How it works
You create a pairing code for a customer (and optionally one site). At the customer, someone installs the SubClik Agent on a Windows PC that stays on, or plugs a SubClik Box into the copier's USB port, and enters the code.
The agent then searches the network for printers, reads each one by SNMP (read only) and sends what it finds to SubClik over HTTPS. Nothing connects into the customer's network.
Meters are read once a day at the agent's Daily read at (hour) (6 am unless you change it). Toner and status are checked every few hours, and errors, jams and low toner are noticed within about a minute.
Printers with the same serial number as a machine already on record are linked automatically. From then on, a meter reading arrives on that machine every day and flows into contract billing.
What is on this page
The toolbar at the top right: + Add agent (a side panel to create a pairing code and download Setup, with guides), Prepare a SubClik Box and Fleet audit (print).
Four counters (click one to filter): Agents online, Printers, Need attention and Not linked to a machine.
When readings from printers looked wrong and were held back, an amber line links to Check them in Meters & toner →. They never reach an invoice until you decide.
Tabs: Printers (every printer the agents found, grouped by customer, with status, toner, counters and the machine it is linked to), Agents (each agent or Box, its state, what it sees, buttons to ask it for something now, its pairing code and Settings and actions) and Hidden (printers you hid).
On the Printers tab, above the list: Printers that need attention (agents that have gone quiet, printers not read for days, open errors and low supplies) and Toner running out in the next 14 days.
Search (Search model, serial, IP or customer), choose a customer and a show filter (All printers, Need attention, Errors or not seen, Toner 10% or less, Not linked to a machine) and press Show.
Agent states
Not installed: the pairing code has not been used yet.
Paired, no contact yet: the code was used, but the agent has not reported since. Usually it was not installed as administrator or the Windows service is stopped.
Online: the agent made contact (a report or its hourly heartbeat) in the last 3 hours.
Offline: no contact for more than 3 hours. After 24 hours it is also listed under Printers that need attention.
Tips
- One agent per customer network is enough: it finds every printer it can reach. Add extra network ranges for printers on other VLANs.
- Add the customer's machines (with serial numbers) before installing the agent. Then the printers link themselves.
- Check Meters & toner › To check before you run contract billing each month.
Ideas to try
- Offer monitoring as part of every new contract: automatic meter reads mean no more chasing customers for readings.
- Use the toner forecast to send toner before the customer runs out, and tell them with the toner on its way email.
- Run a print audit for a prospect to show them what their own printers really cost.
Questions
Does the agent change anything on the printers?
No. It only reads (SNMP GET on UDP port 161) and only sends to SubClik over HTTPS (port 443). It never changes a printer's settings.
Which printers can it read?
Any network printer that answers SNMP. Ricoh, Kyocera, Canon, Konica Minolta, Sharp, Xerox, HP, Brother and Lexmark also give the mono, colour, copy, print and scan split; other makes give the total, toner and alerts.
A printer is missing. Why?
It may be switched off, on another network (add its range in Settings and actions › Extra network ranges), or use a different SNMP community. Open What the agent sees under the agent: printers it could not read are listed with the reason. You can also add a printer by IP address in the agent's own window.
Why does an agent show Offline?
The PC it runs on is off or asleep, has lost internet, or the SubClik service was stopped. Ask the customer to switch it on, or open Start › SubClik Agent on that PC.
Do monitored readings go straight onto invoices?
Only readings that look right. A reading lower than the last one, or far above normal use, is held under Customers & machines › Meters & toner › To check until someone saves or rejects it.
A printer shows Total sheets or Life count instead of Total. Why?
When SubClik has no maker-specific counters for a model, it uses the printer's standard counter, and that counter says what it counts. Only a count of impressions (one per printed side) becomes Total and is billed. A count of sheets (a duplex sheet is two impressions) is shown as Total sheets, and a count without a unit as Life count: both are shown, never billed, and never converted by guessing. Send a printer report for that model and the maker's counters can be added.
Can engineers see this?
Engineers do not have Printers & agents, but on a job for a monitored machine they see the printer's status, toner and errors, and can press Read now, Printer report or Agent log.
Is printer monitoring included in my plan?
SubClik ServiceDesk includes monitoring of 50 printers; SubClik Monitor includes 10 free. See Administration › Usage & plan.
Works together with
- Add an agent (create a pairing code)Create a pairing code for a customer and site. The code connects one Agent or SubClik Box to that customer; it works once and is valid for 7 days.
- Install the SubClik Agent on a Windows PCInstall the Agent on one always-on Windows computer in the same network as the printers, enter the pairing code and scan. It runs as a Windows service and needs no one signed in.
- The SubClik BoxThe SubClik Box is a small Wi-Fi reader powered from the copier's USB port. It finds the printers on the customer's network and sends meters, toner, error codes and jams, with nothing installed on the customer's computers.
- Link a printer to a machineLink a printer the agent found to a machine on record, so its daily meter readings arrive on that machine and feed contract billing.
- Readings to check (held readings from printers)Readings from printers that look wrong are held back instead of being saved. Check them, then save (with a corrected value if needed) or reject them.
- Printers that need attentionAn amber box on Printers & agents (and on the service desk and the Monitor overview) lists agents that have gone quiet, printers not read for days, open errors and low supplies. The office gets the same list by email every morning.
- Agent settings: name, networks, communities, read timeChange an agent's name, extra network ranges, SNMP communities, the hour of the daily meter read and how often status is checked, from the office.
- The printer pageEverything the agent knows about one printer: status and current errors, problem counts, toner forecast, error history, daily counters, readings sent to the machine and the device's own details.
- Fleet audit: volume and cost per pageThe fleet audit (print audit) lists every printer the agent found at a customer with its monthly volume (from the daily counters) and an estimated cost per page, and flags printers that cost too much or are hardly used.
- Printer monitoring on the machine pageIf a SubClik agent or Box watches this printer, the machine page shows its status, toner, errors, jams and counters.
- AutomationsRules that do routine work for you, each a simple “when this happens, SubClik does that”: open jobs from printer faults and planned maintenance (for the office to approve), list toners to send, collect customer requests, email the monthly readings and remind you about contracts.