Remote Meter Reads Gathered Automatically! Reduce the hassle of gathering meter reads by having software gather them each month. It's easy with Print Tracker!
Print Tracker is a non-invasive software solution for gathering meter reads. Installation requires minimal involvement from the onsite IT department. Meter data is passed securely through firewalls using the HTTPS protocol, in a similar way in which a web browser communicates with a banking website. Print Tracker is proxy-compatible and does not create security vulnerabilities. Print Tracker runs as a service that is usually "asleep" and "wakes up" a few times during the day to perform required tasks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:What are the software and hardware requirements for Print Tracker?A:To track network devices, Print Tracker must be installed on a workstation running Windows 2000, XP, or later. Print Tracker requires 10 MB of hard drive space. When running, the service takes about 1 MB of memory. To track local devices, Print Tracker may be installed on workstations running Windows 98 or Me as well as those running Windows 2000, XP, or later.
Q:How does Print Tracker work?A:Print Tracker discovers locally attached devices (printers, fax or scan ports that are managed by the Windows Spooler service) as well as network devices that respond to Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) requests. Print Tracker sends out a broadcast to the local network requesting devices respond and then queries the devices to determine whether or not they are printing devices. It determines if they are printing devices by seeing if they respond to standard print requests. Print Tracker then queries the workstations default gateway to get a list of nearby segments. The list of segments is then displayed so the user can tell Print Tracker which segments are to be searched for network devices. Only the segments selected will be searched.
If a device is not discovered automatically, it can be added manually by clicking on the "Add" button and entering either the Network Name or the IP address of the device. Alternatively, entire subnets can be searched by entering the segment's first three octet strings followed by an asterisk. For example, if 10.10.10.* is entered, all devices whose IP address begins with 10.10.10 would be searched.
When devices are discovered that respond to the SNMP requests, the data is stored in a local database table. When it is time to send the data in a report, the data is sent to the web server using the HTTPS protocol, similarly to how your browser communicates with banking websites. HTTPS is a secure protocol. All of the data is encrypted before it is sent.
The meter data is then pulled down from the web server in a separate process, put into an Excel spreadsheet, and emailed out to the email addresses entered in Print Tracker. This process usually takes 1-2 minutes.
Q:Can Print Tracker gather meter reads from remote locations?A:Print Tracker can gather meter reads from networked devices that can be pinged from the workstation where it is installed. If the device responds to pings and SNMP requests, then meter data can be gathered.
Q:How does Print Tracker send the meter data? Is it secure?A:Print Tracker communicates with the web server using the HTTPS protocol, similarly to how your browser communicates with banking websites. HTTPS is a secure protocol. All of the data is encrypted before it is sent. It is very secure.
The software initiates the communication using HTTPS with the CDR (Central Data Repository). It sends only the meter information and then disconnects. It never accepts inbound requests of any type.
