How to Choose the Best Universal Print Driver for Your Mobile Work Force

How to Select a Universal Print Driver

Here are six tips to help you choose the best UPD solution for your mobile work force:

Tip No. 1: Look for a driver that doesn't lock you into one vendor. Mobile users will encounter a variety of print devices in their travels. Thus, it's very important that whatever driver solution you choose is vendor-agnostic.

Tip No. 2: Look for a driver that is easy and intuitive to install.

Tip No. 3: Look for a driver that is "location aware" and can present to mobile users only print devices that are pertinent to them in their current location. It does users no good being presented with their home printer while they are at the office! Or vice versa.

Tip No. 4: Look for a driver that provides automatic, real-time status of the devices it discovers so that users can choose to print to a device that is not only ready but also has their media loaded in it.

Tip No. 5: Look for a driver that is able to expand its search to alternate subnets. Many environments that users find themselves in are complex and are not comprised of a single "network" but rather many subnets. It is important for a UPD solution to be able to expand its search to find print devices on more than just the subnet the user's PC is on. This is really important for wireless or VPN users, as more often than not, the print device they want to print to will be on a different subnet from the one they find their PC on.

Tip No. 6: Another thing to consider when looking at UPD solutions is security. Make sure that whatever driver you choose to use does not bypass device security in any way. Many devices support access restrictions, color printing permissions and print submission accounting. Make sure that your driver not only obeys these but prompts for them in the driver's interface.

The time it takes for IT to deploy, test, troubleshoot and manage a multitude of print drivers—not to mention the time and frustration on the part of the users who have to become familiar with them—all add up to a significant amount of expense and lost productivity.

By ensuring that the print driver tool that your organization is using can work with virtually all devices on the network, and simplifying the user experience with a consistently familiar interface, IT can spend less time on deploying devices, training users and upkeep of the network. At the same time, mobile employees can get more work done more quickly.

Richie Michelon is a Product Planning Manager at Xerox Corporation. Richie has 14 years of experience in the printing industry. Richie is responsible for identifying market requirements, and developing product and controller strategy for printers and A4 color multifunction products. He can be reached at Richie.Michelon@xerox.com.