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Retrieve toner levels (for supported printers)

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About retrieving toner levels

Managing printer toner on a large fleet of printers can be a time-consuming task. The administrator must track toner usage and ensure that replacement toner cartridges are available when printer toner runs out. Often the administrator is only made aware that a printer is out of toner after receiving complaints from users. PaperCut NG/MF can track the toner levels for supported printers and provide toner level information in reports or email notifications when the toner is low.

Armed with this information the administrator can purchase toner supplies in advance and replace toner cartridges before the printer runs out of toner. This saves time and ensures that printer downtime is minimized.

You might also want to take a look at Low printer toner notifications .

Configuration

How toner level information is retrieved

PaperCut NG/MF retrieves toner information from supported printers using the SNMP network protocol. Most modern network printers allow the toner information to be queried via SNMP.

PaperCut NG/MF can retrieve toner information for printers that meet the following requirements:

  • The printer supports the SNMP standard for printers (RFC 1759) that allows toner information to be retrieved in a standardized way. Most network printers support this standard. There is also support for the private MIBs of Brother and Ricoh.

  • SNMPv1/v2c or SNMPv3 is enabled and configured.

  • The printer is networked (that is, it is connected to your network and not directly to a computer with a USB or parallel port).

  • Your network (for example, routers, firewalls, etc.) allows the PaperCut NG/MF server to establish SNMP connections between the PaperCut NG/MF server and your printers.

Generate a report of toner levels

PaperCut NG/MF regularly updates the toner information to ensure the data is kept up to date.

You can generate a report with ‘Toner Status’, ‘Lowest Toner Value’ and ‘Toner Last Updated on’ fields from the Admin web interface.

  1. Click the Printers tab.
    The Printer List page is displayed.

  2. At the bottom of the list select Export / Print in Excel format.

Configuration

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