RE: Native MICR font

["John Allen" <jallen@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Vern

Sorry for addressing that to you. I mistakenly thought you
were the original poster.

Oh well it's Friday and I am sure the original poster has
read my reply

John



-----Original Message-----
From: Vern Hamberg [mailto:vhamberg@xxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 2:40 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Native MICR font

John

I'm not the one that needs to print MICR, but I appreciate
the info. All 
the way through your post I was thinking of a place I worked
that did 
write PCL directly to the printers - they must have learned
to have to 
handle things that you describe.

Regards
Vern

John Allen wrote:
> Vern,
>
> This is coming from a vendor that has been selling
software
> that allows companies to print their checks in-house for
> many many years.
>
> 1) Most banks do still require the MICR toner. 
> (DO NOT use recharged cartridges to save a couple of
bucks,
> not worth the potential problems, trust me on this one)
>
> 2) There are programmers that have managed to write their
> own program to print checks using a MICR font. So I am not
> saying you can't do it and you should purchase a solution
> from a vendor. But I would say be careful there are some
> very important things to consider.
>
> A) The MICR line must be placed very precisely on the
check,
> and each character must also be placed in a specific
> location in relation to the MICR area. You will need to
> purchase a MICR template that you can place over your
check
> to verify the MICR line is placed correctly. Even with the
> template, during the verification process with the bank
you
> may need to adjust the placement to pass the banks
> specifications.
>
> B) Be prepared for the unforeseen. We had a customer that
> was printing thousands of checks every week for over a
year.
> Then one day they call and tell us bank is rejecting many
of
> the checks (the bank still processes them but if there is
a
> high number of rejects the bank can charge for the extra
> handling). (They tightened their specifications, causing
> rejects, with our software we just adjusted the placement
a
> few thousandths of an inch and got them fixed)
> If this happens just be prepared to get in there and work
> with the bank to get the issue resolved.
>
> C) Come the day to print checks, be prepared if the
printer
> fails some day. Will you be able to print payroll checks
(on
> another printer with MICR toner)?
>
> Personal thought: The HPT process of converting AFP to PCL
> is not a perfect science as far as data placement being
very
> very precise. If I were you I would output PCL directly to
> the printer so you do not have that potential "gotcha"
>
> There are specifications for printing MICR line all of the
> internet. You should do some research before spending a
lot
> of money
>
> If you have any questions or would like to speak offline
> call or email me
>
> Good luck
>
> John Allen
> Jallen@xxxxxxxxxxx
> 678 417-1521
> DRV Technologies, Inc.
> www.drvtech.com
>
>  
>
>      
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vern Hamberg [mailto:vhamberg@xxxxxxxxxxx] 
> Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 10:27 AM
> To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
> Subject: Re: Native MICR font
>
> Mark
>
> Seems you need a special toner, as well - for the Magnetic
> part of MICR 
> - just googled on "micr toner hp" and got lots of hits -
at
> least you 
> used to have to do this.
>
> Vern