ATLANTA,GA In less than thirty days since its formal release at the MidWinter ALA Conference in San Antonio, the LPT:One print management software system from Interface has been installed in over a dozen library systems around the U.S. Academic and public libraries have purchased and installed the software on patron stations, and several installations include the Release Station Software and the Reporting Module.

"We were overwhelmed at the comments about the user interface," commented Michael Monk, Interface Software's Vice President of Marketing. "While we assumed acceptance of many of the innovative features of the system, we were unaware of the widespread appeal of the patron interface, a key component in any decision involving software used by the public. Many librarians commented about the intuitive look and feel and the appealing graphic design."

After the company's extensive pre-release testing program, live installations were expected to have a few technical issues, as with any software added to a network. The actual stability in various types and sizes of library networks exceeded the company's projections, owing to rapid adoption and integration into numerous library networks.

LPT:One was designed as a scaleable system, starting at less than $100 for a client (patron) PC and growing into a multi-station release model that rivals the most powerful campus-wide print management systems.

Installation starts with a simple client module that notifies patrons of page counts, print costs, locations of printers, and limits pages per job. When the optional release station is added, library staff can manage the release of print jobs and collection of fees. For self-service installations, card readers and cash devices can be added at either the patron PC's or at the Release Station. Multiple Release Stations are supported in large networks and the system easily scales to a campus wide network-based print management system, thanks to Interface's innovative Distributed Processing Model that distributes print management and logging among all release stations.

The system was designed to overcome many of the objections of legacy print management systems: requirements for servers, central single points of failure, reliability issues, and high cost. LPT:One fits in the budget framework of all libraries and can grow with additional features as the library's needs and budget allow.