Its Summertime, Why Work in the Office?

Its Summertime why work in the office?            

Once again, it’s that time of year when Laramie begins to take on some subtle changes—the town’s a little quieter as students have left, and it has started to get warmer as summer shows its first signs. Unfortunately, there are few things as unsatisfying as having to be at the office on a perfect summer day. Fortunately, the University of Wyoming’s Information Technology offers a certain program to try to ease this particular office boredom. The Microsoft Work-at-Home program allows benefitted faculty and staff to purchase media for their personal computer in order to work outside of the office. During the months of summer, that could mean anywhere from the patio of Night Heron Coffeehouse in downtown Laramie to as far as a sandy beach on an island in the Bahamas.

The four different products we offer include:

• Windows 7 Professional 32-bit
• Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

 

{Windows 7 Professional includes all the features of Windows 7 Premium, in addition to: the ability to participate in a windows server domain, remote desktop server, location aware printing, encrypting file system, presentation mode, software restriction policies and Windows XP mode. For those of you who don’t “speak IT”, Windows 7 Professional is aimed at enthusiasts.}

 

• Office Professional 2010
• Office 2011 for Mac

 

{Office Professional 2010 is a little different from previous versions in the way it is more “role-based”. In other words, it has features designed for employees in positions ranging from research and development professionals, to sales people and human resources. Beyond that, Office 2010 is also geared towards social networking. Users can connect to and receive updates from Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Windows Live Messenger, inside of Microsoft Outlook. Office 2011 is the comparable version created for Mac computers.}

One of the greatest parts about the Work-at-Home program is how inexpensive it is. Both versions of Windows 7 go for $25.00, while both versions of Office go for $37.00. Because this media usually runs for as much as three to four times the price, there’s really no reason not to take advantage of this deal. Media can be purchased at right at the front desk of the IT building, but be sure to bring your check book with you. Yes, that’s right, as the most tech-saavy departments on campus we only accept the most primitive form of payment. We are open 7:30-4:30, Monday-Friday, and would love to give you the chance to take advantage of Laramie’s beautiful summer afternoons!

For more information or to check eligibility, follow this link: http://www.uwyo.edu/infotech/services/software/wah/default.asp

Maggie Mullen
Casper, WY

Who Wants to do Some Grading?

Test Scoring Goes to the Next Level at the University of Wyoming!

The Sekonic SR-3500 scanner, the most advanced OMR scanner available today. Powerful, automated data capture processing speed at up to 3500 sheets per hour will saves our users hours of data entry time. Data entry goes from days to minutes and accuracy is increased. A Sekonic optical mark reader is fast, reliable and cost effective … and this model’s outstanding features, sleek styling, snap open feed path, and advanced technical features set it apart.

Basic specs for the systems we use:

http://www.appersonedu.com/scanners/sekoniccomparison.aspx

Standard Features

• Automatic feed hopper holds up to 500 sheets
• Main output stacker holds 500 sheets; optional select stacker holds 150 sheets
• Processing speed up to 3,500 documents per hour
• Continuous cleaning, self-calibrating read head reduces maintenance
• Snap open feed path design allows easy access
• Built in self-test insures the scanner is operating normally
• 16 level darkest mark discrimination insures mark validity and data integrity
• Automatic skew detection and elimination
• Control panel with 40 character LCD display
• Multiple sheet detection and prevention
• Emulates other common scanners so that your existing software will work unchanged
• Advanced software enables accurate reading of marks, including X’s and checkmarks as well as marked bubbles.

We are currently using the Remark Classic OMR version 4 software with the Sekonic OMR scanners at two work stations.  The work stations are running on Dell Optiplex 755’s with Windows 7 Ent. 32 bit on one, and Windows 7 Ent. 64 bit on the other.

The software is very intuitive and easy to use for developing scan templates, and scanning with one answer key.  Users that have multiple keys for the same exam will face challenges in initiating the reporting  features as well as reduced number of available reports.

http://www.gravic.com/remark/classicomr/

Most commonly used answer sheets: (Blue) Five Response Generic, Scantron 4521, and

(Green) Ten Response Scantron 6703.

Situated nicely in our Information Technology Center, we provide an excellent productive environment for scoring exams with the Sekonic SR-3500’s.

Matthew Grosinger
Computer Support Specialist, Senior
From Laramie, WY

Keeping Your Head Above the Cloud.

With the recent release of Google Drive, Google’s cloud storage solution – you might be wondering if it’s something worth looking at changing to or maybe you want to know more about what’s out there!

Have no fear though, we at the UW IT Help Desk are here to clear some things up on cloud storage and tell you all about what’s available.

Google Drive

Google Drive, the newest cloud storage option, gives users 5 GBs of storage for starters. The system is built to work in conjunction with Google Docs, Google’s document editing program that’s also hooked into every Android phone and tablet. Google has tossed in some neat functionality that doesn’t exist on any of the other services yet. For instance, Google Drive includes an option to turn on Optical Character Recognition text scanning, which means that when you upload images to your Google Drive, Google will scan the images for text and make them searchable.

Look for more functionality to come out on the Google Drive software and keep your eyes posted for our review of the Google Drive platform on its own later on.

Apple iCloud

iCloud is Apple’s offering and also gives 5 GBs of storage to work with. While it works on both PCs and Macs, its biggest functionality comes from its use on the Apple iOS system. The iCloud keeps backups of your iPhone and iPad and stores it in the cloud so that the data is safe if you ever have to reset your phone. It also automatically backs up your photos that you might take on your device, which is nice as you never have to worry about losing a photo again. Additionally, you get access to the Find My iPhone app which allows you to find your phone if you ever lose it from another phone or via the web.

The service is best for folks who have an iPhone or iPad and use a Mac, as this integration doesn’t require much work on the user’s end and it just works.

Windows SkyDrive

SkyDrive offers 7 GBs to new users, although old users had previously had access to 25 GBs of storage. SkyDrive provides the most storage to any customer of the services at the free level. SkyDrive has some neat features that can’t quite be found with any of the other solutions. One of these neat features is the ability to have notes synchronized that are done with the OneNote program. You can also save directly to the cloud from many Microsoft Office programs. While the integration still lacks in its seamlessness, there is speculation that in the next release of Microsoft Office, the SkyDrive functionality will be baked in right from the start and will store all of your documents in the cloud and on your computer. Right now though, if you don’t have access to a computer, you can use Microsoft’s online document editor which works just as well as its desktop counterpart does and again, it’s totally free.

If you have a Windows Phone, you also gain some of the functionality that Apple users get with the iCloud functionality. Photos taken on these phones also get uploaded right into the cloud so you never have to worry about a lost photo again. The service doesn’t quite back your phone up in to the cloud yet, but it’s believed to be a feature that’s in the works.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a service that many of us at the Help Desk have written about and that many of us adore. Dropbox only provides 2 GB to its customers initially, but it gives you the opportunity to expand your space via referrals. This referral system enables many to get the space on their account up to a more respectable 6 or 7 GBs. With that said, Dropbox was one of the first players to the scene and has set the bar for everyone else to touch. Dropbox includes an easy to use web interface, but also the best seamless uploading system available. You simply install the program on your computer and it’ll download everything from your Dropbox into that folder. As you delete and save things, it’ll distribute that throughout all of the devices you may have hooked in. This is especially useful if you have several computers as the synchronized functionality is instant, so if you upload a file to your Dropbox in Coe, by the time you get home, it’ll already be saved on to your computer.

Regardless of what you decide to use, it’s comforting to know there are ways to back up your important documents and photos. While nothing is infallible, it helps to know you’re keeping yourself protected at every turn so that if you ever have a data loss, you don’t have to worry about rewriting that paper!

Pedro Rampolla Freshman at UW - Political Science from Cheyenne, WY

Summer Fun in Laramie: Downtown Attractions

In this installment of summer in Laramie we’re going to further encourage you to get out of your apartment, dark room, box, (what have you) off that couch and into the sun and fun of Laramie, Wyoming! Today we’ll tour Downtown Laramie, it’s one of those places that has more history in the building walls then most any other place and those walls are not afraid to tell you a story if you wait long enough to hear all of it. Downtown Laramie has roots dating back to 1868 with the completion of the Union-Pacific Railroad and the visionary of men like Edward Ivinson and Henry Wagner. Today Downtown Laramie is a place for great mom and pop restaurants, quaint shopping, sightseeing and just enjoying your surroundings on a stroll.

During the four plus years I have been in Laramie I have spent many days; winter and summer alike, walking around downtown Laramie enjoying the sights and sounds the historical area has to offer. Did you know that the first horseless carriage, or automobile, in Wyoming was built by Laramie’s own mechanical genius Elmer Lovejoy? Yep that’s right, and now he has a great restaurant named after him just a few blocks south of his famous shop, Novelty Works. If you are interested in a walking tour of the downtown area, check out thisbrochure for a self-guided tour of the downtown Laramie area. As you are enjoying the walking tour of Downtown be sure to stop in some of the local shops to find any type of local treasure. For a full list of shopping and business offerings clickhere.

Now that you are more familiar with the downtown area; how about some summer-time fun? Yeah we are talking about the farmers market, Jubilee Days, Downtown Brewfest, the Gem City Car Classic and so many more fun events. To start the downtown farmers market will be every Friday starting in July from 3-7 p.m. The downtown area along 2nd street is blocked off from vehicle traffic and you can find everything from fresh produce to homemade soaps. Next up is the Laramie JubileeDays, which begins the first week of July, July 2nd – 10th. Laramie Jubilee Days started as a way to celebrate Wyoming Statehood day, July 10th and has grown into a full-fledged downtown weeklong event. For a list of events clickhere or check out Jubilee Days onFacebook. Next up is the Downtown Brewfest, and well not much more needs to be said. This event in late July is a way for all you over 21’ers to enjoy all the home brewed beverages that Laramie has to offer.

My final Downtown Laramie summer event would be the Gem City Car Classic happening August 27. This fun event is similar to many other car shows in other cities but the downtown area embraces the history and acts the part by bringing the past to the present. Sure to be a fun time for the car lover and non-car lover alike the car show is something not to miss.

Well there you have it, Downtown Laramie and all the history and fun you could want. Not to mention the great food and shopping you will encounter as you wander around the area. Just think, at one point in time that same road you are walking down was filled with horse drawn carriages and the bustle of one of the most active rail yards in the country. So go out and enjoy what the Downtown area has to offer. And remember sometimes the walls can talk, until next time don’t forget to talk back, it would be rude not to.

For more information about Downtown Laramie visittheLaramieMainStreet website.

By-

Branden Hayes Senior at UW - Energy Resource Science. From Pueblo, CO

Summer in Laramie Part 1 – Summer School, No Really It CAN be fun!

Enjoy studying up and hanging out on the grass in Prexy's Pasture

So last time I gave you my top five things to do in Laramie over the summer, and now I am going to go more in depth about each of those five fun Laramie activities. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this 5 part series from me showing you all the great things to do in Laramie over the summer.

To start things off how about a summer class? Now I know, it is summer vacation and the last thing on your mind is summer school and more classes, but you do not have to take tough brain straining classes if you don’t want to. There are many fun courses that are being offered over the summer other than the generic, that can help you catch up or get ahead in your program, that are offered by virtually every department on campus and you can find them here.

There are some interesting classes being offered  from the UW Outreach Center that are not your run of the mill, everyone who graduates will have taken,  type of class. Some of these classes you will find very interesting and will allow you experience more then just a classroom lecture. Plus many of the offered classes are nationally offered so you never know who you are going to meet. Find a list of these classes here.

So there you have it, I know not the most exciting thing you can do over the summer but hey you never know what you are going to learn or who you will meet in a class. Stay tuned for some great ways to get outside and more to enjoy here in Laramie, I promise it’s not educationally based!

By-

Branden Hayes Senior at UW - Energy Resource Science. From Pueblo, CO

Help Desk Metrics – Don’t Let Them Tell You, “You’re just a number!”

Every time you contact the UWIT Help Desk you become an important part of how we evaluate our service.  At UWIT we work hard to try and provide the best customer service we can to our Campus Community including Faculty, Staff and Students.  However, trying to evaluate customer service based on phone calls, emails, chat sessions and remote sessions is difficult on a day to day basis when the calls keep coming and a multitude of people keep answering.  So, we rely on Help Desk Metrics.

Our phone system tells us how many times we were called, how long they had to wait, and how many calls we got.  If someone decided to hang up as opposed to waiting, we know how many people did that too.  The Help Desk looks at these numbers and tries to discern our busiest times.  So if only 2 people call on average from 8-9am, we don’t need 7 people in the help desk for that hour, on average.  However, if we average 20 calls from 9-10am, then we staff that hour accordingly.  All of this is to try and make sure we have enough people that our customers do not have to wait long to hear a Representatives voice.

Our busiest week of 2011 so far has been the first week of school.  That week, the average amount of time people had to wait in a queue was 5 seconds.  On the other hand, on our busiest week the average time people would give us to answer the phone before they hung up was right at 2 minutes.  2 minutes has really been our average all around for the amount of time people will wait in the queue – again this is on average.  We try to get to all of our calls right away but also understand customers don’t want to wait, so 2 minutes makes sense to us and we are glad to know, when the average person calls, the amount of time they will give us to answer is roughly the same.

For that first week of the Spring Semester, we took 586 phone calls and emails.  This averages to 117 calls/emails per day!  Whew, for an institution our size that makes for a pretty busy day.  The average amount of time we spent per phone call that week was right around 4 minutes.  This means we had a good week, metrically speaking, since the customer only had to wait 5 seconds to talk to us and then we were off the phone in less than five minutes.  Not too bad!

We had 530 phone calls that first week.  Of those calls, 37 of them disconnected the call before we could talk to them.  That means for our busiest week we had a 6% abandonment rate, meaning a customer hung up.  This is higher than where we want it, but we also understand not every week are we going to have 117 calls per day.  So we are okay with that.  When you get 18 calls from 1-2pm on Monday, some people will probably be in the queue past 2 minutes.   Since we already know, 2 minutes is about all, there are going to be abandoned calls.  We know that, on average we are not going to have 18 calls in an hour, and since we averaged 4 minutes per call, if we had gotten to all those calls we would have spent 72 minutes on the phone that hour.  Since there are only 60 minutes, we understand there will be those times.

The last and most important statistic to the Help Desk is the percentage of calls we are able to answer on the first call.  When you call the help desk, are we able to answer your question right there, and get you on your way.  For that week, we averaged an outstanding 86% of our calls resolved on that first call.  If you called that week, that means 8, almost 9, of 10 calls were answered and not forwarded onto a consultant or someone else within IT.

Obviously these numbers fluctuate week to week, which is why we base our evaluation on the averages.  But when you call, whether you get through or not, you are helping us work towards our goals in Customer Service, so don’t let anyone tell you “You are just a number.”  You are a valuable metric for our Help Desk!

By-

Brett Williams, Help Desk Manager From Laramie, WY

Foursquare – Proving It Has Staying Power

Foursquare started in it’s infancy over a year ago. When it first started you either loved it or hated it, the biggest complaint being: why would I want everyone to know where I am at all times?

Foursquare’s saving grace is the fact that businesses use it as a way to reward frequent customers. That makes the 5 seconds it takes to check-in at your local haunt that much more rewarding. Last year they boasted 380 Million check-in’s. Check out Read, Write, Web’s article on the breakdown of Foursquare 2010 success.

One of the newer wonder-kid’s of social media is slowly picking up here in Wyoming. Many of the local businesses in Laramie have specials and although you might not like the idea that ANYONE can see your location all the time that’s actually false. Your Foursquare account is only open to those you friend and if you’re still paranoid can opt to check-in but not tell a soul. The message will read on your Foursquare page “Joe checked-in but is hiding his whereabouts” That way you’re still up for all the fun badges but you don’t have to let your friends know where you are every moment of every day.

Not to mention the great deals, like become the mayor at one of the local pizza joints and you receive a great discount on any size pizza or the constant 3 for 2 deal at Bath and Body Works.

It’s well worth a look when you’re on a student budget, or just a fan of being frugal.

By –

Whitney Oppenhuizen, Office Aide to VP of IT, from Grand Haven, MI