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Turning data into usable information is the primary objective of any
organization. The vehicles for delivering this information to the end users are
reports and documents, whether printed or online. Consequently, the timely
delivery of reports and documents, and the ease with which they can be viewed,
are the factors that can most affect the end users' ability to do their jobs.
The infrastructure that supports documents continues to boggle the mind with
complexity. The fundamental task of all hardcopy peripheral vendors is to
produce reliable and consistent output. Traditionally, this has meant just
print. In a distributed environment, documents are no longer just printed, but
delivered electronically through multiple means (e.g., email, fax, and
Internet). This is what we call Output Management.
Weaving through business areas and their underlying complex infrastructure,
Output Management guarantees that the printed and online documents that are the
life-blood of any business are freed from technical complication. There are
various types of output management solutions.
Cluster printing allows users to link multiple devices to leverage their
combined print ability and increase productivity. Cluster printing is a feature
of specialized print server software on a dedicated server that allows output
devices to be grouped so that they work as one, and it tracks and monitors
workflow across a cluster of output devices. Because users commonly employ
cluster printing to assist in the expedient production of large documents or
many short documents by leveraging the production capabilities of several slower
devices, it is not considered and does not include distribution solutions. To
most efficiently print the document or documents, clustered printers can be
configured to handle a job in several different ways:
Document accounting and job accounting solutions provide the means for
tracking print and copy activity for management and billing purposes. The tools
typically included with these solutions allow users to monitor and analyze
printing costs and effectively control hardcopy volumes.
Print management solutions provide capabilities that allow users to track,
monitor, and interact with networked devices from remote locations. This
functionality allows users to remotely install devices, troubleshoot devices on
a network, and possibly fix software and network configuration problems from
remote locations. Print management tools are essential for the management of
large networks of devices that would be virtually impossible to manage through
physical interaction.
Production tools include make-ready tools that prepare digital print files
for digital press runs. Typical workflow tools could enable scanning,
despeckling, deskewing, page numbering, and imposition, among other features.
Additionally, other software tools, such as color management applications, are
included among prepress/make-ready tools.
Wireless printing technologies use radio frequencies to transmit and receive
print jobs wirelessly. Print jobs can be sent and received in two distinct ways.
In peer-to-peer mode, a print job is sent directly from a client workstation to
the wireless print server and printer.
Thus, Output Management Solutions allow organization's to work unencumbered-increase
control and provide easy management over activities like printing, reprinting,
forms handling, automated output distribution and output archiving.
Lakshmi Narayan Rao, asst
director, marketing OSS value, Canon India
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