We’re pleased that Microsoft is joining the trend of directly supporting printing from the cloud. Universal Print has been officially available since the beginning of March 2021. This confirms once again that cloud printing is truly the future of printing
What is Universal Print?
Universal Print from Microsoft is an Azure service that lets Windows 10 machines send print jobs via a cloud print service to printers with the Universal Print service installed. For printers that don’t have the service installed, a Universal Print Connector can be installed on a local print server.
The Printer Working Group protocol is used for printing. The print job is stored temporarily in the cloud, then the client is informed via notification, and the print job is downloaded and processed. The printers can be provided with extensive location information so that they can be found. For a printer to be found by the user, the device must be marked as findable in Universal Print’s admin portal.
What Does Universal Print Cost?
Universal Print is part of the following subscriptions:
- Microsoft 365 Enterprise F3, E3, E5
- Microsoft 365 Education A3, A5
- Windows 10 Enterprise E3, E5
- Windows 10 Education A3, A5
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium
However, print jobs with Universal Print are limited to 5 print jobs per user per month. If print volumes are higher, businesses can purchase Universal Print page packs.
How much does a Universal Print print job package cost?
Customers can add additional volume add-on packages. These are available in units of 500 with a 500-unit package costing $25. At approximately 5 pages per print job, this is roughly equivalent to the cost of paper.
How Does ezeep Support Universal Print?
To use Universal Print, you need printer models that already support Universal Print. For all other printers, especially existing, in-market printers, a Universal Print Connector is required to include them in cloud printing.
With the Universal Print Connector by ezeep, an easy-to-use and cost-effective hardware device is available, so that Windows print servers can be completely omitted.
Why Should Users Also Use ezeep?
ezeep would not be ezeep if we left it at just supporting the Microsoft solution. And so, any Universal Print Connector by ezeep can also be used for ezeep printing after an upgrade.
What additional advantages does ezeep offer compared to Microsoft’s Universal Print solution?
- Flat fee for cloud printing – ezeep’s licensing is per user, not by print volume. This means you don’t have to worry about adhering to the volume limits of Microsoft Universal Print.
- Printing with end devices that are not integrated into the Azure Active Directory
- Support for printing for guests
- Sign-up options: In addition to logging in via a Microsoft account, Google, Apple, or simply email login is available.
- Support for printing from macOS, iOS, Android, and Chromebook devices.
- Support for printer properties even from printers that don’t have direct Universal Print support
- Support for label and wide format printers
Specific, but not limited, to Windows Virtual Desktop:
- Highly optimized print speeds through streaming and other optimization technologies
- Automatic creation of printers to ensure that the user always gets the right printer without having to search for it
ezeep will also soon offer:
- Secure and Release Printing
- Reporting
- Quotas, payment, and much more