Transcript Slide 1

Office of Technology Services:
Information Technology – Client Services
New Faculty Welcome and Orientation
Office of Technology Services
Who We Are
OTS - Information Technology – Client Services
Faculty / Staff Help
Center
Distributed Support
Services
Virtual Support Teams
Classroom
Technology Planning,
Design, and
Construction
Office of Technology Services
Topics
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General Services Provided
Faculty/Staff Help Center
Distributed Support and Services
Additional Technical Support
Home Systems and Networking
Getting Software and Hardware
Accessing the Campus Network
Smart Classroom Tips
Homework
Office of Technology Services
General Services Provided
• Serve faculty and staff through:
• Telephone (preferred route)
• Email
• Remote Control Assistance
• Walk-in
• On-site support
• Provide software and hardware service in offices, labs, and smart
classrooms
• Manage the Computer Trade-Up Program to refresh office-based
computer systems on a three to four year cycle
• In conjunction with other areas of OTS, test and deploy new or
updated software products to campus computer systems
Office of Technology Services
General Services Provided
• Provide setup, integration, and general assistance with hardware:
printers, scanners, laptop computers, tablets, smart phones, PDAs
• In cooperation with departments and colleges, assist in the support
of smart classrooms.
• Provide design and planning services for classroom technology
projects (new construction and renovations)
• Coordinate, collaborate, cooperate, and communicate with
technology providers across campus who do not report to OTS
through the Campus Technology Coalition
Office of Technology Services
Faculty/Staff Help Center
• Primary point of entry for support requests is by telephone to the
OTS Faculty/Staff Help Center: 410-704-5151
• Quick tip: for faculty or staff services, press 2+2+2
• Staffed Monday through Thursday 8am-7pm; Friday 8am-5pm
during the fall and spring semesters; Monday through Friday 8 am5pm at other times
• 24/7 support for select services is available after hours; listen to the
recorded message when calling
Office of Technology Services
Faculty/Staff Help Center
• Comprehensive support for campus PCs and Macs
• For campus systems, we can often “remote into” PCs to help as long
as the standard software configuration is maintained
• When telephone or remote-control based support is not practical,
on-site support to offices is provided by appointment
• Quality matters: we send surveys by e-mail, and comments help a
lot with staff development efforts
• Always get your provider’s name
Office of Technology Services
Distributed Support and Services
• If a problem can’t be resolved at the Help Center level, we will send
a technician to campus offices:
– Defined triage guidelines are used as part of a formal central
dispatch model
– One business hour maximum time is allotted for triage, and
during that time, we will assign a technician to the issue and
notify the client by e-mail
– The technician will contact the client to arrange for service
within four business hours
– We have 3 precinct offices on campus, so help is close by
Office of Technology Services
Office of Technology Services
Additional Technical Support
• Virtual Mac Support Team offers additional help to Mac clientele
• In addition to OTS, many departments and colleges have their own
“local” IT service providers; check with your department chairperson
• The Campus Technology Coalition (CTC) includes people
throughout campus (lab managers and departmental IT providers)
Office of Technology Services
Home Systems and Networking
• We provide limited support for home or personally owned
systems (general assistance using web-based services,
standard TU applications, and verifying service availability)
• If a person can’t connect to the Internet at home, at another
workplace, in a hotel, at an airport, or in “hot spots” the Internet
Service Provider (ISP) that offers the service is the best point of
initial contact
• Support for email-enabled phones is limited to providing
configuration settings that you or your cellular provider can use
in setting up your device.
• Support should be obtained through your carrier's customer
service telephone number, website, or through your device
manual.
Office of Technology Services
Home Systems and Networking
• Primary reasons that support for home and personally owned
devices is limited:
- Home networks use many brands and models of hardware and
services vary by provider (Comcast, Verizon, etc.)
- Our staff are trained to support a limited set of standard
enterprise-class devices
- Internet service providers are more experienced with consumer
hardware lines
- Citizen taxpayers get concerned when they hear about state
employees receiving services that they are not also entitled to
(“the headline test”)
Office of Technology Services
Getting Software
• Maryland Educational Enterprise Consortium (MEEC) offers
Microsoft Office 2010/2011 for Mac as part of the work-at-home
agreement
• The University Store administers MEEC:
http://store.towson.edu
• OTS offers Microsoft Security Essentials Antivirus software and
other downloads:
http://www.towson.edu/ots
• For students, Microsoft Office and other products are available at
discounted prices through the University Store and other sources
Office of Technology Services
Getting Hardware
• Check with your department as well OTS before purchasing—some
hardware devices may not be compatible, supportable, reliable, or
securable
• Special start-up funds are usually great opportunities, but there have
been some surprises; see above—and check with OTS first to avoid
disappointment
• Hardware for research: same factors—work with your department
and OTS in advance
• Departmental and college technology providers are often a good
pre-purchase information resource
Office of Technology Services
Getting Hardware
• Non-standard hardware: netbooks, smart phones other than
university-owned, inkjet printers, and other devices may not
supported or supported only to a limited extent; check with your
department and OTS before purchasing
• More hardware information, including discounted personal
purchases programs:
http://www.towson.edu/adminfinance/OTS/hardwaresoftware/faculty
staff/index.asp
Office of Technology Services
Accessing the Campus Network
Overview
• One of the best ways to protect sensitive data is to ensure files and
data stay on the network
• Whenever you copy files to a home computer, laptop, USB drive, or
e-mail them “off network” you increase the chance of exposure of
potentially confidential or sensitive information
• Some faculty may have used a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
connection previously. This is not a preferred method at Towson
University
• Off campus, most people just need a “plain” Internet browser
(Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox) to get to core services
Office of Technology Services
Accessing the Campus Network
Virtual Workspace
• The next “step up” for off-campus connectivity is our Virtual
Workspace (Citrix) environment
• With Virtual Workspace, you can do a few more things than you can
with a “plain” Internet browser—but it requires a one-time installation
of small piece of software (the Citrix client):
http://virtualworkspace.towson.edu (vw.towson.edu for short)
Office of Technology Services
Accessing the Campus Network
Windows Remote Desktop
• You can use the Remote Desktop Gateway from home or just about
anywhere to connect to your office computer from another
computer—a computer in a lab, classroom, or another office
– http://remotedesktop.towson.edu for Windows Computers
– http://vw.towson.edu for Mac Computers
• You will need to log into the computer that you want to access
remotely at least one time while connected to the Towson Network.
– For more information and instructions see
http://remotedesktop.towson.edu
Office of Technology Services
Smart Classroom Tips
• The university has over 400 technology-enabled classrooms and
you can virtually visit yours in advance:
http://www.towson.edu/classroomtechnology/virtualtour
• Physical access (keys, swipe cards, etc.) and support procedures
vary by department; check with your administrative assistant or
chairperson
• Technical support:
– check the instructions at the podium for a telephone number to
call for help
– if not otherwise instructed, call 410-704-5151, option 3 on the
voice menu. Our staff will try to help or provide further
information on who to go to.
Office of Technology Services
Smart Classroom Tips
• Make time to visit the classroom you will be teaching in prior to class
in order to become familiar with the technology
• Power up the system and logon to the computer as soon as you get
to class to give things time to boot up
• If you need special software installed on the computer (something
besides Microsoft Office), check with your department well in
advance so arrangements can be made
• To display files, use mapped network drives (H: or O:), Virtual
Workspace, or documents saved within Blackboard. USB drives are
easily forgotten
Office of Technology Services
Smart Classroom Tips
• For student presentations, consider having students place files into
Blackboard’s Assignments as opposed to having them logon or use
USB drives.
• If you have a campus office computer, you can use Remote Desktop
Gateway to get to it for specialty software
• If the computer is locked by another person when you arrive, you will
need to force a shutdown by pressing and holding the power button;
then, restart
• When leaving, always logoff and make sure the projector is off
• Have a “Plan B” in case the technology doesn’t cooperate
Office of Technology Services
Homework
• Visit the OTS Website and find the Faculty/Staff Help Center.
• Locate the section “Information on Frequently Requested Topics”
• Read “Technology Services and Support for New Faculty: What's
the Same at TU? What's Different?” (this document was provided
during the fulltime faculty orientation sessions)
Office of Technology Services
Office of Technology Services
Contributing to the success of Towson University through the development,
maintenance, and support of technology
Office of Technology Services