As the new school year rapidly approaches, I’ve been looking around for concrete suggestions for technology budgets. In a tight economy we all want to make the most of education dollars in ways that not only produce immediate results but are sustainable and cost-efficient going forward. One such possibility comes from Jeff Janover, Director of Technology for the Wall Township (NJ) Public School District. The following is from an interview with Jeff on how he implemented a pioneering new approach to printing.
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Two and a half years ago Janover’s seven-school district was pretty typical with every classroom having a printer, lots of varied printer models to deal with and dozens of different printer drivers loaded on computers and servers everywhere. Although every classroom had its own printer, the downside of this benefit was considerable: it was determined that 98% of Wall’s technology problems were printer related. As Janover stated, “At one point we could time the network coming to its knees to the school bell schedule because as whole classrooms logged in at the same time, the print drivers would cause issues everywhere.”
As Janover looked closer and closer at the whole matter of printing it seemed not only were print drivers causing angst but the regular maintenance and paper/toner budget cost the district a small fortune. Fewer, more powerful, less maintenance needy, centralized printers seemed to make better sense all the way around. Of course ‘taking away’ is never easily accepted and promoting centralized printers came with its own challenges. He inquired about virtual printers, where printing jobs could be retrieved at one of any number of printing sites, giving users flexibility to pick up print jobs anytime, anywhere. Bingo! Janover was told about Equitrac Express with Follow-You Printing, which has the capability of holding print jobs in a secure print server until the appropriate person retrieves his/her job.
Although elimination of the classroom printers was still a hard sell, Janover was able to make it work with a six month ‘dual use’ period from December until the end of school, where staff members had their individual printers but Xerox WorkCentre® printers were also in use. Teachers were encouraged to learn to use the WorkCentre® because their individual printers would be removed over the summer. (At first Wall thought they would be able to sell the small printers but there were no takers so they ended up giving them away.)
This is how Follow-You works. Staff and students print to virtual print queues. At their convenience they can go to any of the WorkCentre® printers (in their building or anywhere on campus). They swipe their ID card and their print jobs come up on the screen. They can print any or all of the print jobs in the queue; jobs are saved for 30 days. If they want to reprioritize the jobs, they can do that. When asked about the convenience, Janover says that people waiting in line to pick up print jobs isn’t an issue because another printer is always within 100 feet. The high school, for example, has 8 of the multifunction printers. Although Wall does not use the system to track or monitor individual usage, it does reduce waste. Additionally, you don’t run the risk of jobs being printed multiple times because the print function didn’t appear to be working. (Haven’t we all done that many times?!)
Additional facts: Staff members at Wall have ID cards that they swipe to enter the buildings so Janover was adamant that the new printing system be able to use the same card (for both cost and convenience). This accommodation was made. Students are not given ID cards but can print at several printers in the cafeteria and media center. While Wall uses Xerox printers, it is possible to use other printer vendors with Follow-You Printing. Black and white and color options are available.
Wall leases the equipment and the agreement includes a full-time Xerox employee. Janover says this employee is key because he maintains all 22 large printers, keeping them supplied with necessary toner, etc. He also runs Wall’s DocuTech™ 6115 Production Publisher, which prints textbooks, manuals, and other support materials for the district.
As with any new program, it can take a while to fully assess the impact and value. Wall is entering its third year with the system and Janover is very pleased with Follow-You printing for features, cost/value, and technical efficiency. To read more about the program, go to http://www.office.xerox.com/latest/SOLSB-09.PDF.
Never one to kick back on the status quo, however, Janover is hard at work on further approaching 1:1 computing and expanding Wall’s thin client environment with Acer and HP notebooks. To read more about Wall School District and their full technology plan, go to http://www.wall.k12.nj.us/.