wireless on a card reader for print authentication / release, and find nearby printers.

In addition to print release, the app can be used to send documents or camera photos in to business workflows which do not require print, and submitting print jobs from network shares, SharePoint, or the users home directory directly within the app interface.  Print jobs can also be submitted in to the Business Connect app using app extensions, which allow files to be routed from other apps on the phone in to Business Connect.  These additional capabilities will be further covered in another blog.

1. Log in to the app using the configured authentication system, usually Windows active directory.

2. For print release, select whether to activate the camera to read a QR code on a device, use the mobile phone to authenticate with a card reader, or find a nearby printer.

3. Once a printer has been selected through scanning a QR code or moving the mobile device next to a card reader, select a print job from the list and optionally modify the job settings before printing.

4. If using the app to locate a nearby device instead of printing, click on any available tags within the map.

5. If there are multiple floors in the building, select your floor to then see the floorplan and available printers within that location for print.

PaperCut

PaperCut Mobile Print Release works slightly differently from the Kofax options in that there is no app on the mobile device, and instead utilises the mobile devices web browser to allow print release via a mobile.

1. Scan the QR code located on or nearby a print device by opening the mobile device’s camera app.  When the QR code is found the user will be asked by the mobile devices native interface whether they want to open the URL in a browser.

2. The user is requested to enter their Windows authentication details.

3. Select which jobs to print from your secure release queue.  In addition to releasing a job, users can see additional information about the job such as the time it was submitted, page size, which machine it was printed from etc by clicking the drop down.  The values below the job name indicate the cost of the job if pay is enabled, and the number of pages.