Schools, colleges and universities across Australia and internationally are using a range of software products developed by Gaia Computing (Bendigo, Victoria) to control the use of their printer, copier and internet resources.   These programs monitor and charge for printing and Internet usage down to the individual user level.  They throw the responsibility onto the user by charging them for each page printed and each Mb downloaded.

Gaia Computing originally developed Gaia Print Charger seven years ago when Bendigo Senior Secondary College (BSSC) gave 1,500 Year 11 and Year 12 students open access to the internet from a network of 200 personal computers.  The unexpected surge in printing activity was going to blowout the printing budget by 5-7 times for the year if the new volume of printing continued.  As one of Gaia Computing's directors sat on the school board, he offered to find a solution.  A product existed for Novell but there was nothing available at that time for the Windows NT environment.  BSSC needed a solution immediately and contracted Gaia Computing to provide the tools to manage this newly discovered liability.

Gaia Print Charger was released in October 1997 and printer usage immediately dropped well below the acceptable budgeted level.  Printing actually stopped dead until the next CATS were due to be submitted.

Having printing under control, the school then looked at their Internet Service Provider (ISP) overheads.  Based on the level of downloading, the ISP moved from a fixed annual rate to volumetric charging.  Fortunately, BSSC back then was running a low speed link and by default this helped keep costs down.  BSSC's move to a high capacity Satellite link was going to be a problem so Gaia Computing was again asked to provide a solution.  The result was another world first - Gaia Net Charger.

With BSSC being the centre of leading edge technology in Education in Victoria (if not Australia or, in fact, the world when it comes to public schools), many schools that visited and followed their progress were keen to take up the initiatives introduced by BSSC.  These initiatives enabled schools to be able to afford the introduction of Information Technology (IT) that would have otherwise been out of reach.  Alternatively, schools starting a small IT infrastructure investment could cost justify a larger project by virtue of the substantial reduction of resource wastage provided by implementing Gaia Print and Net Charger as part of the larger project.

Gaia Software has continued to enhance both Print Charger and Net Charger by reinvesting Upgrade Advantage Fees in software development to provide more tools that will improve the productivity of IT Coordinators.  Version 2.6 of the Gaia Suite will be released shortly throughout Australia and in more than 20 countries around the world.  There have also been optional modules added to the suite.  Gaia Copy Charger was added to enable the cost of "walk-up" photocopies to be deducted from the users' Print Charger accounts.  Gaia Print Release was introduced to improve security when users printed from a PC that was remote from the destination printer.

These developments are driven by feedback from schools using the software and have taken a raw basic product and turned them into a well-rounded Suite of useful management tools.  Gaia is constantly looking for new ideas and love to receive feedback and suggestions for new products. 

Some years ago, a large supplier of software to the UK Education market approached Gaia.  They wanted to incorporate Gaia Print Charger into their own Suite of software for schools.  That partnership is entering its fourth year and they are looking at expanding into Europe.  Gaia is also looking for more partnerships to gain penetration into the USA, Canada, Asia and Latin America.  The UK experience has been very beneficial to both parties and Gaia is keen to carry that into the new frontiers.

There are several Computer Consulting Companies and Hardware Resellers throughout Australia and New Zealand who have added value to their offerings to clients by including Gaia Software in their proposals over the last three or four years.  This number will grow as more schools feel the overhead of wasted resources and we spread into new territories.

Due to the innovative and environmentally friendly nature of Gaia software, the accepted means of boxed product of a shop shelf is not pursued.  Gaia will be inviting schools to consider setting up "reciprocal links" between their website and Gaia.  These links will be mutually beneficial not only giving each party exposure that was otherwise unavailable but also the benefit of improving each party's rating in Google and other search engines.

Naturally, there are some benefits in being different.  We avoid the cost of producing a manual (which will probably never be opened), floppy disk or CD (these end up as a drink coaster or a shiny bird scarer for the garden) and no blister pack to clog the landfills.  We also totally avoid all logistic problems - mostly the Internet never goes down permanently.

Gaia software is not limited to the education environment.  We have it running in large and small legal firms, mining companies, real estate offices and local government authorities.  There is one Real Estate Company in the USA that is controlling the colour printing of seven hundred (700) agents out of the one office.  Recently, a Gaia customer, a branch of a large international company, who used Gaia to audit the printing within that branch.  By rearranging their printing practices, they will save approximately $10,000 per year compared to what they had been spending.  Not only does this make them a good corporate citizen (maybe they can claim Carbon Credits for this activity) but is must ultimately have an impact on reducing the decimation of old growth forests.

Gaia Computing is the leader in the field of Cost Recovery and Wastage Reduction of printing and Internet resources and will keep its competition at bay by constant innovation and listening to end users.  Gaia is continually cross grading users from their competitors' products to Gaia software and, in these cases; win them over by having a superior product that offers many management advantages.

For further information please contact the author: -

John H. Denham,
GAIA Computing P/L,
www.gaiacomputing.com.au
Ph +61 3 5444 9588 Fx +61 3 5443 2847