Lexmark Extends Powerful Printer Management Capabilities to Printers From All Major Manufacturers.

LEXINGTON, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 28, 1998--

Network Administrators Can Use One Printer Management

Application in Mixed Printer Environments

To provide customers with the ability to manage diverse printers on a network through a single console, Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE:LXK) today announced enhancements to MarkVision for Windows 95/98 and MarkVision for Windows NT 4.0. This release includes features for the seamless integration of all major printer products into the MarkVision graphical user interface.

MarkVision collects information from Lexmark, HP, IBM, Kyocera, Tektronix, Xerox and other printers and displays it in a simple, easy-to-read format. MarkVision gives network administrators a powerful tool for management of virtually every printer on the network, making it easy to access and manage printer status, configurations and locations.

"Management of printers in a multi-vendor environment is important to network administrators," said Barry McElreath, director of US marketing. "Lexmark software developers listened to our customers, delivered a solution that addresses their needs and packaged it in a single application for simplified management."

MarkVision uses the information from the industry standard printer manufacturer's information base (MIB) to provide a robust solution that gives network administrators, help desk administrators and other support personnel a powerful, centralized view of printers from a single console.

New management features for printers from all major manufacturers include:

-- Ready state (off, ready, online, offline)

-- Installed features list, such as additional paper trays or

extra memory

-- Operator panel display

-- Lifetime page counts

-- Network addresses

-- Printer locations

-- Direct access to the HTML setup pages of print servers from

Lexmark, Xerox and Tektronix

When access to another manufacturer's printer management utility is desired, Lexmark provides the ability to launch the application directly from MarkVision. This allows administrators to use MarkVision's intuitive and user-friendly interface throughout the enterprise, reduce printer management training costs for new employees and provide a consistent look and feel for help desks and support groups.

Network administrators can also take advantage of these unique MarkVision features when managing Lexmark printers:

-- Real-time alerts

-- Remote operator panel

-- Color toner and ink gauges for Optra Color family members

-- Toner level, paper low indicators and "output bin nearly full"

warnings for the Optra S family of monochrome lasers

-- Job statistics including multi-up printing, fax printing and

OptraImage copy jobs

-- Minimized network traffic because printer polling is not

necessary

-- Reporting of optional emulators installed in the printer,

including Lexmark solutions for IPDS, barcode and TIFF

printing, in addition to other third-party SIMM solutions;

Network administrators can determine which optional firmware

SIMM, if any, is installed in the printer

-- Detailed printer inventory

MarkVision makes printer management easy for network administrators by delivering the best open standard support in the industry today. Lexmark is committed to open standards and focusing on customer needs.

Other software and connectivity announcements from Lexmark today include:

NetPnP

For network administrators, NetPnP is an NT service that automates the installation of network attached printers, saves time in set up and configuration and increases administrator productivity. NetPnP is a network "plug and print" solution that effectively reduces the time from installation to "ready to print" in a Microsoft NT 4.0 environment. With NetPnP, an administrator can simply attach a printer to the network and end-users can print within seconds. That's because NetPnP automatically creates printer icons, allows automatic IP address assignments and assigns an appropriate printer driver for Windows 95/98 and Windows NT.

Tivoli Management Console Integration

Enterprise management applications help companies consolidate network management under a single console. Lexmark has integrated the powerful management capabilities of MarkVision directly into Tivoli TME 10 for Windows NT 4.0. This integration brings to the IT or LAN administrator the robust monitoring capabilities of MarkVision in a familiar management environment which saves time searching for printer status information and allows faster end user response times. Lexmark's integration is certified by Tivoli at the "Foundation" level.

SAP R/3 Barcode Printing Solution

Lexmark is announcing a barcode printing solution for the popular SAP R/3 enterprise resource planning application suite to create quality bar codes for manufacturing, retail and many other business segments. The Lexmark Optra Bar Code SIMM, when coupled with a Lexmark Optra S or Optra Se printer provides companies with a bar code solution that is compatible with HP bar code solutions for SAP R/3.

SIMM for IPDS Printing

This option provides the capability to print AFP/IPDS documents on a network or in IBM-distributed SNA environments. Lexmark's announcement today extends the printer support of this option to include the Optra Se 3455.

ImageQuick SIMM for TIFF Printing

This option allows the printer to process raw tagged image file format (TIFF) images at speeds up to the printer's rated speed. Workflow applications that are designed to work with Xionics XipPrintII will now work with the Lexmark Optra S family, including the new Optra Se 3455, announced today.

MarkTrack

MarkTrack is reporting software that can help companies manage printing environments more efficiently. MarkTrack allows administrators to retrieve and analyze network printer information and job statistics from selected Lexmark printers and other business printers. With this information, MarkTrack gives administrators the ability to run reports to allocate printing resources more efficiently, allocate printing costs for different departments, provide statistical information on employee printing habits and automatically create a printer inventory listing. MarkTrack was introduced June 24, 1998.

Availability

MarkVision for Windows 95/98 and MarkVision for Windows NT is available for no extra charge with the purchase of Lexmark business printers and the Lexmark MarkNet Pro family of external print servers. The software is also downloadable from the Lexmark website at www.lexmark.com. For more information about Lexmark or Lexmark products, please call 1-800-LEXMARK (1-800-539-6275).

Lexmark International, Inc. is a global developer, manufacturer and supplier of printer solutions and products, including laser, inkjet and dot matrix printers and associated consumable supplies for the office and home markets. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lexmark International Group, Inc. (NYSE: LXK). Lexmark, which had sales of $2.5 billion in 1997, has executive offices and a manufacturing center in Lexington, Ky.; other manufacturing centers are in Boulder, Colo.; Juarez, Mexico; Rosyth, Scotland; Orleans, France; and Sydney, Australia. For more information on Lexmark products, including newsletters on how to get the most out of your printer, visit the Lexmark home page at www.lexmark.com on the Internet. Customers may also call 1-800-LEXMARK (1-800-539-6275), use the Lexmark bulletin board service at 606/232-5238 or the CompuServe forum "Go Lexmark."

Lexmark, MarkVision, Optra and MarkTrack are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc., registered in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.