Historical approach
We have been using Zebra label printers for many years with our
medical software.
It requires that we send the label printers specially formatted data
using Zebra's EPL language.
We could do that, but many users do not have the ability to modify
and customize their software.
Another issue we have had was sharing the label printer on Windows networks. Depending on security and differing Windows versions it can be easy. But often it is frustrating, wastes time, and fails later requiring support. So mostly everyone who uses a label printer gets one. The users who don't have a label printer are left out. Users can't easily print custom labels from phones and tablets, which are now common clients.
Revised approach
The URL Label server is a web server that runs on the computer
that services a label printer connected via USB, Ethernet, parallel,
or serial connection.
Users on the same network access the URL Label server through the
Internet browser (ex: Chrome) on their computers, phones, or devices.
This allows users to manually input label information and print labels.
Applications can be integrated to print labels via urls and the
command line.
The URL Label server is a layer that uses a web server to unify access to printers on Windows and Linux systems.