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Resources > Frequently Asked Questions

Client FAQ's


What is the cost of the UniTrac™ product/system?

  •  ECS provides comprehensive quotations on all products.

How does UniTrac™ compare with the competition?

  •  ECS compares favourably with all our main competition on all fronts that matter the most such as cost (30-60% less expensive), product reliability and support, especially in the Southern African region.

What is the impact of the UniTrac™ System on my network?

  kB per activity (print/copy job)

  • Business (silent) mode = none
  • FollowMe print-release = 0.7
  • UniTrac™ Deskman agent = 1.2
  • Copy tracking (1 terminal) = 0.115

  Overall impact

  • Network: less than 2%
  • Server resources: average less than 5% (10% max) for full-featured installation

The system allows for scheduling all maintenance tasks for after-hours/weekends.


What requirements and dependencies does the UniTrac™ System have?

  Hardware

  • OS: Windows ‘03/’08 server, Linux server (any)
  • CPU: 3Ghz pentium 4 or higher (and quad-core for large installations)
  • Memory: 2GB (and 4GB for database server) or higher
  • Hard Drive: 100MB (and 100GB for database server)

  Software (Windows)

  • Security access rights
  • Microsoft .net v2.0 (v3.5 MSSQL ‘08)
  • Microsoft visual c++ redistribuable package
  • Microsoft xml 6 parser

  Software (Linux)

  • Security access rights
  • CUPS
  • Erlang scripting language

What is the installation duration of a UniTrac™ system?

Installations are as quick as the client supplies the IT infrastructure information we require and how large the site(s) are and their geographical location.

  • Server printing: 1 hour for the database installation and 1 hour for the UniTrac™ software installation;
  • Direct printing: Duration of server printing with additional 15 minutes for every workstation.

Does UniTrac™ work with any operating platform and any printer/MFD?

  • Yes, we support Windows, Linux/Unix and we can interface with any device which has a foreign interface;

How will my work be affected during & after installation?

  •  Only once the UniTrac™ software & hardware is installed and fully operational, is the existing system taken off-line. Hence minimum downtime; View seconds down-time a year as UniTrac™ is based on a highly reliable concurrent language called Erlang; (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlang_(programming_language)

What is the nature and duration of the training of general users of the UniTrac™ system?

  • Client IT staff are given live demonstrations of the system and comprehensive documentation is supplied. The IT staff can then internally train the client’s staff; Depending on IT staff experience, and the complexity of the site, training may take anything from ten minutes to an hour or two since the system is very user friendly;

How the system is affected during power outage?

  • The server should have backup power, however the UniMonitor terminal will store any copy transactions in memory and pass them to the server when the power has returned;

If and how can the UniTrac™ system be cheated?

  • It is very difficult to cheat the UniTrac™ system as all activity is silently recorder in the background and can be used as evidence at any stage.

Can the UniTrac™ hardware or software damage devices?

  • Not at all, Unitrac™ hardware such as our UniMonitor Terminal completely electrically isolated.

How are existing company account & user records synchronised with the UniTrac™ system?

  • Generally, a shared network folder is used for this process.
  • MM can import existing company user & account data.
  • MM can export transactional data.
  • Format is usually csv and/or txt.
  • UniTrac™ is active directory and LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) compatible.

Which types of accounting/HR software can UniTrac™ interface with?

  • Agresso
  • AJS
  • Legal Interact
  • Legal Suite
  • LMS
  • NRF
  • PC Law
  • Proman
  • And others

What language is our software written in?

  • Developed by Ericsson, Erlang is a general-purpose programming language and runtime environment with built-in support for concurrency, distribution and fault tolerance. Erlang is used in several large telecommunication systems such as MTN. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlang_(programming_language)

Where can I access the UniTrac™ management software?

  • Since, UniTrac™ is browser based software, it may be accessed by anyone, on any computer with the correct credentials.

How does the UniTrac™ software communicate with other devices on the network?

  • Via TCP/IP for device communication and ODBC for communication with the database.

What are the most common issues at client installations?

  • Why is my popup not working?
  • Why is MM not synchronised with the human resource/account database?

95% of the time the reasons for these issues are due to staff changing settings on the network/server/workstations without informing the UniTrac™ system of these changes.


What types of support does ECS offer?

  • We offer telephonic, email and on-site support depending on the type of license purchased.

How long would it take for ECS to solve my problem?

  • Generally under 24 hours, but for worst case scenarios the system can easily be bypassed to allow printing and copying.

Can ECS accommodate the client with regards to specific requirements?

  • If the client requires a specific feature which is not currently supported in our software/hardware we are certainly willing to accommodate the client if the feature does not require too much development time.


ECS FAQ’s

The mostly IT infrastructure related questions the ECS installation staff asks the client:

Firewalls, proxies and port access restrictions?

  • All communication channels used by UniTrac™ must be unblocked;

Quantity of workstations, printers and copiers?

  • These quantities affect the quotation; UniTrac™ is highly scalable – any quantity of devices/users may be managed;

Type and quantity of servers?

  • The UniTrac™ software runs mainly on servers. Licensing is according to the quantity of servers not sites.

How many sites need to be managed?

  • Multi-site installations require good network infrastructure and complexity increases.

How many local and network devices are to be managed?

  • ECS always recommend print management via servers. However, if the client requires direct-print management for a large site, the labour costs will increase as each workstation must have software installed on it.

Do you require FMPR?

  • FMPR requires specialised drivers tested with specific feature compatible devices. Devices with similar capabilities must be grouped together for this system to work.

Do you require PrintClients (i.e. Popups) and how many?

  • PrintClients need to be deployed to each machine which requires user or account authentication.

Do you require card and/or keypad authentication?

  • Cards & card readers need to be sourced and UMT’s are required for keypad authentication.

Do you require card and/or keypad authentication?

  • Cards & card readers need to be sourced and UMT’s are required for keypad authentication.

Do you require regular physical device audits?

  • Parameters such as life, cartridges, alerts, counters etc. are extracted.

The level of experience of the IT staff?

  • The more experienced the client IT staff are, the quicker the implementation will be, otherwise more time must be spent on training client IT staff.