ITS Educational Technologies has updated several CCI Printing stations to support touch-free printing. With the simple addition of a QR code to each printer, users are able to complete a print job without touching anything but their own devices.
How does it work?
All CCI Printing happens through Pharos, the vendor that manages the University’s printing software. Within the Pharos mobile print app, users can send a print job to a CCI station. At the station, they can use the app to scan the QR code and confirm the job. Then, users can print their documents without requiring any physical interaction with the printer.
Pharos began creating the framework for this feature last summer, and EdTech was able to implement it on campus in time for the Spring 2021 semester.
Where are these print stations?
All 26 of the currently operating print stations are equipped with this new feature, including locations in the Student Union and Campus Y. Due to decreased on-campus activities, only half of the 50 existing print stations were needed. This upgrade is well-timed — due to the ongoing pandemic, people are more conscious than ever about touching surfaces in public spaces.
“Our hope is that this faster, touchless method of using the CCI printers will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and improve the overall user experience,” said Holt Mikeal, Technology Support Analyst for EdTech.
Before, users could use the Pharos app to send their print jobs to a printer but still had to type in their log-in information to print their documents. The new feature saves users time by eliminating that step.
Campus feedback
As the semester comes to an end, students reflect on how they’ve utilized and benefitted from the touchless feature this spring.
“The touchless kiosks have been a really nice change,” said Marichi Gupta, a senior majoring in computer science, mathematics and music. “I like the new interface they’ve made for sending print jobs, and it’s cool that they got the QR codes set up so we can print quickly from anywhere.”