Pharos Cloud Platform Update: September 2022 Release Notes

This release represents the latest version of Pharos Cloud and Secure Release. This update includes several important new features including: 

• Secure Release customization 

• Pharos mobile app improvements 

• MFP New Features and Improvements 

  • Secure Scan (Ricoh only) 

• Other MFP Improvements and Bug Fixes 

  • Offline Print: Enabled by default 

  • Pharos Cloud Web Console: Allow Linux Print Scout download for sites with OpenID and Cloud Storage

  • Chrome Extension bug fix 

• Print Scout Improvements

  • Support for the Japanese language 

  • Linux Print Scout Update 

  • Improved Shared Secure Printer 

NEW FEATURES 

SECURE RELEASE CUSTOMIZATION 

Pharos Cloud now provides a simple way to customize the user interface elements of Pharos Secure Release. Previously, customizing the thematic components of the Secure Release required support from the Pharos’ Operations team.  

A new Theme subtab has been added to the Secure tab on the web console. This allows you to customize the look and feel of your organization’s Secure Release components to match your company’s branding requirements. For example, you can replace the default logon screen on secure printers with your company logo and apply your company colors. 

Note: You will need a license to customize Secure Release components.  

The Theme subtab includes two sections: 

• Email Template – Change the logo on the email notifications sent to users.  

• MFP – Change the user interface elements (logo, background color) of secure printers.  

The following images show the elements on the secure printer screen that are affected by the theme settings in the web console. 

MOBILE APP IMPROVEMENTS

The Pharos Secure Release mobile app (for iOS and Android mobile devices) app has been updated so users can better manage their print jobs. Previously, users did not have the option to view their print jobs before release. Clicking the Release Documents button printed all submitted documents at once.

With this new update, users can either print all jobs at once or review the print jobs before releasing them. A new Review Print Jobs button has been added to allow users to: 

• View a list of their submitted jobs  

• Select the jobs they want to print  

• Delete jobs they do not want to print 

MFP NEW FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS

SECURE SCAN (RICOH ONLY)

While Secure Release already supports tracking scan activity, this release introduces an integrated scanning solution. This enables Administrators to easily manage printing and MFP scanning across their organization and provides users with a simplified and consistent user experience across all the supported manufacturers.  

Important Note: You will need to use the latest version of the Local Site Service (v3.178.0) to use Secure Scan. You can download the latest version from the Pharos Cloud 2023 Release Versions & Updater.
 Note: For this release, Secure Scan supports Ricoh devices only. Other manufacturers will be available soon.  

Key Features 

• Provides simple scan-to-email functionality: With just a few clicks, users can send scanned documents to their email address because the following fields are pre-set. 

• To and From fields: These fields are prefilled with the user’s email address.  

• Subject: This shows the scanned document’s file name (e.g., Secure Scan_7_3_2022.jpg) 

• Message: This shows the message in the email (e.g., Please find the scanned file in the attachment) 

Note: Users can change the Subject and Message fields, but not the To and From fields.  

• Integrates with OneDrive. Users can upload their scanned documents to OneDrive. 

• Uses the same authentication method as Secure Release. Secure Scan requires users to authenticate to access the Secure Scan function.  

Scan Destinations 

Users can send or upload their scanned documents to the following destinations: 

• Email – Scanned documents are sent as email attachments to the logged-in user’s email address. Note: Sending scanned documents to another user’s email address is not supported.  

• OneDrive – Upload scanned documents to the user’s OneDrive folder.  

Note: Pharos Cloud does not currently support SharePoint because of the deprecation of a previously used API by Microsoft. We are actively working on an alternative approach.

Scan Options 

If the default scan settings are not suitable, users can change them at the secure printer before scanning the document. You can change the following scan options: 

• File Format: PDF, TIFF, JPEG 

• Quality (DPI): 100, 300, 600 

• Color Mode: Auto, Color Glossy Photo, Mono Text, Mono Text Photo, Mono Text Lineart, Mono Photo, Grayscale 

• Paper Size: Auto, Letter, Legal, Tabloid 

• Orientation: Portrait, Landscape 

• Two-sided/One-sided: One-sided, Two-sided 

The default values are JPEG, DPI 100, Auto color mode, Auto paper size (if available), Portrait, and One-Sided.  

Basic Workflow

1. An IT administrator enables Secure Scan on the web console and configures the scan destination settings.  

2. The user logs in to a secure printer and selects the Scan Document option. 

3. The user places the document to be scanned in the automatic document feeder (ADF) or the scanner glass. 

4. The Scan Options screen is displayed. The user selects desired scan options if the default values are not suitable.  

5. The user clicks Done. This opens the Scan Destinations screen. The user selects their preferred destination (Email, OneDrive).  

6. The user clicks Scan Document to start the scan operation. If the scan is successful, the user sees the Scan Request complete message. Otherwise, the user sees an error message.  

7. The scanned document is sent to the user’s selected scan destination.  

New Secure Scan Settings section on the Web Console 

A new Secure Scan Settings section has been added to the Secure > Settings screen of the Pharos Cloud web console. This tab is used to enable Secure Scan and configure how to send scanned documents to users.  

Configure the following settings to send documents to preferred scan destinations.  

• Scan to Email Settings – To send scanned documents to the logged-in user’s email address, you will need to configure the Pharos Cloud to communicate with your organization’s SMTP email server. Contact your IT administrator to get details of your SMTP server.  

• Scan To Office 365 Settings – To upload scanned documents to OneDrive, you will need to register an app in Azure AD and configure the required email permissions. Obtain the registration details such as Tenant ID, Client ID, and Client Secret and add them to the Pharos Cloud web console. 

OTHER MFP IMPROVEMENTS AND BUG FIXES

Pharos Cloud Rebranding

In March 2022, Pharos introduced the rebrand of the Beacon platform and its components to demonstrate our commitment to the cloud and enhance product recognition.  

• Beacon is now Pharos Cloud

• Beacon Analytics is now Pharos Insights 

• Beacon Sentry Print is now Pharos Secure Release 

In this release, you will notice that the following Pharos Cloud components have been updated with the new product names: 

• Pharos mobile app 

• Web Console 

• Chrome extension 

• Invitation email 

• Print Scout (e.g., Setup Guide, Job Notifications, Offline Printing screens)  

Pharos Web Console: Allow Linux Print Scout download (Sites with OpenID and Cloud Storage)

Administrators can now download the Linux Print Scout if these two conditions are met: 

• Using an OpenID authentication provider 

• Cloud Storage is enabled 

Previously, Cloud Connector (i.e. PureCloudMode= true) was also required in addition to the two requirements above. This release no longer requires Cloud Connector to be enabled for the Linux Print Scout to be available for download.  

Linux Print Scout can be downloaded from the Discover > Print Scout tab or the Setup Guide tab of the Pharos web console.   

Offline Print Changes

After this update, newly provisioned customers will have the Offline Print feature turned ON by default. Existing customers settings will remain unchanged after the upgrade.

Pharos Chrome Print Bug Fix

Fixed the Microsoft Edge browser script error. 

"An unexpected error has occurred" Message

Resolved the issue related to the message “An unexpected error has occurred. Please contact your IT administrator.” on HP and Ricoh MFPs. 

KM IMFP Qualification Error

Resolved the qualification of the KM iMFP build. 

PRINT SCOUT IMPROVEMENTS AND FIXES

Japanese Language Support

The Print Scout component has been updated to support Japanese. The Pharos Secure Release Setup Guide and the Secure Release desktop app now support Japanese in addition to French, Italian, German, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Dutch, and Norwegian. 

Linux Print Scout Update 

The Linux Print Scout has been updated to work on Ubuntu 22.04.  

Shared Secure Printer Improvement

The Shared Secure Printer can now extract print job data, such as username or document name. In large enterprise environments with SAP integrations for example, all print jobs are recorded as owned by the system user. Pharos Cloud requires the user’s email address of the registered user so it can list and release the job from a secure printer. You can configure your SAP system to add fields (e.g., username, document name) into the print spool file as PJL headers so that the Print Scout can extract the actual username (in this case the user’s email address) or document name of the submitted print job.  

Note: Contact Pharos Support for information on how to configure this feature.  

Cancellation Rather Than Continue

Resolved the issue causing the log to state that the user cancelled the print job when the user chose to continue to print. 

Persistent "Find a Printer" Dialog After Scout Upgrade

Resolved the issue with serverless printing after upgrading the Print Scout. 

Installer Help Text

Revised the Print Scout installer help text. 

COMPONENT RELEASE VERSIONS 

This release includes the following software components and release versions. 

*Note: Secure Release mobile apps will be published after the Cloud Services are updated.