We hear frequent feedback from schools that printing is too complex and that predictable costs are crucial for effectively managing tight budgets. We’ve listened to your feedback and are announcing licensing changes that will help in both these areas.
Lowering your cost and increasing simplicity
Beginning May 1, 2024, organizations with Microsoft 365 A3 and Microsoft 365 A5 licenses[1] will receive 100 print jobs per license per month.
The 100 print job quantity is refreshed every month and print jobs are pooled so that all licensed users can use them. This brings the changes we made for Microsoft 365 Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Business Premium last year to those in the education sector.
100 print jobs is a significant increase from the existing licensing terms, which provided only five print jobs. This means that most organizations can use Universal Print with no extra cost if they have eligible licenses. Also, if you have already purchased volume add-ons, this new benefit may reduce or eliminate the need for you to purchase print job add-ons and may allow you to give more users access to Universal Print. Carefully investigate what volume you need and cancel any additional volume purchases if they are no longer necessary.
We’re consistently adding value to Universal Print
In addition to the boost from 5 to 100 print jobs, we are continuing to release and announce significant updates like:
- Printing from macOS (in public preview) advances our goal for Universal Print to be the single solution that works for all users on all their devices. With a deep and intuitive macOS integration, Mac users can seamlessly print from their favorite apps using Universal Print, with zero learning curve.
- Pull Print (coming soon) simplifies the printing process for users, allowing them to print to any printer. Users can print from any device or app without having to choose a printer in advance. Then, they can go to any corporate printer that's nearby, verify their identity, and safely retrieve their document.
These new features combine with a powerful existing feature set that helps secure your print environment and makes it easier to manage, reduce costs, and make printing more sustainable. If you’re new to Universal Print, here are some capabilities you definitely want to be aware of:
- Secure Release with QR code and PIN printing ensure that print jobs are only printed when a user is standing at the printer. This protects sensitive documents, saves costly resources from print jobs that aren’t picked up, and increases sustainability.
- Universal Print ready printers allow a fully zero-trust setup and a truly serverless infrastructure. The connector enables existing printers to work seamlessly with Universal Print as well.
- Print Support Apps on Windows let users take advantage of advanced print functionality, and Intune support lets IT administrators centrally configure printers on Windows to create a frictionless experience for users.
- Universal Print is built for security, running on industry leading security and following rigorous operating procedures that the US Government relies on through FedRAMP certification. Users can print from anywhere without a costly and vulnerable VPN setup.
Stay tuned for more on the way!
Why use Universal Print?
Put simply, Universal Print turns printing from “hassle” to “seamless.” Even as digital and cloud tools are increasingly adopted in the education space, printing is still a vital task. Students and staff print regularly, whether it's a worksheet, exam, or administrative documents.
But you, the IT professional, don’t go to work every day to manage printing. The cloud printing solution, Universal Print, can make management easier, lower costs, and let print run seamlessly while you concentrate on supporting education technology and enhancing the learning experience for teachers and students.
Universal Print gets rid of print servers, just as OneDrive does for file servers. It accelerates your digital transformation and makes it easier to use cloud computing, by relying on the same secure, trusted cloud infrastructure that millions of customers already use for Teams, SharePoint, and more.
How do I get started?
Quite frankly, you don't have to do much to start benefiting from the higher capacity. If you’re already a Microsoft 365 Education customer using Universal Print, these changes will happen automatically, and you’ll start seeing increased print volume in May.
If you want to learn more about Universal Print, here are some great places to get started:
Continue the conversation. Find best practices. Bookmark the Windows Tech Community, then follow us @MSWindowsITPro on X and on LinkedIn. Looking for support? Visit Windows on Microsoft Q&A.
[1] Users with Student Use Benefit licenses can print with Universal Print, but these licenses do not contribute print jobs to the pool. See Product Terms for details about Student Use Benefits and Academic Programs.
