The mere mention of the word Safecom has been causing a combination of panic and frustration over the last few months – and this just among IT staff. Just like you, our patient users on campus, we’ve been worn out by all the problems. However, the good news is, after months of pulling our hair out, we’re closer to a solution and the light at the end of the tunnel is, indeed, not an oncoming train.
The first time we started seeing problems with Safecom was in September 2012. At this time the load on the printers weren’t as high as it was a fairly quiet time academically. By the end of the academic year the effect on end users, in particular students, was prevalent.
The system we initially implemented was clearly not sufficient for a changing and growing environment. Both the production environment and the product’s attributes changed since the implementation (new upgrades were also released) and consequently the system design wasn’t optimal.
Keeping this in mind, there was decided to call in an international Safecom expert and also a local HP expert to advise us on the current set up and situation. With the assistance of said experts and the IT team significant decisions were made and plans put into place to resolve the situation as soon as possible.
Most of the suggested plan has been executed, but due to the fact that all printers on campus have to be upgraded with new firmware, this is a time consuming exercise. However, a visible improvement has been noted when compared to the previous quarter.
We are aware of certain issues that must still be resolved. IT is continuously coordinating and resolving the existing challenges as fast as possible. These include the creation of more internal system capacity, a more efficient printer driver able to generate smaller printing files, more stable printer firmware, implementing more stable Safecom software on each printer and the optimal functioning of this whole configuration.
We appreciate staff and student’s patience and invite you to report problems at your CUA manager or IT Sevice Centre.
