JULY, 2004
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Disaster Preparedness
Technical support staff frequently deal with problems associated with computer, phone and network systems - it's the nature of their job. That these problems rarely come to the attention of the campus community is a testament to their skill and professionalism. Recovering from failures small or great has historically been a rather ad hoc process, with each technician relying on his or her intimate knowledge of the hardware and software to keep things running smoothly. As systems become more complex, as they become ever more tightly integrated and interdependent, and as the nature of threats to our systems evolve, it has become necessary for us to formalize our procedures for dealing with failures.
Computing and Telecommunication services has taken several different approaches to accomplish this. We have documented all of our systems, collected all of our support service information (phone and account numbers, corporate contacts and employee resources) and added a great deal of planning for various scenarios to create a manual for our support staff. This manual is continuously updated and distributed to our essential people, with copies kept both in the office and at their homes. It has already proved useful during last summer's power blackout and during a recent internet outage.
We have also made an effort to create duplicate hardware to support critical services for the College. The web server and mail server already have backup units that will automatically pick up the load and continue to provide the website and mail service in case the primary server fails or needs to be taken out of service for maintenance. An additional ES40 mainframe computer has been acquired and is in the process of being configured to assure the continuity of Banner services. The college also has redundant network service to provide internet connection in case of the failure of one of our segments, and the ability to replace any network component with backup units in any building at virtually a moment's notice.
Of course, disaster preparedness isn't just a task for technical support staff. All users should ask themselves one fundamental question:
"How would I or my department carry on our business if we suddenly lost access to our offices, our computers or the network that connects them?"
Each department on campus should have a business continuity plan of some sort - a consideration of how business could be carried on in the absence of normally functioning facilities. This could run the gamut from a power failure lasting part of a day on up to the complete loss of an entire building.
If you or your department is interested in doing some basic planning for unpleasant events, call Phil Bidwell at 2710.
Forwarding a voicemail message
After you have listened to a message in your voicemail, you have the option of forwarding it to someone else. This is handy if the message doesn't really apply to you or if you want to share it with others.
After listening to a message, press 73.
Enter the mailbox numbers you are forwarding the message to, follow each number by a #.
Enter another # after the last mailbox number.
At this point you have the option of including a voice message to accompany the attached message, helpful to the recipient so that they know why they are getting the forward.
Press 79 to send the message.
People to whom you forward a message will hear your message, followed by Meridian Mary saying "Attached Message", followed by the attached message itself.
What our staff is up to...
The Computer Center's Rick Serafin and Miro Trunec, along with technical support from Dell Computer, are assembling and configuring new equipment to support the college's Exchange email service. Computer Services found an opportunity to realize cost savings and improve reliability with the upgrade.
Some assembly required...
The Dell technician puts new servers in the rack.
Rick Serafin configures a new server.
In addition, a new version of Outlook Web Access will become available to users - a version whose functionality will be closer to the Outlook application installed on campus machines. The work will be essentially invisible to users, and will be complete before the beginning of the new semester.
If you have a question for Computer and Telecommunication Services about:
Computer Problems or Related Issues - Call the
Information Technology Help Desk
at 436-4567
Telephone Service or Problems - Call the
Office of Telecommunications
at 436-2499
Directory Assistance - call 436-3500
Learn more about our automated NameConnector Service
New Employee Orientation - Information Technology
When new employees come to Oneonta, they are given all kinds of
orientation to get them comfortable with their new work environment:
information on health care, payroll, contracts and where to park.
We also recognize that there are a slew of things that the new employee
needs to know about information technology on campus. Things like :
| computer policies | how to use the Help Desk | getting technology training |
| getting account access | how & why to change passwords | how to use voicemail |
| help with websites | destroying sensitive information | getting software for home use |
...and many, many other things.
If you are a new employee, or are helping a new employee get acclimated, we can help. If the new employee is a faculty member, call Jim Greenberg at 2701, and if an administrative employee, call Phil Bidwell at 2710 to schedule a half-hour I.T. Orientation.
Customizing your Desktop Icons
How can I change the icons for my favorite programs that are on my desktop?
For Windows XP: In Windows XP, some application or file icons cannot be customized without the use of special software. You can however, customize shortcut icons, which are typically what you use from your desktop, start menu, and quick-launch menu. The instructions below assume that you have customized icons stored in a folder on your hard drive. To change a shortcut icon:
- Right-click the icon and select Properties.
- Click the Short Cut tab and click the Change Icon button.
- In the section "Look for icons in file," click the Browse button and navigate to the folder that you have your customized icons stored in.
- Open the folder and look for the icon that you want associated with the program and double-click it.
- Click the Apply button and OK.
(Note: If you want to simply change an icon that is preloaded in XP, go to step 3 and instead of clicking the Browse button, copy and paste this line in the "Look for icons in file" field: %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll and hit the Return key. This will display all the icons native to Windows XP, and you can choose any of them to replace your current icon.)
For Macs:
- Locate the custom icon you wish to use for your favorite program. This can be any icon in any folder of your hard drive or one that you made yourself.
- Highlight the icon and choose Get Info from the File menu in the Finder or (Command+I).
- In the Get Info window, click the icon that is displayed under General.
- Choose Copy from the Edit menu or (Command+C).
- Close the Get Info window and locate the icon of the program you wish to customize.
- Highlight the program icon, choose Get Info from the File menu again (Command+I), and highlight the program icon under General.
- Choose Paste from the Edit menu (Command+V), and your program's icon is changed to the one you copied to the clipboard.
- Close the Get Info window.
- If you change your mind and wish to revert the program's icon back to what it was originally, choose Get Info from the File menu, highlight the icon under General and press the Delete key. Your icon is restored.
Thanks to Jim Greenberg for this tip!
Outlook Mail Tips
The Global Address List - Properties of users
The Global Address List in Outlook Mail contains every person on campus with an Exchange Mail Account. That is, everyone. You can use the Global Address List to select recipients for a message, and you can also view the properties of their entry to learn a few additional facts about them.
You can double-click on any entry in the list to bring up information about that particular user. Some entries, like the one shown above with a green dot next to it, refer to student users who have specified an email address other than their regular Oneonta account to receive mail at. If you send a message to this person at their oneonta.edu address, it will be forwarded to their preferred address. This can be important to know if you are sending them an attachment, as some outside email services will block attachments over a certain size (usually one megabyte).
The user's Properties box shows their specific information:
In this case it shows the user's preferred email address in the Email field.