Universal Print integration with Microsoft Endpoint Manager

by Scott Muniz | Sep 9, 2020 | Uncategorized

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

One of the top requests we see in the Universal Print Tech Community is the ability to deploy printers with Microsoft Intune. We take your feedback seriously and are excited to how deliver the Universal Print printer provisioning tool, which can be used to deploy Universal Print printers with Microsoft Endpoint Manager!

Universal Print simplifies adding printers for users by:

1. Allowing users to add printers to their Windows 10 devices without being a local administrator on that device.
2. Allowing print administrators to add location attributes to printers. If configured, users can find the printer nearest to them based on GPS or other location attributes of the printer.

As many schools and organizations manage Windows devices with Microsoft Endpoint Manager, an integration between Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Universal Print is a natural requirement. You may, for example, need to automatically add printers to your Windows devices. A cloud-based print infrastructure does not change that need for Azure AD joined devices. Many users expect printers to come pre-configured on their Windows devices and leave it to the IT team or office manager to identify the best printer(s) for them. The ability to pre-configure printers, therefore, can reduce helpdesk calls about printer installation and give you more control. This becomes even more important when employees are working from home, but still need to send print jobs to an office printer to keep certain business processes going.

Although IT admins can, of course, control which printers a user can add, pre-configuring printers on user devices remains a useful, high-demand feature. The Universal Print printer provisioning tool allows administrators to do exactly this!

Before you begin

Before using the tool, please ensure that the following steps have been completed:

1. Meet the requirements outlined in Get started documentation.
2. Install the following monthly cumulative update, or later, for your Windows 10 devices:
   • For Windows 10, version 2004: September 8, 2020 (KB4571744)
   • For Windows 10, versions 1903 and 1909: August 20, 2020 (KB4566116)

Accessing the tool

Administrators can download the Universal Print printer provisioning tool from the Microsoft  Download Center and learn how to use it by referring to the Universal Print printer provisioning tool documentation.

The download contains:

1. An Intune Win32 application package.
2. Samples and templates:
   • A sample printers.csv configuration file that may be used as a reference to create printers list to be deployed on users’ devices.
   • A command-line script that copies the printers.csv file to appropriate file location on users’ Windows 10 devices.

How the Universal Print printer provisioning tool works

To deploy Universal Print printers via Microsoft Endpoint Manager, the steps are as follows:

1. Using Microsoft Endpoint Manager, publish the downloaded Intune Win32 application package to all Windows 10 devices where printers need to be deployed. This will install the Universal Print printer provisioning tool on all target Windows 10 client devices.
2. Create a “printers.csv” configuration file with list of the printers that need to be added to the target user devices.

   

   Note: Name of file cannot be localized or changed. It needs to be “printers.csv”.

   If different user groups need to have a different printer list, a second “printer.csv” must be created. You will have to repeat this step for each such user group.

3. Generate a new custom Intune Win32 application package that contains the printers.csv file and the command script (downloaded as sample).
4. Using Microsoft Endpoint Manager, deploy the custom package to the target user group.

The Universal Print printer provisioning tool is added as a very light background service on the Windows 10 device. When users sign in to their Windows 10 device, this background service receives a user login event notification. This event triggers a workflow that looks for the “printers.csv” file. When the file is found, printers from the file are added one-by-one to the Windows 10 device

Configurating a default printer

When creating the “printers.csv” file, you can specify one printer as the default printer. If the policy to let Windows manage the default printer is turned off on the user’s Windows 10 device, then corresponding printer in “printers.csv” is set as default printer on their device.

More detailed instructions on how to use the tool can be found in the Universal Print documentation.  

We want to hear from you!

We hope you will download and try the Universal Print printer provisioning tool today—and we would love to hear your feedback on how we can make this tool even better. This is just the first step and we hope it will help you evaluate the Universal Print public preview for your organization.

Please let us know what you think by leaving a comment in the Universal Print Tech Community!

How Yammer can help connect remote employees during virtual onboarding

by Scott Muniz | Sep 9, 2020 | Uncategorized

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Even at the best of times, starting a new job can be daunting. With remote working becoming the “new normal” for many organisations, starting a new job without meeting new colleagues in person can be a very strange experience, particularly for those who have traditionally been office-based and surrounded by a working team.

Yammer can play a key role in onboarding, especially with an all-virtual on-boarding experience. Yammer provides an open, online platform that allows new employees to discover and connect with others, without the need for formal introductions via email or video call.

Ask HR community in Microsoft Teams

In our organisation, we’re finding that an all-virtual approach to on-boarding requires more of a structured method. Previously, day one included time physically in the office, even if they would be based primarily remote, to give an immediate chance to put names to friendly faces and experience the office atmosphere. However, with our physical office environment out of the equation, there’s less opportunity to ‘bump into’ other employees who may be useful to know from a professional and personal point of view. HR and Line Managers are working together to set up scheduled Microsoft Teams meetings with appropriate contacts. While this is of course a sensible approach, it doesn’t provide the opportunity for the new employee to connect with others across the company who aren’t directly related to their role.

Yammer’s open community structure closes this gap, allowing new employees to virtually observe their new colleagues interacting, (as they might in an office) and giving them a chance to display their personality by joining or starting conversation threads.

We’ve learned a few things along the way for community managers, HR and line managers for setting up the onboarding experience to make sure new employees feel welcomed into your company through Yammer: 

1. Introduce them to the network

An introductory post from the new employee’s line manager into All Company, or relevant community works really well, usually encouraging lots of other employees to follow up with replies of welcome. Friendly hellos can settle those new-job nerves even if they’re not in person.

2. Help them realize the benefit of Yammer

New employees may not have come across platforms like Yammer previously, so during the first couple of days is an excellent chance to help them discover the benefits of being active in the Yammer network. Even if they have used Yammer in the past, it’s still a great chance to explain the particular setup of communities and use cases in your organization and point out which ones could benefit them. 

3. Suggest Communities for them to join

Have a list of 5 tops work related communities you’d recommend by their role and interests. Work with their line manager or HR team to get a list of recommended communities.

Additionally, we spend a lot of time with colleagues and sometimes it’s nice to take a break from work stresses and be reminded that we are all human. If your Yammer network includes communities that offer some light relief from work, make sure your new starters are included, so that they can start getting to know colleagues on a more personal level. 

For example, my favorite non-work related communities in our Yammer network are:

• Office Chat – Somewhere to replicate not-necessarily-work-related office chat
• Rate My Plate – Brave employees put their cooking skills on show for the admiration (or amusement) of others

Related Resource: Top Ten Suggested Communities 

4. Look out for their initial posts

Respond to their first few posts in Yammer if you can, to give them a positive experience from the beginning, making them more likely to continue using the platform. You might not have the answer to their question, but you can @mention the right people or help to share the message into the right communities to get the conversation in front of the right community for the best response.

5. Get the mobile app or add Yammer to Microsoft Teams

Encourage them to use and interact with Yammer wherever they are to do their work. They might use a variety of tools, and Yammer can be integrated with them.

6. Timing is key! Start early

You’ll want to introduce new starters to Yammer as soon as possible, to get them plugged into the right communities and conversations right away. This helps to connect them, regardless of where they are physically located and make them feel part of the larger organization and initiatives going on.

We want to ensure that that new starters feel welcomed, get to know their colleagues remotely, and become an active part of the Yammer network themselves, especially within their first few weeks on the job!

Are you using Yammer with your new employees today? How can you add Yammer to your existing processes?

I’m Lyndsay Ansell, Internal Communication Specialist at Modality Systems. I’m working to reinvigorate our Yammer network as part of a wider Internal Comms strategy. Having spent the last 4 years working in the UC industry, communication of all forms really interests me, and I’m constantly looking for new ideas and opinions around the subject.