Posted by Devin Anderson
Print servers were never the perfect print management solution, but over the past decade, they’ve really begun to show their age. Thanks to the breakneck pace of computing and consumer technology, we’re now in a one-click world. Whether it’s a single tap on a screen or intelligent software that automatically anticipates their next move, users expect simplicity of execution regardless of how complex a procedure might be. Unfortunately, end users are still often expected to use the tangled, error-prone process of mapping printers to install their desired printing devices.
Admins might be more comfortable with the intricacies of hunting through directory trees to find printers or setting up printer mapping via GPO (group policy object). But, honestly, wouldn’t it be great to have a simpler print management solution? One that didn’t require multiple steps. One that offered both single-click simplicity and dynamic, automated printer installations. And one that offered a lot more besides—features like centralized management, high print availability, vastly reduced infrastructure and the ability to deploy printers without GPOs and scripts.
With PrinterLogic’s next-generation print management solution, the idea of mapping printers takes on a whole new meaning. That’s because our acclaimed self-service portal allows end users to view nearby printers on an actual floorplan map. After visually identifying the correct printer at a glance, they can install that printer—along with all corresponding drivers—with a single click.
Not only is that one-step installation much easier and less vulnerable to user mistakes, it can be incredibly cost-effective in the long run. With users now empowered through straightforward device installation instead of mapping printers, they no longer have to call the service desk for assistance. That saves both the end user and your IT support staff frustration and time, which translates to the kind of increased productivity that will reflect in your bottom line. One Fortune 500 company saw a 90% reduction in print-related helpdesk calls after installing PrinterLogic (TVID: 4AF-AC8-2C9), and their experience is by no means unique.
On the admin side of things, mapping individual printers on a per-user basis is less common than printer mapping with GPO. This is designed to deliver specific printers to users based on variables like their group membership or Active Directory (AD) criteria. So instead of admins having to manually pair each user with a printer, printer mapping through GPO takes care of it automatically. In theory, at least. In the real world, however, users don’t always behave in strict accordance with the hierarchy that group policy requires. That makes printer mapping with GPO an imperfect and unreliable installation method.
PrinterLogic does away with scripts and GPOs while integrating seamlessly with Active Directory, so you can easily set up accurate, reliable deployments to end users based on a variety of AD assignments as well as variables like Hostname, IP and MAC address. If a user roams to a new site (which has become the norm in today’s mobile workplaces), PrinterLogic’s dynamic installation ensures that they will be able to print to local devices within seconds of logging on—even if that site happens to be in another city.
Flexible, dependable and effortlessly simple features like these make mapping printers so easy in PrinterLogic, regardless of the size or setup of your print environment. And the advantages of PrinterLogic don’t stop there. Whether you opt for our on-premise software or our new cloud-based SaaS offering, called PrinterCloud, you can eliminate print servers completely, monitor and control your entire print environment from a single pane of glass, and enhance Citrix and VMware printing with a single cost-effective and rapidly deployable print management solution.