Jan/Feb 2005

Wireless technology is ensuring an ongoing role for advanced portable printers, says Sharon Clancy, who reviews some of the latest developments

To a large extent, recent developments in wireless technology have tended to focus on the benefits of removing paper from the equation. That applies whether you're talking about activities in the warehouse or activities out on the road. The work might involve anything from downloading data from the field to gathering and storing electronic proof-of-delivery documents in place of hard-copy versions.

However, like the paperless office, the paperless mobile operation remains a dream. In the real world, there are still many situations where a paper receipt or ticket is required, or where the customer wants a paper record of a transaction.

Classic examples: credit-card payments for sales or service of goods (these usually require a printed receipt); copy of a service report detailing work done; authorisation for additional work; receipt for goods delivered or collected. Some operations require an invoice to be issued at the point of delivery. And in many situations, of course, barcode labels still need to be printed.

For reasons such as these, far from banishing hard-copy printers, the growth of wireless technology has given them a new lease of life. But the kind of printer we're talking about here is a far cry from the large, fixed, hard-wired models of the past. Wireless technology is increasingly being harnessed to communicate with and manage the printers themselves.

A typical application is in the world of parking enforcement. Mobile printers integrated with handheld devices have become highly popular in this market, and many councils now issue motorists with electronically printed parking tickets. But they're used in combination with paperless technology. Zebra Technologies' Julia Reed, for instance, reports that more and more authorities are using GPRS communication between field staff and their base because it allows real-time checks on vehicles.

Pay-on-delivery operations represent another classic application for mobile printers. Such operations are still more common on the Continent and the US than in the UK, where pre-payment is more common; but that could change.

Consider, after all, the new mantra among sales and marketing directors about "up-selling". Among other things, up-selling involves identifying opportunities where field staff can become an extension of the operator's mobile sales force; and in that situation, point-of-delivery payment facilities will play a crucial role, says Zebra's Julia Scott. That means staff will need printers.

"Food home delivery companies could up-sell seasonal goods - barbecue goods, ice cream and so on. Service companies can carry out an extra task for which the customer pays on the spot with a credit card." She says printers that combine receipts with magnetic-card readers eliminate the need for mobile staff to carry cash around with them, reducing the risk to personal safety that cash payments pose.

The choices

Having recognised that you need a printer application, how do you decide what's right for your operation? It may sound obvious, admits Stuart Scott, director of marketing and business development for Intermec Technologies, but first you need to identify what type of printing you want to do and where do you need to do it. Is it in the warehouse (to print barcode labels), are you printing shipping labels for parcels deliveries, or are they receipts?

Wireless printing at the point where you need it has several benefits. In the warehouse, there is no need to run cables. Out on the road, the driver or service engineer does not have to return to the vehicle to print the customer a receipt.

In the warehouse, wireless technology removes distance limitations and permits printers to be placed anywhere they are needed. "In a large warehousing environment it can cost up to several times the purchase price of a printer to run network cabling to a remote location," says Scott. "Because of this, printers are sometimes placed across the room from the workstation that needs the printed labels, hindering performance and efficiency."

Much of the current excitement over wireless printing involves 802.11b and Bluetooth wireless local-area networks, but infra-red can still play an important role too, according to Tony Revis, managing director for ExTech printers. "Infra-red is plug-and-play, so it's easy to implement. Infra-red is now so cheap that it's incorporated as standard in many handheld devices, and that can have a beneficial affect on deployment costs."

Because any devices in such a setup are connected via the Bluetooth or infra-red wireless link, configuration is fairly straightforward. But Revis says Bluetooth communication can cost four times that of infra-red and can be more difficult to deploy, and can introduce a time lag for users as the devices have to "discover" each other before they can communicate.

Revis says personal area networks, where the employee has the scanner in hand and printer on the belt, are a good example where infra-red works. One downside with some infra-red devices is that if there is a break in the transmission for whatever reason, the print job may have to start again. ExTech IrDA printers overcome this by capturing and retaining the data stream. If the connection is temporarily lost but re-established within ten seconds, the print job will carry on from where it was interrupted.

Most printer models have 2in, 3in or 4in wide paper rolls or sheets. "Receipts are acceptable on 2in and 3in paper rolls," says Revis, "but 3in and 4in wide paper is better when companies want to include a logo, and essential if you are issuing the customer with an invoice."

Smart printers

In a warehouse environment, printers are dumb terminals, but in WLAN environments the trend is towards "smart printers", so-called because the functionality is in the device, not in the WLAN network. "Managing printers is a day-to-day hassle for many managers," says Chris Hopper, RFID product director for Printronix. "Smart printers smooth checks on the status of remote printers, and you can upgrade printers, change the emulation mode and so on - all in the mobile environment.

In WLAN printing there is also a choice between internal and external wireless antennas. Intermec says internal antennas are superior to external antennas because they are designed into and integrate with the unit, and usually suffer few environmental restrictions. "Externally-mounted wireless components and antenna hardware packages can potentially be snagged or knocked off the printer."

On 802.11b wireless networks, Intermec advises using printers that can be set up on the local area network through a connection with a laptop running an administration utility wirelessly. "A wireless printer with an external RS232 port will ensure that the wireless radio in the printer can be configured on the network, even when security is on."

Security

If you are concerned about WLAN security, Intermec's advice is to ensure that printers are compliant with the IEEE 802.1x security standard, which provides dynamic data encryption and authentication. Bluetooth is secure, because it uses multiple layers of data encryption, as well as authentication measures. It also transmits using frequency-hopping spread-spectrum techniques, so it is not just using one frequency in the 2.4GHz band, but portions of many other frequencies. Only other receivers that are synchronised with the transmitter can access the wireless data.

Infra-red security is less problematic owing to the short range and directional beam it uses.

RFID printing

Even if you think RFID (radio frequency identification) technology is still some way in the future, if you are buying printers today, you should consider ensuring that they have RFID capability. That's the advice from Chris Hopper. "RFID will happen; the only question is timescale. Printers are in service for ten or fifteen years, and if you build in RFID capability now, you are protecting the value of your assets.

There will be applications requiring wireless printing of RFID tags. One development is to have a basic RFID tag embedded in a barcode label. Hopper thinks any RFID printers will have to have an integral check function. "Current manufacturing processes mean that up to 5 per cent of RFID tags embedded in labels are failures, and there has to be a system where those tags are prevented from getting into the supply chain. Any printer that is writing data to a label with an embedded RFID needs to check the RFID tag is good."

Hopper says control of label costs is all about marrying the tag to the application, and multi-protocol printers are the way to go. "If you are shipping bottles of lemonade, you don't need a label that carries a serial number for each bottle. If another customer is shipping expensive luxury goods, then you need a different sort of label." Quite.

The technology

Infra-red (IrDA): Many handheld computers have infra-red ports. Communication is by infra-red waves. Range is limited to around 10 feet and a line-of-sight connection between the two devices is essential.

Bluetooth: Like 802.11, Bluetooth is an RF technology. It can be used in the warehouse and out in the field. Unlike infra-red it does not depend on line of sight, but range is limited to around 30ft.

IEEE 802.11a/b/g: WLAN based on the 802.11 IEEE standard. Fast printing at up to 11Mbps. Range is up to 300ft