Microsoft Universal Print Now Commercially Available

On March 2nd, Microsoft announced that its Universal Print cloud-based print service, previously under public preview, is now commercially available.

Universal Print is a subscription-based service that eliminates the need for print servers and installing print drivers, and provides secure, encrypted print transmission for Microsoft 365 environments. It runs on Microsoft Azure, with the print queue is stored on the Microsoft 365 tenant. Print jobs are sent and pulled using Internet Printing Protocol (IPP). It also provides centralized, secure print management. Existing, legacy printers and MFPs use the service with the addition of connectors, while new printers and MFPs are being designed with native support.

Microsoft previewed Universal Print in July 2020, and says that since then, thousands of customers have been using it. Customers who have one of the following Microsoft Windows or Microsoft 365 subscriptions can activate the Universal Print for their workers.

• Microsoft 365 Business Premium
• Windows 10 Enterprise E3, E5
• Microsoft 365 Enterprise F3, E3, E5
• Windows 10 Education A3, A5
• Microsoft 365 Education A3, A5

Visit Microsoft here for more details on how to get started.

Print-Industry Partners

Microsoft noted that various printer companies now have solutions that are Universal Print-ready.  Hardware and software solutions that support Universal Print can be found at the Microsoft partner integrations page.

According to the firm, Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Lexmark, Ricoh, Toshiba, and Xerox are currently delivering updates to existing devices or are bringing new printers to market with native Universal Print integration either now or later this year.

Some partners will also be introducing intelligent edge devices that can quickly connect one or more printers to Universal Print, functioning as a connector. For customers looking for print-management solutions, software partners are providing software and cloud services that build on Universal Print.

Following is a short overview of printer and MFP compatibility:

Brother Universal Print-ready printers can now be registered with updated firmware.

Canon is a pioneer of Universal Print-ready devices with the Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE DX and imageRUNNER ADVANCE Generation 3 MFPs.

Celiveo 365 extends Universal Print to Intelligent Secure Pull Print and Tracking, with full SAAS.

Epson will soon release a set of firmware updates so printers are Universal Print-ready.

ezeep Hub by ThinPrint brings Universal Print to any printer, as it functions as a secure connector device.

HP Inc. has been working on a Workpath platform app so HP printers can be registered natively in Universal Print. The Workpath app will be available June 1st.

Kofax has integrated Kofax ControlSuite with Universal Print, which is now available, and which provides secure print and intelligent capture across the enterprise.

Konica Minolta partnered with Microsoft to integrate Dispatcher Paragon with Universal Print and made its bizhub i series Multifunction Printers Universal Print-ready.

Kyocera will provide integration with the Universal Print for select Kyocera devices.

Lexmark, an early Universal Print partner, has a large set of Universal Print ready printers available.

With MPS Monitor 2.0 and Universal Print integration, companies can enable printing from zero-trust networks and monitor printing devices.

MyQ made Universal Print and MyQ X integration available so customers can securely print from anywhere.

PaperCut is building native support for Universal Print into PaperCut MF and PaperCut NG. Microsoft also noted that PaperCut helped the Val Verde school district overcome the last hurdles to move to Microsoft 365 and Universal Print during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pharos integrates their Beacon cloud services with Universal Print to secure printers for authorized use, protect the confidentiality of printed documents, and enable printing from multiple desktop and mobile platforms.

PriApps’ enhanced integration with Universal Print allows users to securely release print jobs at any printer or MFP, as well as track and analyze print usage, apply print rules and quotas, and assign cost codes to any print job.

Printix is a native cloud-print management platform on Azure that extends the capabilities of Microsoft Universal Print with modern printing features for all printers and MFPs.

Process Fusion’s UniPrint Infinity integrates with Universal Print to allow Print-to-Physical with Secure Release & Print-to-Digital for Process Automation.

Ringdale is enhancing Universal Print with FollowMe to secure printing for hybrid environments.

Ricoh will start supporting Microsoft Universal Print including native support with its Smart Operation Panel application.

Toshiba e-BRIDGE MFPs have been tested to be compatible with the Universal Print connector.

With uniFLOW Online, users print from their Windows PCs to a single print queue and securely release their print jobs at any device after authentication, regardless of the network configuration, including zero-trust networks with micro-segmentation.

Universal Print, together with Xerox Workplace Cloud print management solution, adds a  layer of security and control across the print environment.

For those looking to connect already deployed printers to Universal Print, YSoft OMNI Bridge, a serverless edge device, is said to be a secure and cost-effective cloud printing solution.

YSoft SAFEQ print management solution now offers a Universal Print connector that is globally available.

Microsoft says its expects to add additional print partners in the future.

Mobile-Device Support

While Universal Print is now available for Windows 10 devices, Microsoft announced that, later this summer, users will be able to use the browser of their choice to print documents from the OneDrive for Business Web solution on any device. This functionality will be available for customers to test in preview.

The firm also noted that Dynamics 365 Business Central, a business-application solution designed for small and mid-size organizations, will support printing via Universal Print in April, so that customers can send documents and reports to any of the printers registered with Universal Print.

Microsoft Endpoint Manager admins can also download a Universal Print tool today that lets them deploy printers and set the default on users’ Windows 10 devices.

Universal Print technical details are available in the Universal Print documentation and more information is also available here.