HELP: Windows printer accounting on per user basis???

[no one]

I'm trying to configure a Minolta CF2001 color laser printer in an
office environment using Windows 2000/XP Pro in a workgroup network
configuration. We have a mobile sales force that comes into the office
for quick internet sales research and printing to this expensive
printer. As you might imagine, they frequently are over-enthusiastic
in their printing, and my boss wishes to get the associated spiraling
printer expense under control by tracking printer use on a per user
basis.

Currently we use a product called "Fiery" from Electronics for Imaging
(EFI), which tracks user's printouts to a three-digit user id, but
this has two problems :

1) user id's are persistant in the print dialogue box, so any user can
just click on "print" and use the previous user's id.

2) there is no way to track authentication... all any user has to do
is enter some three-digit id and it prints without verification that
the proper user is entering the proper id.

EFI also seems to have a very snooty "don't call us with your
problems" tech support attitude on their website, so I'm hesitant to
call them. They say "talk to your local OEM", but our OEM has been
unresponsive.

My questions:
1) Is there a better, cheaper way to solve this Windows 2000/XP user
print requests of this nature? I just want to track printouts on an
authenticated per user basis.

If not,
2) Can EFI's Fiery product be configured to produce better results?

Many thanks in advance for your time and responses.

(please direct email responses to adm AT knology.net ...thanks)

 

[Elmo P. Shagnasty]

2) Can EFI's Fiery product be configured to produce better results?

Look in your Fiery documentation for something called Member Printing.

If you have that, the answer is yes.