Output Management versus Print Spool Management

Eight Technology Trends That Will Change the World

Customer Communications Management (CCM) is the process of improving the creation, storage, retrieval and delivery of an organization’s outbound communications. These communications take various forms, such as printed documents, email messages and web pages, which organizations send to customers, partners, distributors and regulatory bodies. CCM solutions initially focused on generating transactional documents, such as account statements, bank statements and invoices, since they are ideal media for an organization to promote itself to its customers. However, the scope of CCM has rapidly grown to the point that corresponding document software solutions have become specialized in output management and print spool management. There are quite some distinctions between the terms “print management” and “output management”, although they are often used interchangeably. Let´s have a look at the main differences.

Print Spool Management

Print spool management consists of tasks used to implement and control a reliable, efficient printer network. Those tasks typically include the following:

Pull printing
Mobile printing
Rules-based printing
Print optimization
Print processes

Pull Printing

Pull printing is a feature of document generation software that allows users to hold a print job on a server or workstation and release, or pull, the job to any print device that supports this feature. Users must authenticate themselves to the printer before they can use print pulling, either by using software embedded in the printer or an external device. They can then select the print job they wish to release to pull to the current device. Some software allows users to delegate print pulling to other users or systems.

Mobile Printing

Mobile printing includes a variety of specific methods for printing from mobile devices, depending on the device, connection type and printer. A wireless protocol such as Bluetooth or 802.11 WiFi network is the most common way for a mobile device to connect to a printer, although older devices may also use infrared signals. A device’s capabilities also have a great effect on the exact method used in mobile printing, especially memory. Smartphones and PDAs typically require printing software that can process a print job efficiently without overwhelming the limited memory of these devices.

Rules-based Printing

Rules-based printing generally establishes guidelines that limit printing to only what is necessary, primarily for the purpose of saving toner. It usually focuses on the restriction of document types, user groups and print settings such as single-sided and color printing. Administrators can also use toner saving software to improve printer efficiency by combining filter rules.

Print Optimization

Downloading printer drivers on a network can consume a large amount of bandwidth. Print optimization software can store these drivers locally, eliminating the need for downloading them across multiple devices. This capability allows multiple sites access to the driver while optimizing network traffic, thus improving overall download speed and bandwidth efficiency. Print optimization software can also optimize the data stream sent to the printer spool during printing by compressing print jobs.

Print Processes

Controlling print processes are a major part of print spool management, since many of these processes are active at any given time in a typical enterprises environment. Printer toner saving software can distribute and redirect print jobs automatically while ensuring compliance with defined print rules. This software can also facilitate the creation and assignment of those rules in addition to configuring user permissions. User authentication at the print device provides system administrators with greater control over print jobs, allowing them to save toner and protect confidential information.

Output Management

Output management is actually a broader concept than print spool management. It originally covered only print output management, but now includes the management of any output stream from an application to an output device. The applications used in output management typically include line-of-business solutions, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM). The output of these applications includes printers as well as email, faxes, Web, etc. Output management solutions greatly help automate administrative tasks by integrating with workflow management systems. Document Output Management software solutions are usually implemented to automate omni-channel document delivery, formatting, and tracking tasks, thereby diminishing the workload for desktop and enterprise applications. This, in turn, boosts productivity, performance and stability of the overall IT system.

The main categories of output management tasks include the following:

Document design
Resource management
Document generation
Distribution
Formatting

Document Design

Document design features include the latest graphics functions, such as charts, barcodes and multiple languages in the same design. Charts can include two and three-dimensional graphs, pie charts and progress bars with configurable alignment, justification, columns and inserted images. Enterprises also have a common requirement to print many of the one and two-dimensional bar codes currently available, such as UPC-A, UPC-E, Code-128 and PDF-417. On the other hand, documents with multiple languages allow enterprises to send personalized, intelligent messages to document recipients.

Resource Management

The retrieval, conversion and merging of documents typically requires a large expenditure of resources that enterprises should carefully manage. Documents, including resources like fonts, document templates and images, must be retrieved from sources such as document managers, directories and URLs. Document generation often requires conversion to many specific formats, while merging documents to produce a single document on one process is also a common requirement for today’s enterprises.

Document Generation

Document generation is the ability to create business documents online and in real time. Some organizations still don’t use the Internet to communicate with their customers or fail to take full advantage of it, even if they offer the basic capability. An inability to create and distribute documents through the Internet can impair customer relations or even damage an organization’s image.

Formatting

Document generation is often complicated by the large number of formats currently available, including JPG, PCL, PDF and XLS. A document in one format frequently needs to be converted to a different format before printing, which requires the ability to retrieve resources such as fonts, forms and images. Other requirements for formatting documents include multi-platform capability and integration with an organization’s existing business structure.

Distribution

Document distribution usually refers to the process of sending documents to a remote printer according to user requirements, but it actually entails nearly any channel and medium, e.g. print, email, fax, Web, social media, etc. In this context, optimizing print processing times can be particularly challenging for enterprises with networks that encompass multiple geographic locations. A document management solution should be able to handle the requirements of a distributed printing environment by using elements such as Java, .Net and VB to integrate with existing business applications.

Beyond Print Management

It seems clear, then, that both print management and output management solutions can help companies set up a custom, flexible controlled and efficient print network in their environment. And most importantly, they don´t have to start big.

By addressing only a few requirements at a time, companies may start with Print Management functions today and expand them with additional Output Management modules in the future to cover both the centralised, line of business applications and the distributed, digital workplace. When the Output Management or Print management solution provides a seamless upgrade whenever needed, anything is possible, at any time.

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