Collecting information about print jobs

Using the Job Statistics: Trend Analysis and Job Statistics: Collect From Disk tasks, MarkVision Professional can gather and store information about each print job sent to a specific device. The information includes data such as job size, job duration, output bins used, and so on. Users can view the collected information using a database tool or an application specifically designed to interpret and display the information.

Administrators can use the information gathered by the Job Statistics task to answer questions such as:

• Which devices are getting the most use?

• Which departments are using the device(s) the most?

• How long does it take to print a job?

• What is the toner level in the device(s)?

When users enable the Job Statistics: Trend Analysis task for a device, MVP registers with the device and then continually collects alert information, writing it to the connected database. However, any alerts that occur when network traffic is heavy or when the MVP server is down may be missed. This task does not require that the selected device contain a built-in hard drive.

When the Job Statistics: Collect From Disk task is scheduled, MVP collects the data from information stored on the device itself. Because it is not affected by heavy network traffic or an interrupted connection with the MVP server, this is generally the more reliable of the two tasks; however, it can only be scheduled on devices containing a built-in hard drive.

Notes:

• These tasks provide approximate data for device(s) and should thus not be used for billing or accounting purposes.
• The Job Statistics: Collect From Disk setting must be scheduled before a device will begin storing job statistics data on its hard drive.

Enabling Job Statistics

1. From the MarkVision Professional Home screen, select Job Statistics: Trend Analysis from the All Tasks menu.

2. Select the type of database where the Job Statistics information will be stored.

   Note: MVP supports Access and SQL Server databases, as well as CSV format (comma-separated values). The table below shows the path styles used for each type of database.

3. Enter or select the appropriate information for the database:

   • Access or SQL Server—Enter the URL, User Name, and Password for the database. The URL is the path to the database used to monitor this server.

   • CSV—Browse to or specify the full path of the directory in which CSV data will be stored.

4. Select the printers to be monitored. Click All Printers to monitor all devices on the MVP Server, or click Selected Printers to choose specific devices on the MVP Server. Select those devices using the Quick Find or Folders tabs. Use Ctrl + click and Shift + click to select multiple devices.

5. Select Include Device Status Alerts if you want the database to include information about status events such as paper jams and out-of-paper alerts for the selected device(s).

6. Click Apply.

Note: To collect Job Statistics at a specific time, select the Job Statistics: Collect From Disk option in the Scheduling task in the All Tasks list.

Collecting information about printers

Using the Printer Inventory task, MarkVision Professional can gather and store information about the devices on a network. Users can then view the collected information (printer inventory) using a database tool or an application specifically designed to interpret and display the information.

Administrators can use the information gathered during the printer inventory process to answer questions such as:

• How many devices are on the network?

• What types of devices are on the network?

• What options are installed on the devices?

• What is the lifetime page count of devices?

• What are the print job statistics for the devices?

Enabling Printer Inventory

1. From the MarkVision Professional Home screen, select Printer Inventory from the All Tasks menu.

2. Select the type of database where the printer inventory information will be stored.

   Note: MVP supports Access and SQL Server databases, as well as CSV format (comma-separated values). The table below shows the path styles used for each type of database.

3. Enter or select the appropriate information for the database:

   • Access or SQL Server—Enter the URL, User Name, and Password for the database. The URL is the path to the database used to monitor this server.

   • CSV—Browse to or specify the full path of the directory in which CSV data will be stored.

4. Select the printers to be monitored:

   • Click All Printers to monitor all devices on the MVP Server.

   • Click Selected Folders to monitor devices in specific MarkVision folders, and then select the appropriate folder(s).

   • Click Selected Printers to choose specific devices on the MVP Server, and then select devices using the Quick Find or Folders tabs. Use Ctrl + click and Shift + click to select multiple devices.

5. Click Apply.