The Print Release Station is a new module added in version 2.4. When enabled it holds print jobs in the print queue until the owner of the job releases or cancels it. Jobs can be cancelled using Windows print manager or at a Gaia Release Station. Users are not charged until they release their job and jobs can only be released from a release station setup to control that particular printer. The release station for a printer would normally be located adjacent the printer it controls so that when a user releases their job, they can be physically present at the printer as the job prints.

The Print Release Station can be used for:

• Printers physically remote from workstations so jobs no longer print and “disappear”.

• Secure printing of jobs such as:
  o Student assignments
  o Confidential documents
  o Staff reports

• Reduced printing volume because users can:
  o Select only those jobs they really want to print
  o Select the latest version of a document they have printed multiple times
  o See the cost of their job before it prints

There is no limit to the number of printers that can be controlled by a single release station and any printer can be controlled by multiple release stations.

The release station can run on any version of Windows allowing you to use a low powered or superseded workstation, however for security, we strongly recommend that Windows 2000 or later is used so that you can lock down the desktop with system policies.

To use Windows authentication on the release station, the Gaia Release Station Service must be running on the network to authenticate users. If the release station is Windows NT or later, the service should run on the release station so that user credentials do not have to be sent over the network. If the release station runs Windows 95/98/Me the Gaia Release Station Service must be run on another Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 computer. In this case, the release station and authentication computer should be directly connected to a switched network so that user credentials are not broadcast over the network.

The release station client runs on a workstation near the printer or printers it controls with an interface like that shown below. For normal use, the release station should be logged into a non-privileged account. The account requires read access to the Gaia Print Charger database but no other specific permissions. If you wish, you can use policies to further restrict the account.