While LPT:One or PC Reservation can work separately and are licensed that way for the convenience of our customers, the real power of the EnvisionWare Suite comes into play when the products are installed together. The EnvisionWare suite offers a bundled discount for product and maintenance and capitalizes on a simultaneous installation program.
EnvisionWare purposely designed the applications to operate independently for those sites that had existing implementations and could not afford to replace their current print system. Also, some customers provide print services as part of an FM or Facilities Management program wherein a 3rd party supplier provides printers and software as a service to a library or college.
When LPT:One is integrated seamlessly with PC Reservation, the user experience is significantly enhanced:
1. User ID Integration
Without integration, a user must enter his or her ID each time a print job is submitted. If a user submits several jobs per hour, each submission requires entry of identification. When LPT:One is integrated with PC Reservation, the user ID is passed automatically to LPT:One. Once the user is logged into a PC Reservation session, no further identification to the print system is required. For libraries using a barcode, this is a real convenience for patrons who no longer need to enter a 14-digit barcode every time they print.
2. Computer Description Integration
PC Reservation allows the administrator to assign a "friendly" name to each computer. Instead of a counterintuitive NetBIOS name like AU-ADL07, a computer can display and be referred to as "Internet PC #7." This friendly name shows on the PC Reservation idle screen. When integrated with LPT:One, this same friendly description is passed to the Print Release Station or Terminal so that a user can pick up his or her print jobs based upon the friendly name shown on screen, not the AU-ADL07 hidden NetBIOS or computer name.
3. Reservation Station Integration
Many libraries, particularly those with less than 20 public computers, may find it very helpful to combine the functionality of a self-service Print Release Station with a self-service PC Reservation Station. This combines two self-service applications seamlessly on a single PC. This is important not only from a PC cost perspective but also a space consideration. Libraries that use the AAM for on-line accounting will find that multiple self-service applications can be combined on a single self-service PC.
4. Dynamic Language
When a library enables the user choice for language in PC Reservation, the language choice is automatically passed to LPT:One. In this model, a user that chooses to view PC Reservation dialogs in Spanish, for example, will also see LPT:One dialogs in Spanish.
5. LPT:One Page Limit by Session
When used together, LPT:One provides the ability to set a maximum number of pages that can be printed per PC Reservation session.
6. Central Management
Since all PC Reservation Management Consoles and all LPT:One Print Release Stations come with EnvisionWare Central Management, sites can be easily and seamlessly managed from a central point in the library system or from EnvisionWare's support center using the same tool.
These are just a few of the benefits of the combined solution that comes from implementing LPT:One and PC Reservation as a suite. There are also potential cost savings which may be discussed with your reseller or EnvisionWare.
