Ricoh Managed Print Service: Frequently Asked Questions and Training

A MFD or multi-function device, is an office machine which incorporates the functionality of multiple devices in one, to provide centralized document management/distribution/production in a large-office setting. The Ricoh MFDs (Multi-Function Devices) will allow users to print, scan, photocopy, scan to email or a cloud drive.  Some devices can also fax.

Managed print services (MPS) are services offered by an external provider (Ricoh) to optimize or manage document output.  Northwestern Print is a Managed Print Service. The main components provided are needs assessment, selective or general replacement of hardware, and the service, parts and supplies needed to operate the new and/or existing hardware.  Ricoh will be providing these services and will manage the software and hardware infrastructure which will allow users to print, scan and copy from devices in Northwestern Print.

• Follow Me Printing allows users to print to a shared network print queue and release their print job from any enabled Follow Me Printing Ricoh MFD across campus. The print job does not automatically route and print pages to a specific printer. The user must authenticate at a selected MFD device to print. This ensures printing is confidential to the user and reduces printed waste from documents left uncollected at the printer.
• Mobility Print simplifies the printing process for BYOD (bring your own device) and other end-user devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, or Chromebooks. It delivers secure network print services for iOS, Windows, macOS, Android, and Chrome. It allows both managed and unmanaged devices to securely print to an MFD device on your network.
• Web Print is a driver-less printing service that allows authenticated users to print by uploading documents from a web browser. No client software or driver installation is required.

The Ricoh MFDs will provide printing, copying, and scanning services to all Northwestern faculty, staff, and students.

Ricoh MFDs will be in offices and spaces in all the schools, departments, and buildings across campus. They will be in areas that are convenient for faculty and staff.  Units will also be in public areas easily accessible by students, such as the University Libraries, Norris Student Center, and Residential halls to provide for student printing. Once Northwestern Print is implemented across campus, faculty and staff can print to any MFD device configured to allow printing. Follow Me Printing or Print Anywhere will allow users to print at any devices in Northwestern Print across campus. Some devices might be restricted due to physical location. Some devices may also be limited to staff and faculty excluding student users. 

Not necessarily. It will depend on who wants to print -Faculty/Staff or students AND it will also depend on each individual school and physical location for each device. Follow Me Printing means that a user can print to any device throughout the Northwestern Print environment if that device is configured to allow anyone to print. Some devices may be restricted due to location. Some devices may be restricted to only Faculty and Staff printing.  Signs on each device will communicate if the device is available for all to print.

No, Northwestern Print is only scoped for Northwestern’s North America locations. NU-Q faculty, staff and students should be able to use Northwestern Print when visiting NU-NA. 

Northwestern Print will not replace copy center services available through Quartet for larger print jobs. Additionally, no print jobs will be diverted to a copy center. Users who know they have a significantly larger print job, such as printing many copies of a large paper or class syllabus are encouraged to go directly to the copy center to leverage that service at Quartet Printing.  

Yes, if you have either a local printer connected to your computer, or a shared / networked printer in your work / office area, you will still have that device as an option for printing in addition to the Ricoh MFD.

Local printers or network printers are more expensive to maintain, operate and support than multi-functional devices (MFDs). Schools and departments should consider moving their printing away from single-function printers to the Ricoh MFDs. Departments will have to continue to pay for support, toner, maintenance, and replacement of their existing printers in their areas. There is enormous potential for cost savings in shifting away from local printers to the Ricoh MPS. We encourage departments to consider making a shift away from printers for environmental reasons as well.

An enterprise fax solution will not be a part of Northwestern Print. Some individual devices might provide fax services for those schools or departments.

Ricoh’s Northwestern account manager, Bill Jepson will reach out directly to primary contacts in each school, department or unit that currently has either a Ricoh device, or one from another vendor to discuss their specific printing needs, and then work to identify the best models to meet their needs. If you know that your current lease has expired and you have not been contacted yet, feel free to reach out to the Ricoh Account Manager, Bill Jepsen, by email. His email address is william.jepsen@ricoh-usa.com.

As part of the new Managed Print Services program, it is important to upgrade to one of the approved Ricoh models.  This ensures that your unit will be compatible with the eventual Northwestern Print services.

When you receive your new Ricoh copier, it will be necessary to return your old copier to your current vendor. Current Ricoh customers- Ricoh will arrange for the pick-up and return of your current Ricoh copier when the new unit is delivered.

 Regal and Gordon Flesch customers- The department is responsible for contacting the Regal or Gordon Flesch representative to arrange for the pick-up of your old unit.  The best practice is to schedule the old unit to be picked up one week after the delivery date of your new MFD. This will allow Ricoh and your local IT support group ample time to coordinate schedules and install your new MFD.

The Ricoh account Manager, Bill Jepsen, will be reaching out to the primary contact for all MFDs to meet and discuss devices that are eligible for replacement. If you know that your current lease has expired and you have not been contacted yet, feel free to reach out to the Ricoh Account Manager, Bill Jepsen, by email. His email address is william.jepsen@ricoh-usa.com.

Requests for non-standard devices should be made directly to Ricoh’s Northwestern University Ricoh Account Manager, Bill Jepsen, by email. His email address is william.jepsen@ricoh-usa.com.

The standard configurations were created to help departments / units identify the model that will best fit their specific needs and requirements, considering printing volumes, and required configurations. Sticking with the standard configurations will help reduce the department's costs. Some schools / departments do have unique requirements that might require different models.

Ricoh is reaching out to all schools, departments, and non-academic units to discuss the onboarding of their Ricoh printer fleet to the Northwestern Print environment. These discussions will help Ricoh prepare for each school’s deployment and develop an onboarding schedule based on individual school requirements. They will also focus on what local IT staff and department administrators need to do to be prepared for onboarding into Northwestern Print. Ricoh will also review the onboarding costs and recurring costs for the program.

Contact our Ricoh account Manager, Bill Jepsen directly. His email address is william.jepsen@ricoh-usa.com.

Contact our Ricoh account Manager, Bill Jepsen directly. His email address is william.jepsen@ricoh-usa.com. Please do not attempt to move or relocate an MFD or a printer. Let Ricoh handle and coordinate that work.

Refer to the project website – Ricoh Configurations for the standard MFD configurations available in Northwestern Print.  Ricoh will meet individually with each business unit/dept / school to discuss the specific needs around printing and copying. They will look at printing usage prior to the pandemic and then make a recommendation based on business needs.

• Standard print device model configurations
• Right sizing the device for each area is based on past printing volumes (pre-pandemic) as well as the work and needs within each unit or office.
• Specific clinical applications
• Accessibility to other devices in the area leveraging the secure print feature.

Placing the right equipment in the correct location based on the number of users and printing habits. Right sizing and optimizes your multifunction devices (MFD) and ensures that the device installed will meet the needs of the department and matches up with the amount of printing (pre-covid-19) that is taking place in that area. This reduces the overall cost of the program by not installing a device that is overpowered for an area that does minimal printing.

Any school/group can make a formal request for a configuration that is different from the standards outlined above; or a request for a copier that is outside of the eight approved units. The exception process is still being formalized.

• Once a Ricoh MFD or printer has been onboarded into Northwestern Print, staff will no longer need to order any consumables (supplies), excluding paper, for an in-program device. All consumables and parts necessary to ensure continued operation of print devices are included in the cost paid monthly by the unit responsible for the device.
• Ricoh recommends each school or department MFD / printer keep spare supplies for each model – one toner and waste bottle. This will ensure that you will never be without the required toner. Spare supplies can be shared within a school or unit with the same models. 
• Supply orders will be triggered automatically based on specific thresholds set by Ricoh. These thresholds can be adjusted upon request. NU staff can also always submit a request for supplies via myRicoh when usage does not match the anticipated volume.
• Supplies will be shipped by Ricoh directly to an identified contact for each device. Supplies will be installed by staff responsible for the MFDs in their area.

Staff in each department or school will be responsible for replacing used toner cartridges and waste bottles. [See details in environmental section]

The ordering and payment for paper will not change in Northwestern Print. Each school or department will be responsible for supplying and replacing paper in all their program devices. Paper is not covered by the monthly cost charged to the University by Ricoh.

Once a device is onboarded into Northwestern Print, department assistants and others within a school or department who provide support for faculty and staff printing will still want to have a MyRicoh account. MyRicoh is the recommended method for reporting all hardware issues to Ricoh for support. If necessary, additional supplies can also be ordered via MyRicoh.

To print in the Northwestern Print solution, the device will need the proper print queue and printer driver. On all Northwestern owned and managed devices these will be deployed by local IT (Information Technology) support. See these Knowledge Base articles for more information.

• Installing Mobility Print on Faculty and Staff Computers
• Manually Installing Print Drivers on Windows and Mac

It will depend on the type of device. NU (Northwestern University) managed devices will get the necessary drivers and configurations for printing via Print Deploy. Local IT support will be responsible for pushing out drivers to NU devices via Print Deploy. Personal devices (BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices)) will use Mobility Print. Another option for printing from personal devices is Web Print, but Mobility Print is the recommended solution. 

Print Deploy, a print queue deployment tool, will allow Northwestern IT staff to deploy the right printer drivers and print queues, default settings and configurations to an end user’s computer effectively. Print deploy will be used to install the necessary configurations for faculty / staff printing on NU managed /owned computer devices.

Devices not owned and managed by Northwestern will require Mobility Print to be installed on the device. The installer for Mobility Print will be made available from a webpage. See these Knowledge Base articles for more information.

• Installing Mobility Print on Student Personal Devices
• Installing Mobility Print on Faculty and Staff Computers

Mobility Print simplifies the printing process for your own devices (BYOD) and other end-user managed devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, or Chromebooks. It delivers secure network print services for iOS, Windows, macOS, Android, and Chrome. It allows both managed and unmanaged devices to securely print to an MFD device on your network.  

Yes, you will be able to print from mobile devices and tablets. You will need to install the Mobile Print client.

• Set up printing on your Android device
• Set up printing on your iPhone or iPad

Follow the instructions found on the Knowledge Base article about installing Mobility Print.  

• Set up printing on your Mac
• Set up printing for Windows

Yes, Web Print will still be an option available to students by authenticating into the Northwestern Print web portal. Web Print is a driver-less printing service that allows authenticated users to print by uploading documents from a web browser. No client software or driver installation is required.  

Print jobs do not print directly to a MFD / printer but are sent to a print queue that can then be released at any Ricoh MFP (Follow Me Printing). Users will have several options for authenticating to release a print job including using your Wildcard (Tap to print) or scanning a QR code associated with the specific MFD/Printer with your smartphone. A third option will be to authenticate on the MFD by typing in your NetID and password. See Release Options: Overview.

Tap to print is the easiest way to authenticate at an MFP to release your print jobs. This option uses your Wildcard Proximity chip to identify a user and access their print jobs.  

No, you will not need to self-associate your NetID with your Wildcard. When you tap to print, your identity is verified live against the Wildcard database and will return your NetID so the system can find your print jobs and display them for printing. 

Not really. Simply tap your Wildcard on the card reader located on the MFD in a similar manner to how your card is used to enter spaces across campus. When you tap to print, your card identifies you and provides Northwestern Print with your NetID so that it can find and display your print jobs. 

Yes, you can release your prints by scanning the QR code on the MFD to authenticate. You can also authenticate using your NetID and password.  

Yes. When you tap to print, your identity is confirmed against the live Wildcard database which will find the new card and allow you to print. 

Simply read the QR code located on the top of the printer next to the card reader and open the web page the code links to. Each QR code is unique and is associated with one printer. You will need to log in with your NetID and password the first time you authenticate for releasing a print job via a QR code. Have the webapp remember you. Releasing your print jobs by QR code is a touchless release method. 

Yes, after the first time you read the QR code on the MFD, you will be asked to log into the webapp with your NetID and password. Then you can view pending print jobs and release them. The webapp supports a “remember me” option, which will save your login for future print releases.   

Yes, if the MFD or printer has a print screen running PaperCut embedded, you will be able to authenticate to release print jobs with your current NetID and password. 

Print jobs will remain in the print queue for 24 hours from submission before being deleted automatically. 

If you are releasing your print job at an MFD with a print screen interface, your queued print jobs will be displayed after you log in and select Print Release. You can then select any or all the available print jobs for release. Print jobs not released will be deleted from the print queue after 24 hours from submission.

Yes, there will be an option for guests at the University Libraries to print in Northwestern Print. Guests should inquire at the Library Information Commons front desk. 

Faculty and staff are not charged for printing. The printing costs for faculty and staff are paid by their school or department through the costs of the lease and the actual pages printed monthly. 

A cost per click (CPC), or cost per page will be charged for each page printed in Northwestern Print. This cost will include the cost of the MFD, toner, and support. Currently, paper is not part of the cost per click. Ricoh will invoice Northwestern monthly for all printing. Schools and departments will be invoiced monthly based on their faculty and staff printing.  In addition to the CPC, schools will pay the monthly lease costs for their devices and a flat cost per device for the support costs for the managed print service solution Ricoh will run for Northwestern University. Payment will be accomplished via a journal. Ricoh can provide detailed reports that will allow schools and departments to break down costs across their areas. For more information, please contact Procurement and Payment Services.

Faculty and staff will not need to do anything differently. Once you have the necessary print drivers / setup installed on your NU computer or Mobility Print drivers installed on your personal computer, you will simply send your print jobs and release them to your local Ricoh MFD devices. Your school / department will be billed monthly on the back end. 

Since individual schools and departments are paying for their faculty and staff printing, there will be no refunds provided for failed print jobs. Faculty and staff are encouraged to request assistance from their local IT support to resolve issues around failed print jobs. 

Yes. Training will be available to departments, schools and office areas as Ricoh replaces the older copier/MFD equipment with new Ricoh MFD devices. There will be training options online and written documentation about how to use the MFDs (Multi-Function Devices). You can contact the Ricoh Account Manager at 312-470-3523 to arrange for training.  Ricoh can provide in-person training or remote training via Teams or Zoom if your department feels more comfortable with remote sessions. 

No. To help maintain the most secure printing environment we can, Northwestern Print is only available to devices on the Northwestern network. Either by being physically located on a Northwestern campus or connected to the Northwestern network through a Northwestern VPN solution. 

Follow Me printing, also known as “Print Anywhere” allows users to print to a shared network print queue and release their print job from any enabled Ricoh device that is part of Northwestern Print system. A print job sent to one of these print queues is held for release instead of automatically printing to a specific printer. Users authenticate at a selected device and select which of their print jobs they wish to print. This workflow ensures printing is confidential and reduces printed waste from documents left uncollected at the printer. 

All MFDs and printers that are a part of Northwestern Print will be clearly marked with a sign like this:

Print jobs will not print automatically or directly to the printers / MFDs - they must be released first. Users will have to authenticate to release their print job at a device. This prevents sensitive print jobs from being released and picked up by anyone but the person who sent the print. Secure printing also greatly reduces printed waste from documents left uncollected at the printer. [See FAQ Question on authentication options at device] 

No. All MFDs will be networked devices capable of printing, scanning, and copying. Some devices are black and white only printing. Others will also provide both color and black and white printing. Depending on the model, the print speed (pages per minute) will vary between devices. Finishing features may also vary, as some devices can provide hole punch, document stapling or fax. Devices may also provide different paper sizes for printing. Some devices may also just be printers and not MFDs. Signs provided on each device will specify what the device can do. Ricoh Configurations: Procurement and Payment Services - Northwestern University

The default configuration for printing for Northwestern Print will be for black & white printing and duplex with secure release. Users can always change the settings for a print job, for instance selecting the color printer queue or selecting single sided printing for a job.

Yes, when required you can change the recommended print defaults. 

Yes, you will always be able to change from the default of black and white duplex printing to select color printing or single sided printing. 

Yes – printing in color will be an option with the Ricoh MPS, but it should not be the default for printing in Northwestern Print. Not all devices will be capable of color printing. Color prints cost more per page than black and white prints. 

Duplex printing is printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. It is also known as double sided printing or printing on both sides. Northwestern Print defaults to long end binding, which is similar to how books are formatted. It is possible to change the binding to the short edge. 

Simplex printing is printing on only one side of a sheet of paper. It is also known as single-sided or one-sided printing. 

The default for all devices should be secure printing, which goes hand in hand with Follow Me Printing. We do strongly recommend that all staff do secure printing rather than have their print jobs print directly. Besides the security that is lost, users will also lose the ability to print anywhere because they will be printing to a specific device. But there may be specific business reasons why printing directly to a specific device will be required. Since this is not the default, those unique queues will need to be set up by the solutions administrator from Ricoh and coordinated with the local IT support team to set up the individual computers to print directly to the device. This should be the exception and not the rule. 

Yes, delegated printing can be set up to allow a user of the system to release the print jobs for one or more users of the system. This will need to be configured by the solutions administrator from Ricoh either during onboarding into Northwestern Print or afterwards via a ticket request. 

Northwestern University has created a Print Strategy as part of implementing a managed print service. These standards provide guidance to Northwestern University schools and departments on key components of this service and how print services are provided across campus. They define all aspects of Northwestern Print including the management of the University’s fleet of MFDs and printers, governing principles, acquisition of print devices, device placement and deployment, ongoing management procedures, funding, responsible maintenance and disposal of all printing related devices and default settings and other sustainable print practices and print policy exceptions. This print strategy will apply to all Northwestern University schools and departments owned or leased print devices, new and existing legacy (non-contract) devices, including copiers, multifunction devices (MFD), and printers that are a part of Northwestern Print. 

Northwestern University students will pay for their printing and copying in Northwestern Print. 

• Black and white printing - $ .03 per page (double-sided or single-side)  
• Color printing - $ .10 per page  
• Plotter costs:  $2.50 per sq foot   

No, the cost per page will be the same regardless of if the job is duplex or single sided. The default settings will be for duplex printing, and we strongly recommend and encourage users to print duplex rather than single sided. 

The primary method students will pay for their printing will be through NU Dining’s Cat Cash. Cat Cash Northwestern is an online system that allows students, faculty, and staff of Northwestern University to add funds to a stored value account and use it to make purchases at participating off-campus retailers and on-campus locations. Printing through Northwestern Print will be an additional location where these funds can be spent. 

There are two additional options for how students will pay for printing. Some students may have a printing subsidy from either campus or their school with an allocated amount of money from which print costs will be drawn from first.   

When a student has no remaining funds either through their printing quota or personal PaperCut account, then their printing costs will be debited from Cat Cash.  

Scanning at Ricoh MFDs does not cost any money. Users will need to authenticate to scan. 

Yes, undergraduate students can and will still have a printing subsidy in Northwestern Print. Other schools or departments may choose to provide this as well. 

Print quotas and print subsidies are one in the same. The undergraduate printing subsidy is funded centrally by Northwestern University from a request by ASG. Currently, there is no similar printing subsidy for all graduate students. Other schools may provide printing subsidies for students within their school. These subsidies are restricted to devices within those schools. 

Yes. From time-to-time schools, departments or programs have covered the costs of plotter print jobs related to a class or project by charging those costs to a chart string. This will still be possible in Northwestern Print. Schools will need to request this via a ticket to the Ricoh solutions administrator.  

This was a business decision that follows the general direction of the University to move away from taking cash for transactions. Providing cash as an option greatly complicates the set up for student printing and may have increased the cost of printing to cover the additional costs associated with processing cash transactions.  

There were technical and security considerations and concerns about providing a credit card option on MFDs for printing and ensuring that security was maintained properly. 

Students who are also employees at Northwestern, whether as a grad assistant, or a student job who are then required to print for their job will not be charged for printing. Students will need to be added to an Active Directory group to allow them to print for free as a part of their job duties. This request should start with your school’s local IT support who will coordinate the work with the Ricoh Solutions Administrator. 

Yes. Public Ricoh MFDs and printers located in all Northwestern University libraries will be a part of Northwestern Print. 

Yes, the two plotters will be a part of Northwestern Print even though they are not Ricoh devices. 

Yes, you can get a refund for a failed print job through the Northwestern Print web portal at: https://print.northwestern.edu/. A Northwestern staff member will respond to your request within 1 business day.  Refunds are provided in the form of a credit to your Northwestern Print balance. Funds cannot be added back to a student’s Cat Cash account. See Requesting a Refund for Student Printing.

Funds added to a student’s account are used to pay for printing in Northwestern Print and can also be used to pay for dining at most locations on campus. For a full list of locations that accept Cat Cash for dining please visit the dining website.

Students should use the GET app to add funds to their accounts. Funds added through GET are available immediately for use. Students can check balances, add funds, and look at their transaction history for Northwestern Print and Northwestern Dining on the GET app. See Adding Value to Cat Cash for Student and Personal Printing.

All students have a Cat Cash account by default associated with their NetID and student ID number. All accounts should be active and ready for use. Issues with connecting to your Cat Cash account should be directed to catcash@northwestern.edu. 

There will be a $10 minimum to add money to a Cat Cash account. Funds added can be used not just for printing but also for dining across campus. 

Funds in Cat Cash will roll over across academic years if the student is continuing at Northwestern University. 

Cat Cash is not refundable. Your Cat Cash Balance expires when your NetID expires.  

Cat Cash can be purchased with a student account on the Northwestern Dining website. Please note there is up to a 48-hour delay on all purchases made through the dining website. Students looking for immediate access to funds should use the GET app.  

Students looking for support around Cat Cash should email catcash@northwestern.edu. This email is checked regularly Monday- Friday.   

For issues adding value to a Cat Cash account please contact catcash@northwestern.edu and a member of our team will get back to you.  

For issues adding value to a Cat Cash account please contact catcash@northwestern.edu.  

You can request a refund through the Northwestern Print web portal, or if you are at the library, you can send the print job again and request the job be released for free. 

Your Northwestern Print Balance expires when your NetID expires. We cannot refund unused NUPrint balances. 

Yes- used toner cartridges and waste bottles from all Ricoh MFD and printers will be recycled. The details of how this will work are still being worked out. Each school or department will gather them as toner and waste bottles are replaced. It is unclear if a more coordinated effort around recycling these materials across campus will be implemented.

Logging into your personal Papercut account (NetID) via the PaperCut web portal will allow you to view the carbon footprint for your printing. 

If your school or department has an internal or local IT unit, you should start by contacting them directly for support regarding any printing issues. They will determine if the issue is a hardware issue or is an issue that they need to resolve. There may be some instances where local IT support will need to reach out to the Ricoh Solutions Administrator to resolve a support issue. It is also possible that the issue is hardware related and needs to be passed to the Ricoh Hardware support team. 

DSS will continue to provide support for printing for schools and departments who have contracted with them directly to provide computer support. 

Northwestern Faculty and staff should start by contacting their local IT support staff. In some instances, initial support for faculty and staff in some schools may also be handled by departmental assistants who can assist in resolving issues and providing support but can then pull in local IT when required. 

Ricoh is responsible for providing all support for the physical hardware – the MFDs and printers that are a part of Northwestern Print. The recommendation is to contact your local IT support first for any hardware issues. Local IT will provide initial troubleshooting for the issue and then contact Ricoh for support.  

All hardware support issues should start with local IT support in each school / department.  Local IT will then determine if contacting Ricoh for hardware support is required. If a Ricoh technician is required one will be sent to investigate and resolve the issue.  

Hardware issues reported to Ricoh’s Remote Management Services Support Center (RMSSC) via MyRicoh will be tracked in Ricoh’s support system. Individuals submitting a ticket via MyRicoh will be contacted via email when the issue is resolved. Internally the RMSSC may forward an issue to the Ricoh Solutions Administrator for resolving or bounce the ticket back to Local IT group. The RMSSC will send a Ricoh tech if necessary to resolve the issue on-site.

If the primary Ricoh MFD you use for printing is out of order you can still release your print job at another Ricoh device in your building that is part of Northwestern Print. That is the primary benefit follow me printing. You can release your print job at any other available device in Northwestern Print. 

Library staff will continue to assist students with many printing issues. There will be extensive support pages as well as Knowledge Base articles that will address the most common student printing issues. Issues with a student’s Cat Cash account will be resolved by NU Dining - dining@northwestern.edu 

No. Print jobs waiting for release will be stored in an encrypted spool file that is not accessible to any administrator or user of Northwestern Print.

For every print job, PaperCut will retain the time, username, source computer name, printer name and file name of the document printed. This data is only available to administrators and authorized log views of Northwestern Print. 

For the most part, yes. Northwestern Print follows the PaperCut comprehensive guide to end-to-end print security. Print data from the PaperCut servers to the individual Ricoh devices is not guaranteed to be encrypted. The devices are segmented onto their own VLAN (network) to guard against unauthorized viewing of network traffic.