Pcounter Station

Print Release Station for Novell NetWare, NDPS, Windows Windows XP and Windows 200X networks

Overview:
Pcounter Station is printer accounting release station software that runs on a dedicated Windows PC, to be used in controlled or pay-to-print environments. After users send print jobs from other workstations, they can approach the station, select the jobs they wish to send to the printer, and submit some form of payment through devices such as card readers or cash machines. Pcounter Station locks down the PC so that users cannot exit, and the Pcounter Station software is the only application that is shown on the computer’s display.

Pcounter Station works with print queues hosted on Windows XP, Windows 200X, and NetWare. NetWare support includes NDS queues, Bindery queues, and NDPS printers. Generally Pcounter for Windows or Pcounter for NetWare should be running on the print server, in order to automatically pause/hold jobs, and to calculate the page counts and cost of print jobs.

Custom accounting DLLs can be developed which interface to devices such as card readers or external databases that can be used to accept payment for printing. If no accounting DLL is configured, then paused/held jobs are released without question. Only jobs that are paused or held will be passed to the DLL for accounting. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this further.

Configuration Options:

Program Functionality Options:

• Operator Console
• Release Station - Pcounter Station will be the only application available and locks down the desktop so that no other applications are accessible.
  

Numerical Format Options:

• Currency
• Units

User Identification Options:

• All users / all print jobs
• User name
• User name & network password

Additional options:

• Display only pause/held
• Display page counts and costs
• Allow deletion of print jobs by users
• Specify DLL link for own-code program to interface with other applications such as smart-card based accounting systems

LOCKED-DOWN Release Station Option:

Pcounter Station can be used as a dedicated release station and set to automatically log on to either Windows or NetWare.

An "exit" password is specified separately - see screen shot above - to allow unlocking when required.

When Pcounter Station is running in locked-down, nothing else on the desktop is accessible. It enlarges to the full screen size and prevents the task bar and other programs from being seen. All Windows hot keys are disabled.

Pcounter Station - Printer Configuration:
The Pcounter Station configuration screen presents a view of your network showing all NetWare servers, NDS trees, Windows XP/200X domains and servers.

Browse your network and point to the printers required to be controlled by Pcounter Station.

Pcounter Station - Print job display and User Identification:
Where no User identification is needed, Pcounter Station can display a list of all users' print jobs showing user, document name, page count, cost, which printer, the size and when the job was submitted. Jobs can be set to be deleted if left on the queue for more than X hours / days. See below for more secure identification options.

User Identification - by USER name
Pcounter Station displays a list of all users who have print jobs pending for the printer(s) for which the Station has been configured. On selection of a user, a list of their print jobs is displayed.

User Identification - by USER name and Network Password
When a user name is selected from the list above, Pcounter Station prompts for an input of the user's network password which must be input before the print job will be released.

Software Requirements:

Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4.0, or 2000
NetWare support requires Novell Client 32.
Pcounter running on the print server in order for cost of print jobs to be calculated, and/or to automatically pause jobs in print queues.
Note: all references to Windows XP also apply to Windows 200X .

Hardware Requirements:

A CPU fast enough and sufficient RAM to run the OS efficiently.
Download an evaluation copy with documentation from our download page.

For technical support please support@smis.net

For product information and sales info@smis.net