On top of that, three different IT divisions managed coin-operated print labs. Each had its own machines, toners and paper. Instead of working with the student-run print center, the two entities battled each other for the same customers.
Since Ricoh already provided printers and copiers to USF, the school asked us to figure out how to curb excess free printing while expanding free print services to other labs.
We also configured the printers with a driver that worked with an
updated version of the school’s Pharos Systems software to monitor and
assign chargebacks. The new system boasted several new features:
Located in Tampa, FL, the University of South Florida (USF) boasts an enrollment near 50,000. As part of the school’s commitment to serving campus needs, students receive a daily print allowance.
Students still receive affordable printing, but services are now more evenly distributed across campus. By working with IT and the student government, our solutions also led to a printing usage increase of 2.5 million documents (for a total of up to 10 million per year), reduced price-per-page costs due to new technology and fixed toner costs, and fewer devices (which led to space savings in print centers). They also enabled restrictions on unauthorized prints and more protection for those outputting sensitive documents. Two nearby colleges using Pharos heard about USF’s improvements and are looking at implementing a similar approach to handle their own pay-for-print campus networks.