Improved accessibility
We’ve clustered the print queues. When you send a print job to a release station, you can now release your job from several areas around campus. Click here to see how the clusters are configured. We have also provided access to the printers from machines outside of the University IT and Library locations, so if someone wants to print from their laptop, they are now able to. Click here for details.

What does clustering mean?
When someone sends a print job to the release station, they will have the ability to visit a number of different locations to print their job. As an example, if someone sends a print job in the Rush Rhees Reference area, they can release their print job from the Reference area, the IT Center, or a number of other locations. The job will still be printed to the printer that is next to the release station that they release their job from.

Why are we doing this?
-Wireless printing. In order to roll out wireless printing to the public, we had to make it as easy as possible. A print a job can be sent from the quad, and available via a short walk to a number of locations. Someone won't have to stop and think of their closest printing location, and then try and figure out what the printer name for that area is. By clustering the queues, you only have to install 3 printers on your laptop as opposed to the 20 + printers deployed around campus.

-Redundancy. If a printer or release station should completely break down in a particular area after someone has sent a print job, they can walk to another area to release their job.

What are the new clustered queues going to look like?

There are 3 new queues. We have a technical limitation with the queues in that we could not create a queue on two different printer models. We also could not combine the Black and White and Color queues.

Undergraduates in the College can swipe their ID cards at Print Release Stations and have deductions made from their printing or their Flex accounts for each page printed and can check the balance in the accounts each time the card is swiped. Students can add to the print account at by using this Online Interface. Dollars added to the print account are charged to the student’s term bill. If a student’s Flex account is low in funds, the student can go to the Customer Service Center in Susan B. Anthony Hall and add money to the Flex account by check, cash, or credit card. The Customer Service Center is located in Room 114 A and is open Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. (585-275-3975).

Students may also make additional deposits to the Flex Account by using cash at any of the Value Transfer Stations (VTS) located in Rush Rhees, Carlson, Miner, and Sibley libraries. College Students can also add money to their Printing Account using this Online Interface.

Flex Problems. If you have questions or complaints about Flex Accounts, Visitor Cards, or have problems using an ID for printing, call the Auxiliary Programs service desk at 275-3975. They are open 10-7, Mondays through Fridays, and 10-2 on Saturdays.

Students, faculty, and community users can purchase prepaid "University Visitor" cards, as they do now for the copy machines.

A visitor's card, available for purchase at any VTS, can also be used to operate photocopiers.

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