🚀 go-pugleaf

I am not sure if this message belongs here, but I am unfamilar with these 
(comp.*.admin) newsgroups.  I will try to keep this short in order to save 
bandwidth.

I would like to ask you some questions concerning the policies and procedures 
that you may have regarding printing in microcomputer Labs.  

This is in regards to a fourth year engineering design project that I am 
involved in at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

BackGround:

The College of Engineering Microcomputer Laboratory at the University of 
Saskatchewan present has a system in place that requires users to pay for the 
use of the laser printer.  This is necessary to cover the costs of maintenance 
and materials and to prevent it's use by unauthorized people.  This lab entail 
various Macintosh, Intel (80x86) based, and some workstations.  All postscript 
printing (which can be done from any machine) is spooled by a SPARCstation.  
This spooler manages a database which keeps track of how many pages a user has 
purchased, and subtracts the number of pages printed.  Print jobs are flushed 
if a user does not have any pages in their account.  Currently, for a user to 
credit their printing account, they must purchase a paper voucher from the 
Saskatoon Engineering Student's Society (SESS) Kiosk and take this voucher to 
the Lab Manager.  As soon as possible, the lab manager will credit the user's 
account with the numbers of pages purchased.  Problems with this system include 
the fact that it is time consuming and inconvenient as it is restricted by the 
hours of the SESS Kiosk and the availiblity of the lab manager.

The current Lab manager and the users of the system have voiced dissatisfaction 
with the current system and have requested development of a new automated system 
that will be easier to use and manage.

Solution:

Based on preliminary investigation, a coin operated laser page credit system 
will be designed for use in the lab.  The new automated system will accept 
payments for laser pages via a coin mechanism and credit the desired account 
with the number of pages purchased.  This system will be immediate credit, and 
will have no middle man or delay.  This system will also be availible 24 hours a day.

The coin mechanism will be connected to a dedicated 80086 computer, which will 
at as a client for the server process. 

The total cost of this system (housing, coin mechanism, but no computer) is 
hoped to be kept under $200.

Questions:

1) What type of procedure or process do users go through in order to use laser 
     printers at your facility?
2) What do you think of the solution?
3) What tips or hints could you think of for this system?
4) Would you be interested in this system for impilmentation at your facility? 
    If so how much you you pay the a working model?  How much would you pay for 
    plans and software only?  (the reason I ask it that we are supposed include 
    a marketing description in our final report.)

Thanks for you time.  Email responses would be appreciated.  If anyone would 
like to be kept up-to-date on the status of this project, and the completion of 
it, please mail me as well.

Robin Getz
4th year Electrical Engineering Student
University of Saskachewan

getz@dvinci.usask.ca

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