Students frustrated with losing print jobs because of broken ePrint stations will no longer need to run back to their computers.
Through a new Office of Information Technology service, students can reprint a job without having to resend it from a computer, according to information from OIT. After students swipe their DukeCards and release their jobs from ePrint, a copy will be saved on their print queue for an additional 15 minutes.
OIT Senior Communications Strategist Steve O’Donnell said student feedback requesting ePrint improvement led to the reprint service.
“Every once in a while, there is a glitch in the system—the printer does not work or, for some reason, you can’t find your job in the print queue,” he said. “[ePrint reprint] allows students to reprint a job without going back to their computers.”
Students were notified of the OIT service update via a Duke Student Government e-mail Sept. 11. According to OIT’s Web site, however, the service has been available since Aug. 7.
“I used to have to send important documents multiple times just to be safe,” junior Henry Jiang said. “Now, it is convenient not to have to walk back to the [computer] to reprint.”
In addition to the reprint service, the OIT Web site now features an ePrint status monitor that is updated every 10 minutes. This allows students to check on the condition of campus printers, as the site categorizes stations as “in full working order,” “are ready to print but have non-critical issues” and “currently inoperable.” O’Donnell added that several ePrint stations are managed by libraries and graduate schools and thus are not tracked by the Web site.
ePrint stations are frequently down across campus. As of Monday at 6 p.m., 20 of the 58 OIT-managed ePrint stations were in full working order, according to the ePrint Status Web site.
Most of the issues, however, are non-critical concerns like paper jams, low ink or low paper, O’Donnell said. But sometimes ePrint stations are inoperable.
O’Donnell said the status monitor will save students time and trips across campus.
“If you have two ePrint stations that are close to you, you can check to see what the status is at each one,” he said. “You can go to an ePrint station where you know you are going to be able to get your print [job] right away. This gives students the opportunity to pick and choose where to go.”
O’Donnell noted that OIT maintenance staff members also monitor statuses of print stations online to detect which printers need service.
“There may be some technical bugs,” said senior Jared Blau. “But compared to other institutions, we are way ahead of the pack.”
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