Mobile Printing for Universities Solutions Diagram
See how our Mobile Printing Solutions for higher education work
You have several possible approaches for mobile printing. Choosing one depends on a few factors, but the most critical choice concerns the security requirements for your print data. To find the printing network that's right for you, ask yourself this question: Is having your data travel through a publicly hosted environment acceptable, or do you require data to remain secure behind your firewall? In some cases, it's more important to enable access for a number of locations and users. In other cases, data security is the primary concern. What if you need both? Ricoh offers mobile print solutions to meet a variety of needs.
Public Cloud
Think of your smartphone as a mini computer – especially when you're accessing your favorite stores through an App. Have you ever asked yourself how the data from your device is transmitted to this store? Yes, the Internet is involved – but it is some type of Cloud service that is connecting the two of you in making the transaction. This holds true for mobile printing. The Internet connects you to the Cloud service that takes your data and sends it to the printer of your choice. When you use your smartphone or other Cloud-based services, such as email, you're probably using the public Cloud. You can use the public Cloud to print from your mobile device too.
Despite its name, the public Cloud doesn't mean that anyone on the Internet can see your print jobs. You can think of it as a community Cloud or shared Cloud. It is simply a shared infrastructure that supports multiple clients, and you can access it via the Internet. Typically, public Cloud solutions are hosted offsite by a Service Provider.
So how does this affect the way you print?
When you use the Cloud to print from your mobile device, your print job is typically sent to an external print server. The Cloud enables communication between your mobile device and the printer or MFP. If a network firewall exists at your location, this connection to the Cloud circumvents the firewall and your data leaves the network before it is routed to its final destination.
Is the public Cloud for you?
Just because your data is traveling through the public Cloud does not mean it's accessible to everyone. If your organization is looking to help mobile users connect to devices, then leveraging the public Cloud can be a viable and cost-effective solution for your organization.
