Partially Bidirectional communication supports the reading of some printer information (like printer configuration), but the communication is too slow to offer “real-time” status during an actual print job (and many printers won’t even provide printer configuration information until after the job is over).

Fully Bidirectional communication allows real-time printer status information to be sent from the printer even during print jobs. This allows for error conditions such as “out of ribbon” to be reported on the computer right away, such that corrective action can be taken in a timely manner. The necessary bidirectional communications requires that:

1. The printer needs to support the transmission of status messages during print jobs. (Some do and some don’t.)
2. The printer must be equipped with at least one fully bidirectional communications port. Be advised that different printer models come with different combinations of serial, parallel, USB and TCP/IP ports and all are not necessarily guaranteed to be bidirectional.
3. You must use a bidirectional cable. (These days, most are.)

And, finally, you need a Printer Driver running on Windows that supports both your printer model and its status functions. (At this time, Seagull provides Status Monitor support for the selected printer models listed previously.) Status Monitor functions in a Seagull printer driver can then periodically poll the printer’s status and report it to the Windows spooler. Windows will then display this information in various places:

• Printers folder
• Print Queue windows
• System tray
• Seagull Status Monitor window

Printer Drivers with Status Monitor capability let you see important printer messages
anywhere on your network.

Print Verification Ensures Label Job Integrity
With production for some industries, such as medical, pharmaceutical and the military, it is not enough to transmit a print job under the hopeful assumption that the requested number of labels were successfully printed. Accordingly, you may encounter regulations that mandate software verification of an entire print job. Seagull drivers with Status Monitoring facilitate compliance with such requirements by optionally holding all unprinted label information in a buffer until the printer reports back that each previous label has been printed. You can further enhance the integrity of your label jobs by configuring BarTender (or your other print application) to generate a record-by-record log of the requested label jobs, so you have the option of comparing what was sent against what was printed.

Fully Network Compatible
The drivers' printer Status Monitor information can be viewed from any computer on a network. Therefore, regardless of whether you are printing locally, whether BarTender is run from a server or a local PC, real-time printer status information can be easily viewed. That means that you can keep track of your label print jobs from anywhere at your facility.

Summary of Benefits

• Timely notification lets you take corrective action before a stalled printer adversely affects your production.
• Facilitates compliance with industries with strict production verification requirements.
• Network compatibility gives you the flexibility to move around a facility while printing is in progress.

Further Reading
For detailed information on setting up Status Monitoring, please see the "Status Monitor Overview" white paper.

For more information on BarTender and Drivers, including free downloads, please visit our products page.