UniFLOW Software

With uniFLOW Output Manager you can monitor and track what is printed, by whom and at what cost. This information can then be used to create a unique print strategy for your organisation.

Scalable To Any Size
uniFLOW Output Manager fits perfectly with any size organisation. It is available in 10, 25, 100 and unlimited user versions to provide scalability and flexibility regardless of your business type. Its web-based architecture also allows for the software to be run on multiple buildings, locations or sites with all the knowledge stored in a single SQL Server database. Additional uniFLOW modules can also be added to provide further functionality.

Maximise Your Return On Investment
In order to ensure you can optimise your return on investment, Canon will work closely with you to gain a thorough understanding of your existing technology and business processes. We’ll then design a solution that accommodates your current needs as well as taking account of future requirements. With your approval, we can then install and configure uniFLOW to your specific timescales, ensuring your staff receive all the necessary training. That way, you can start realising the benefits straight away.

Future Proof
All our solutions have been engineered to grow with our customers' businesses and are totally scalable. uniFLOW has been designed to be as open as possible, with all modules based upon pdf and web based technology. This has the benefit of increasing scope and flexibility of use
whilst making integration with other systems easy and cost effective to implement. Not only that, but uniFLOW is fully compatible with Canon's Java based MEAP technology , ensuring it is able to meet current and future customer needs.

Additional Modules
The core accounting functionality of uniFLOW Output Manager can be extended with various extra modules. Each module provides exciting new features to the system that allow the benefits of uniFLOW to extend into other parts of your business. From providing secure printing features to helping run your inhouse print room more efficiently, uniFLOW really is an end-to-end output management system.

Since the birth of the Internet and the digital office, the volume of documents printed by organisations has constantly risen. With the paperless office a myth, companies now spend as much as 3% of their annual revenue on document output. Just think how your business could benefit from more effective cost control in this area.

uniFLOW Output Manager
The core of uniFLOW is the Output Manager. This provides full auditing of devices on the print server assigning costs to a user, project code or department. Users can also select a project or cost code at the moment they send the job to the printer. By using the built-in intelligence of Canon iR multifunctional devices, uniFLOW Output Manager can also track all print, copy and fax jobs directly from the device.

All of this knowledge can then be viewed and accessed with the built-in statistics engine. The reports can show everything you need to know about who is printing and how much it is costing you. Reports can also be configured to be sent as an email automatically.

This core functionality can be extended with the addition of one or more of the following modules:

Desktop Accounting
The Desktop Accounting module extends the accounting capability of uniFLOW to all locally connected printers or devices that are directly accessed over the network without using a print server. This allows you to track every device in the office regardless of how users print to it.

Remote Printer Server
Remote Printer Servers can be added in organisations that use multiple print servers or have multiple locations. And that means complete control across all output devices, wherever they are in the organisation. Using Remote Printer Servers will keep the print traffic on the local network while sending the accounting information back to the central database for a company wide overview of activity.

Load Balancing
With Load Balancing, uniFLOW can place access restrictions on printers. For example, uniFLOW may allow printing small jobs to the laser printer on the desk but will automatically route any larger jobs to the more cost efficient Canon multifunctional device a few meters away. Load Balancing can also divert output to alternative devices in the event of a problem, so that the productivity of staff is not affected.

Server Clustering
Server Clustering allows uniFLOW to run on a clustered Microsoft Windows 2000/2003 Server environment employing the highest degree of failover protection and system load balancing behaviour.

Secure Printing
Secure Printing provides users with effective security mechanisms to control the output of sensitive documents. Print jobs are held on the server and can only be retrieved at the printing device using an appropriate identification method - ideal for anyone dealing in sensitive information. Users can identify themselves at any output device; ensuring documents can be sent and then printed out at whichever device is most appropriate. The secure printing module removes the need for local desktop devices that were purchased just for confidential information but end up printing much more.

Identification Methods
To provide maximum flexibility, many different identification systems can be integrated with uniFLOW, such as:
Fingerprint readers
Chip card readers
Magnetic card readers
Contactless card readers
Keyboard entry
It is also possible to use a card from an existing identification mechanism such as a door entry system.

MEAP Functionality
The secure print functionality of uniFLOW can be further enhanced by using Canon's Java based MEAP technology. Normally, the secure print function will print all the jobs waiting for the user on a particular secure print queue. With the addition of the MEAP interface, the user will be shown a list of all the jobs on the device control panel so they can select the ones they want to print. Shared jobs from a central archive, such as company forms, can also be selected and printed on demand.

uniFLOW can be easily configured to provide cost control and management for schools and universities as well as public environments such as libraries.

Complete control for education environments
Whether you are a small primary school or a university with tens of thousands of students, uniFLOW can help you manage your printing and copying costs. With budgets becoming ever smaller, a system that helps control waste and recovers costs is a welcome addition to any network. Because every school and university has different requirements, uniFLOW has many customisation possibilities that allow it to work in every environment. uniFLOW can enforce account limits for students by only allowing them to print or copy up to a certain limit. When their credit runs out, so does their ability to print.

Higher and Further Education
Students can be made to pay in advance for their printing and copying. The funds are stored in a central system allowing them to use a device in part of the campus without having to worry about separate accounts. Whether they use the photocopier in the library or the printer in the computer room, the system will allow them to print or copy as many pages as they have paid for.

Primary and Secondary Education
Making students pay for their print jobs is not really an option here. However, uniFLOW can be used to implement an "acceptable use" policy that allows each student to print a certain number of pages every day, week or term. If the student abuses the system of free printing that is made available, they will be stopped before the cost spirals out of control.

Fund Management
Students can top up printing funds into their accounts in a number of ways. Departments such as a library that already handles cash can be used with the member of staff given permission to add credit to student accounts. Alternatively, an automatic "cash loader" can also be integrated with uniFLOW to provide the students with 24/7 access to their printing and copying funds.

Staff Printing
Staff can print without any restrictions but the costs can be charged back to their department.
If the member of staff teaches in more than one faculty, they can select which department to charge at print time.

With the addition of extra modules, uniFLOW can easily be configured to provide a complete production workflow in print shops and central print rooms.

Complete flexibility in the print room
Canon can analyse your production environment and define a digital job ticketing system that incorporates whatever level of sophistication you require. With uniFLOW, the central print room becomes an extension of the end-users’ desktop, providing optimal flexibility across the organisation.

Job Ticketing
By completing an on-screen order menu linked to their document, job ticketing gives users the ability to communicate clear, precise instructions to operators in the print room or print shop.

Print Optimising System
Print Optimising System addresses specific challenges concerning the modification and merging of print jobs after submission.

Web Queue Management
In the print shop environment, operators can access the central queue for incoming print jobs, and then direct jobs at their discretion to the most appropriate print device. uniFLOW will then interpret the print job and adapt it according to the output device specified, saving valuable time for the operator. The relevant print accounting information is then stored in a central
database.

Internet Gateway
Internet Gateway is a secure wide area solution for submitting print jobs over the internet for processing. Print shops that accept jobs via the web can also benefit from uniFLOW’s on-line pricing, accounting, job ticketing and PDF preview functionality.

Document Archiving
When you need an effective job archiving system for your print shop or central print room, uniFLOW is the answer. Full print jobs can be archived and then simply retrieved. Since the
archive information always incorporates the job ticket, you can check your customer’s original specification should any queries arise.

PDF Workflow
PDF Workflow provides real benefits to operators in the print room. With this functionality, PDF previews of jobs can be generated and viewed, saving time and money by providing accurate
proofs, prior to printing.

Load Balancing
In a production environment, minimising output costs to maximise profitability is critical. With Load Balancing you can ensure that jobs are allocated to printers incurring the lowest copy costs and also split jobs to the relevant output device when they contain mixed colour and black and white pages.