Setting up an advanced printer monitor allows you to track printing volume, manage costs, secure confidential documents, and automate supply ordering across your corporate network. By implementing central tracking, companies can eliminate wasted paper and optimize hardware distribution.
Here is how to set up an advanced printer monitoring solution for an office environment: 1. Select Your Monitoring Software
Choose a platform based on your infrastructure and optimization goals:
Managed Print Services (MPS): Tools like MPS Monitor automate toner ordering and track meter readings directly from device hardware.
Print Management Suites: Software such as PaperCut or Accurate Printer Monitor tracks specific users, sets print quotas, and holds jobs until authenticated at the device.
Native OS Auditing: Solutions like ManageEngine ADAudit Plus or Windows Print Management monitor print servers for corporate compliance. 2. Configure Network Infrastructure
Printers must communicate reliably with the tracking server to report active metrics.
Use wired connections: Connect office printers via Ethernet cables rather than Wi-Fi to avoid connection dropouts.
Assign static IPs: Configure a fixed IPv4 address for each printer in its hardware panel so monitoring tools do not lose track of the hardware.
Isolate on a VLAN: Move the printing hardware onto a dedicated corporate VLAN to protect printer hard drives from unauthorized office traffic. 3. Deploy the Monitoring Agents
Advanced monitoring requires establishing data flow between the endpoint computers, the local print queues, and the server. Network Printer setup tutorial
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