Week 11 Printers and Multi-Function Devices

This week as we move into our 11 th week of this class BSIT 200.
We touch upon a subject that is often a sore subject for Technicians as well as end-users.
Printers and Multifunction Devices.  We have seen them evolve from Dot Matrix Printers.
to Devices that can Fax,Scan and Print. Giving us more features to support and troubleshoot as technicians..
Going from having to install printers via software in order for them to work has now been replaced by plugging a USB Cable into one end of the printer and the other into your laptop or Desktop PC.
This can be a simple task when it does not involve having to choose your printer's drivers from a long list of printers as you would in an office/enterprise setting.  Most of the time it will be so frustrating that it will malke you wish you were dealing with Dot Matrix or Printers that have software drivers that are included with them. The bulk of the printer issues that I deal with on a regular basis revolve around the printer not printing due to incorrect driver setup, A failed USB cable or the printer itself being inoperable due to over use.
When upgrading an OS like Windows 10 after being on Windows 7.
We have to make sure that the printer the user is trying to print from as connected and able to recognized on the network.  Verifying that the printer mostly Brother MFC 2560 is showing as the Default printer in the
Devices and Printers settings.  When I was working for Bob Evans we had our networking team program our Meraki switches with Static Ips for each of the Back Of House(BOH) Printers so that they were able to be seen easliy and ready for use immediately.  We also set the settings for Do not make this printer shared.
Which was a way to secure the printers by not allowing the Network to be discoverable by people not working within the restaurants.   With our discussion topic being what kind of improvements you would make with Microsoft's Printing and Faxing Utilities.  Our class came up with a lot of great ideas that would be both practical and beneficial to both technicians supporting Printers and the Home and Office Printer user.
As technology continues to evolve. I am sure that we will see something soon that improves the installation
and use of  Printers and Multifunction Devices.