Novell Shareware

Pcounter is a comprehensive printer accounting and management suite.  Unlike some products which require repetitive and cumbersome software installation on each workstation, Pcounter is essentially a server-based application which allows network administrators to manage printing centrally. In addition, products which are workstation-based cannot reliably track print jobs which have been submitted from workstations to network print queues.

PCounter is the software used to print to most printers available for students to use. You can print from any PC in PCounter areas, so long as your online PCounter account is in credit.

All students get a PCounter account automatically when they register for an IT Account. You can top this up with cash or using a debit/credit card online.

The PCounter system means that as long as you have available credit in your account and you are using a printer connected to the PCounter network, you can work and print anywhere. You don't need an EMOS card to print your work and you don't need to log on to a designated printing PC.

PCounter is a very intelligent and user-friendly system. The servers which control the system log every print made, every payment and any problems which you may experience.

This means that:

• we can constantly monitor and improve the system,
• we can pre-empt printer maintenance such as low toner or paper levels, and
• we can quickly and effectively resolve any problem which you may encounter.

Pcounter will track print jobs from any platform (PC, Mac, Unix) which can print to a Windows, NDPS, or NetWare print queue.

Pcounter integrates everything: accounting, load balancing, and queue management into a single cross-platform interface which works with both Microsoft Windows (NT4 or later) and Novell NetWare networks at the same time.

Features of Pcounter:

• Counts pages printed on any PostScript or PCL printer, from all major manufacturers such as HP, Xerox, Lexmark, Canon, and more. Also included are Ricoh RPCS, Canon BubbbleJet, and Epson inkjet and laser printers.   This covers most lasers, inkjets, and multi-function devices on the market today.   Support for TIFF printing is included, and Pcounter also tracks plot size on HPGL/2 and PostScript plotters.
• Separate pricing for color and duplex print jobs.
• Enforces printing account balances/quotas for users. Users can check their balances via web browser or using Wbalance, a small Windows utility which runs in the system tray.
• Keeps a log file of all print activity - for printers hosted on multiple servers the log can be kept in one central location for easy access.  The log file includes user name, document name, printer/queue name, date, time, client station, client code, subcode, paper size, features, byte size, page count, cost, and account balance.
• Windows users may have a popup window for billing print jobs to clients/job numbers.   Users from any platform (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, UNIX, etc.) can use the Pcounter Web Client for cross-platform print job billing, authorization, and authentication, all from within a web browser.
• The cost for each page is determined by the paper size used in the print job, allowing variable costs for printers which support multiple paper sizes.   Print jobs requesting an invalid paper size can be discarded.   Roll plotters can be accounted for based on image size.
• Can generate various printing usage reports and print histories of users, printers, and client codes.  Reports and histories can be saved as HTML, CSV, or formatted text, can be directly launched into Excel or web browsers, and can be sent by email.
• Rules based printing for load balancing based on maximum and minimum byte sizes, page counts, copy counts, and color content - print jobs can be deleted, moved to the end of the queue, or moved to another print queue.
• All print jobs can be automatically held/paused, and global (print job configuration) settings for queues can be automatically enforced.  Each server has a default template which can be used globally for all print queues on that server.
• A Plot Manager handles batch submission of printer-ready files to printers and plotters, including support for client billing codes and scheduling.
• Reject incorrect print job types such as Postscript on PCL printers.
• Network broadcast messages can be customized and sent at any time to keep users informed.
• Customizable banner pages can be used which contain all information about the print job, including the page count and account balance.
• Administration can be done from any Windows workstation or server on the network, including printer/queue setup, configuration, properties, permissions, and print job management.
• The Pcounter workstation tools (popup and account balance information) are internationalized in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Finnish, Dutch, Czech, Swedish, Danish, Polish, and Norwegian.

Platforms of Pcounter:

Software requirements for PCOUNTER.NLM (NDS queues)

• NetWare 4.10 or above.

Software requirements for Win32 utilities

• Windows 95, 98 or NT
• Novell Client 32

Software requirements for Win16 utilities

• Windows 3.x, 95, 98, or NT
• Any (Novell or Microsoft) NetWare client software

Download Location 1: Download Pcounter

Download Location 2: Download Pcounter

Homepage : http://www.pcounter.com/