The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for forwarding a print
job over a communications network. In particular, the present invention enables
a user to obtain print jobs at a location which may be unspecified, and which may
be remote from the source of the print job. A print driver is provided which is
capable of forwarding one or more print jobs over a network. The print driver may
be interfaced with any suitable print job source (e.g., a client device capable
of generating a printable document, such as a computer) to obtain a print job.
The print job is forwarded from the print driver, over the network, to a spooling
server. A printer polling device, which may be used at a location remote from the
client device, is capable of polling a spooling server via the network to identify
whether any print jobs associated with the printer polling device are available
for printing at a printer currently associated with the printer polling device.
The spooling server need not initiate contact with the printer through a firewall,
since it is polled by the printer polling device. Thus, network security is maintained.