Our copiers are configured with a secure printing solution that stores the jobs until the user taps their badge on a sensor and releases them. Recently, we had a user call in claiming that her badge wasn’t working when she tried to print. Now, this particular person is one of our “extra-special” types, so I told my colleague that took the call to let her know that I would follow up with her shortly as I was almost certain that there wasn’t an issue with the badge or with the secure print software.
A little later, I showed up at her desk to see if I could remedy the problem. She immediately tried to give me her badge for inspection but I handed it back and told her I didn’t think that the issue was with the badge. I almost laughed out loud at her incredulous response, “REEEALLY?” Instead I just smiled and asked her to show me what she was printing.
She opened the document and clicked the “Print” button on the toolbar. As soon as the print dialog opened, I knew that I was right about the badge. The printer that was selected was located at another site where she had been working previously – one that didn’t use the secure print software. When I mentioned to her that she was trying to print to a printer located halfway across town, she finally had her light-bulb moment. “Ohhhh…now i feel really stupid,” she replied.
It took a lot of restraint not to agree with her out loud.
Yup!
I’m the “IT Infrastructure Manager” at the office (among other hats far more legitimate), so the Print Solution is mine to administer. Ours is a little more complex, being Federal – you have to stick your card (HSPD-12 PIV) into the reader and enter the associated code in order to pull up the screen and release your prints.
We get folks from all over the Agency at our office from time to time, and if they need to get print access they have to be added to an Active Directory group to get the capability in the first place. As a result of FAR TOO MANY instances of “Your printer won’t print, fix it!” when they had done the same thing in your tale, I decided to use the Nuclear Option: part of being in that AD group will run the local logon script, which calls PowerShell and removes all network printers except the ones for our office, then it installs our Print Management destination and sets it as default.
Funny thing…in the past six years since I did that, I’ve had HQ and almost all of our Regional Offices get in touch with me to get a copy of that automation for their own use….
I love it when the lusers think they know more than the IT support they’re calling for help.