Pharos Beacon Update: March 2021 Release Notes

This release represents the latest version of the Beacon platform and Sentry Print. This update includes the following new features:

• Beacon Direct Print*

• OpenID Passcode Authentication on Konica Minolta

• Sentry Print on Xerox and Lexmark

• Logout with second card swipe (KM, Ricoh, Xerox)

• Support for HP FutureSmart 5 devices

• Secure Print Failover (Offline Print)

• Guest Printing*

* Guest Printing and Beacon Direct Print are in preview mode - let us know if you want to participate in this preview program.

New Features

Beacon Direct Print (Preview)

In addition to Sentry Print (where print jobs are held until a user walks to a printer to log in and release their documents), we now offer Beacon Direct Print, a cloud-based solution that allows employees in your organization to send their print jobs directly to a selected printer.

Direct Print requires either of the following client components installed on employee workstations:

• Pharos Chrome Print extension (for Chrome OS users). We released this browser extension in October 2020. It has been updated to support Beacon Direct Print.

• Pharos Sentry Print desktop application (for Windows and macOS users). The Sentry Print desktop app (previously called the Document Management tool) has been updated to support Beacon Direct Print.

IT admins can easily push these components into employee workstations or browsers. Once these components are installed and configured, a user can add one or more printers for use with Direct Print. When a user sends a print job to a printer, the document is printed immediately.

This solution is suitable for organizations who want to replace Google Cloud Print and/or do not require secure user authentication for printing.

Benefits of Beacon Direct Print

• IT administrators do not need to manage employee print queues; users can easily add or remove printers using the Chrome extension or the Sentry Print desktop application.

• The solution provides end-to-end encryption from the workstation to the printer for simple direct print security.

• As a cloud solution, there are no print servers to install or manage.

• The solution does not require print drivers. It leverages the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) to create and send the print job for driverless queue management.

Direct Print Workflow

1. An administrator runs the Device Scout to discover printers that are ready and compatible with Direct Print. Alternatively, admins can manually import printers for use with Direct Print.

2. Users install the Pharos Chrome Print or the Pharos Sentry desktop app on their machines.

3. Using the Pharos Chrome Print or the Pharos Sentry app, users add printers for use with Direct Print.

4. Users send their print jobs directly to the direct printer(s) they have added.

New Direct Tab in the Beacon Web Portal

The Beacon web portal includes a new Direct tab with the following sections:

• Setup Guide – This provides a quick and easy way to deploy Direct Print by guiding you through the required steps.

• Direct Printers – Displays a list of compatible devices discovered by the Device Scout or manually imported for use with Direct Print.

• Print Scout – Provides details about the individual workstations where the Print Scout is installed.

• Settings – Contains the OpenID authentication configuration.

Passcode Authentication on Konica Minolta

Pharos released Passcode authentication in June 2020, providing an alternative way to authenticate at printers. If an employee's ID card is lost, damaged, or unavailable, the employee can use a passcode to authenticate at a printer to release documents.

In this release, passcode authentication is now supported on Konica Minolta (KM) devices in addition to HP devices.

When a user registers their OpenID Connect credentials in the Print Scout Setup Guide, the employee is assigned a system-generated passcode based on the configuration chosen by the IT administrator. This passcode is sent to the employee via email in case it's forgotten.

Pharos Sentry Print on Xerox and Lexmark devices

The Pharos Sentry Print application interfaces with Beacon to provide print release, photocopy, fax, and scan services. It provides a simplified and consistent UI and better user experience across all supported manufacturers. 

Xerox and Lexmark devices now support Pharos Sentry Print, joining other supported manufacturers (HP, Konica Minolta, and Ricoh).

Refer to the Pharos Sentry SE50 Deployment Guide for information regarding deployment and troubleshooting of the Pharos Sentry SE50 embedded software.

Logout on the Second Card Swipe

In addition to our existing touchless printing workflows, users can now tap their ID proximity card/badge to log out, instead of touching the printer's user interface. It takes about 60 seconds for the printer to automatically log out a user after printing. To immediately log out of the printer session, users can now simply swipe their card again. This feature is available for Konica Minolta, Ricoh, and Xerox devices.

Secure Print Failover (Offline Print)

The Secure Print Failover preview released in August 2020 is now available for general release.

Secure Print Failover for Windows and Mac users ensure that users can continue printing even if a connection problem is detected. You can enable the Secure Print Failover feature by enabling the Offline Print setting. Once Offline Print is enabled, employees can continue to print even in the event of a problem or internet outage.

Once a customer has opted into Offline Printing as a failover option, it can be triggered by one of two methods:

• Automatic service interruption detection - Sentry Print actively monitors the health of key components of the cloud services that are critical for users to print. If an issue is detected in one of these services, it will automatically trigger offline printing for all users so that they can continue to print while teams work to resolve the issue. Once the issue has been corrected, normal secure printing functionality will automatically resume.

• Manual push by IT administrator - While Sentry Print’s automatic health monitoring is the system’s preferred line of defense to keep users printing, at times there may be issues at individual locations that the system is unable to detect. If you experience an issue that we are unable to automatically detect, Sentry Print ensures that users can continue printing. IT administrators can manually trigger offline printing for all users so that printing operations can continue. Once the issue has been resolved, the IT administrator can manually put users back into secure printing mode.

More Information:

• Secure Print Failover

• Secure Print Failover FAQs

Support for HP FutureSmart 5 Firmware and New Device Models 

Beacon Sentry Print now supports HP's newest line of office printers. HP FutureSmart 5(FS5) is also supported on existing HP FutureSmart 4(FS4) devices. Visit the list of supported HP devices on pharos.com

Guest Printing (Preview)

*This feature is currently in preview mode – if you would like to participate in the preview program, please reach out to beacon-beta@pharos.com. Guest Print allows non-employees (visitors, contractors, etc.) to print documents without requiring a user account in your directory system.

Guest Print is simple and straightforward. An employee (e.g., front desk staff) invites a guest user to print. The guest receives an email with a link to the Sentry Print Guest portal. The guest prints by uploading documents using the Sentry Print Guest portal and releasing those documents from a secure printer using the passcode provided.

Key Features

• Print from any device: Guest users can print from any operating system. All that is required is a web browser.

• Easy to set up: An employee in the organization only needs to enter the email address of a guest user in the Guest Print web portal.

• Documents are secure: A document can only be released by the person who submitted it. The guest authenticates at a printer using the unique passcode assigned to them. No documents are left on printer trays where anyone can access them.

File Formats

Guest Printing currently supports PDF. You will need to convert your Microsoft, Open Office, or Google documents to PDF format before printing.

New Guest Print Settings on the Web Portal

A new Guest Print section has been added to the Secure > Settings tab of the Beacon web portal. This is where an IT administrator can enable guest printing, set how long guest printing can be available for guests (default is 30 days), and invite guests.

Component Release Version

This release comprises the following software components and release versions.