Y Soft expands Microsoft Universal Print integration

Following on from the launch of Microsoft's Universal print announced at Inspire 2020, Y Soft has been busy integrating its print management services with the Microsoft service.

Microsoft Universal Print is a cloud-based print solution that removes the need for Windows Server print functionality in on-premise environments, as all functionality is delivered through Microsoft 365 cloud.

Universal Print also introduces 'one print queue' approach, which replaces specific print queues according to locality, application, or document type

Microsoft technology partner Y Soft has since announced that its YSoft SAFEQ Cloud portfolio, which includes SAFEQ CloudPro and Breeze, is now fully integrated with Microsoft's Universal Print.

Y Soft states that its integration fully supports and integrates all Universal Print features and abilities and builds on standards, such as IPP Everywhere and Microsoft Graph API.

"Having integrated robustness and availability features, such as failover and active-active load balancing, it provides additional value add for customers and enables business-critical deployments of Universal Print," the company explains.

Commenting on the integration, Y Soft chief product officer Wouter Koelewijn says, "Integration with Universal Print will continue to ensure print services run smoothly and reliably across all printers. Our Universal Print integration technology supports cloud management, easy and secure device enrolment, and is designed for a zero-trust security environment."

The YSoft SAFEQ Universal Print Connector is available as a free option to all existing YSoft SAFEQ 6 on-prem and YSoft SAFEQ Cloud customers.

Y Soft previously announced that its cloud and edge computing product line, the OMNI Series, will also connect printers to Universal Print. The Omni series includes the Omni Bridge and OMNI Apps – specifically the UP365 app.

Y Soft says that there is currently a lack of Universal Print-enabled printers on the market, so Microsoft provides connector software. This software requires a physical or virtual Windows 10 or Windows server machine.

"Many customers told us they want to move print functionality to the cloud as they are migrating to Microsoft 365. They can now do that with Universal Print, but don't want to replace all their printers and MFDs with devices that support Universal Print natively," says Microsoft senior program manager in charge of Universal Print, Rani Abdellatif.

"The Omni Bridge and UP365 enable any multi-function device or network printer to work with Universal Print. YSoft OMNI Series provides these organisations with an elegant solution to take advantage of cloud-based print infrastructure today," concludes Abdellatif.

Y Soft is currently taking orders for the Omni series.