RAC, Xerox partner to replace enterprise 3000 printers

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RAC, Xerox partner to replace enterprise 3000 printers

High-speed Xerox devices, RAC software to form replacement solution for 2680 workhorses

A long-time resource for HP 3000 print solutions and one of the largest suppliers of high speed printers are teaming up, creating a solution to give 3000 sites a new, native alternative to the workhorse HP 2680 fan-fold printers which HP halted support of last year.

RAC Consulting (360.357.9572) has developed extensions for its ESPUL spool utility on MPE/iX and MPE V that are letting the Xerox DocuPrint NPS printers work with HP 3000s. New extensions to ESPUL’s network enabler PRINTPATH functions link the HP and Xerox technologies to provide 3000 enterprise network printing. PRINTPATH enables 3000 network printing via TCP/IP connections to the Xerox printers.

“ESPUL and the Xerox DocuPrint NPS printers are the ideal replacement solution for HP 2680s,” said RAC president Rich Corn. “Xerox is preparing a marketing package for its reps so that they can target HP 3000 sites.” Industry experts estimate that more than 2,000 HP 2680 printers installed since 1983 are still in use today.

The ESPUL solution provides full support for printing features such as bannering, environment files, inserting and appending files as well as forms packages. Corn said the software enables connectivity between the 3000 and the Xerox DocuPrint NPS 4050, 4090, 4850, 4890, 4635, and 180 network printers.

The NPS Series is a family of PostScript and PCL laser printers ranging in speed from 50 to 180 pages per minute which offers support for a wide variety of network connections and emulations. The printer line includes enterprise-class features such as highlight color, up to six programmable input trays, simplex or duplex printing on a wide range of paper weights and sizes, numerous finishing options including stitching and stapling, and high-capacity output stackers.

“Xerox is committed to maintaining customer satisfaction, quality products, and transparent solutions for HP 3000 customers,” said Paul Bristow, marketing manager for the Xerox NPS family of products. “When used in conjunction with the Xerox DocuPrint network printers, ESPUL PRINTPATH is a highly viable solution for those customers migrating to enterprise printing.”

Corn said the Xerox-ESPUL solution comes at a critical time for HP 3000 customers with 2680s. In March 1997 HP withdrew support for the printers, which had allowed for special formatting that can’t be carried over to other printers without the use of a third-party utility.

“The HP 3000 has no native networking capabilities, which making the migration to enterprise printing a challenge,” Corn said. Customers have continued to use 2680 printers for mission-critical jobs such as payroll check runs by opting for third-party service plans, but there’s still an ever-dwindling number of 2680 parts in existence. Alternatives have been available from other printer companies, but most had limited software support for the traditional 2680 style of print jobs.

Corn said the NPS printers and ESPUL “can take legacy HP applications virtually unchanged and print them directly or across the enterprise. The HP 3000 marketplace is very mature, and many customers have great investments in their applications,” he said. “We and Xerox offer a supported solution that will take customers into the next millennium while introducing additional formatting and printing capabilities.”

Corn said PRINTPATH eliminates direct connection limitations to the HP 3000 so the server can drive printers anywhere on a network. Because ESPUL is script-language based, system managers, operators, and expert users can use it to control formatting and printing commands. PRINTPATH also supports printing over a wide variety of network operating systems, including UNIX, NetWare, and Windows NT.

Corn said a Xerox DocuPrint 4050 coupled with ESPUL PRINTPATH is letting the City of Spokane, Washington, do its utility billing and other applications from an HP 3000. The City adopted the Xerox-ESPUL solution to help ease a future migration to client/server computing and because of the extended features offered by the DocuPrint 4050.

“The only printer that could do everything we needed was the DocuPrint,” said Tom Tate, acting director of MIS, City of Spokane. “The solution has saved us up to two hours each time we run the City's utility bills.”