Chose The Best Remote Printing Solution

The world is rapidly moving to a do-business-anywhere-at-anytime mode. One of the underlying business processes that support this new mode is remote printing. Remote printing doesn’t have to be hard, whether you want to print to a printer down the hall or half-way around the world. A remote printing platform should address the need to handle a printing request from any device, anywhere. It should easily and securely deliver output to any printer, anywhere, without disrupting the user workflow. And it should meet all compliance and governance requirements.Many of the solutions out there may seem similar on the surface, but once investigated further, they fail to stand up to the demanding requirements that an organization needs. So how to chose the best remote printing solution according to your needs?

How to print when you don't have any direct connection to your printer?

When it comes to print a document without being directly connected to your printer, you have few solutions using the network or Internet. Let's detail the 4 easiest ways to do that :

Remotely Print with a wireless Printer

If you are using a network printer, you can easily configure it to connect it to your Wifi. Once it's done, you only have to install the appropriate driver software on every other computer you want to link to your printer. You will be able to print on it using the Wifi network, even if the main computer is switched off.

Remotely Print with a shared Printer

With Windows, you have a special feature which enables you to share your local printer with any other computer connected on the local network. Once you set up the "Homegroup" tool, you can add as much computers as you wish on the sharing group.  Your local printer will appear in their list of available printers exactly like a network printer, as long as the computer sharing is online.

Remotely Print with Google Cloud Print

Cloud Print is the Google solution for remote printing. Usually, the modern printers that you can buy nowadays include a built-in support for GCP. Once your printer is configured to work with this tool, it is automatically linked to your Google account and you can remotely access it anytime you open a session. Through your Google account, you can also very easily share the printer with other Google users. This tool can be used with Android as well as iOS systems with the dedicated "Cloud Print" App. Recently, Google developed the GCP for Windows Desktop. When you install it, the tool appears in your Office standard Print Dialog, so you can remotely print to any of your printers added in the Cloud directly from your Windows desktop app.

Remotely Print using a VPN

This is the solution you should use when you are away from your local network. Either you would like to print on a Network printer or on a Shared printer, you need in this case to connect to a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This will create a secure tunnel on the remote network for all the traffic from your computer to the server. You can then use your computer as if it was connected to the remote network and access to all the resources and files shared on it. So, any shared printer will appear available on your computer and you will be able to print into it. This method is usually chosen for business networks. Windows usually includes a support to set up a VPN Server, but this solution is not ideal for security.

Why RDS-Print makes the difference

This solution enables to print any document from a remote session directly into a local printer and this, automatically.The users only have to connect to the remote server using a RDS application and then select a document to print with RDS-Print. The document will be printed on his default printer (or the one of his choice), as if it was locally printed.RDS-Print is an easy and efficient remote printing solution, which doesn't need any driver to install, compatible with any Office and Windows system and which can be used with an unlimited number of users and printers for a very affordable price.‍‍