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2024-02-20

Home/Help Desk/Tools For Staff/Technology Roundtable/2024-02-20
2024-02-20 2024-03-06T09:20:41+00:00

ITS Technology Roundtable (#3) 2/20/24

Attendance

  • ~10 remote attendees
  • 8 in-person attendees

Teams Phones (Jesse Chiem)

  • Teams Phone is a feature within Microsoft Teams that allows you to make and receive phone calls using the Microsoft Teams app. So, you’ll get those traditional phone features like voicemail, automated transcribing of voicemails, call forwarding, and call transferring. This offers both promising strides in how we modernize our infrastructure that benefits the end user and community as a whole, but as we mentioned in our last RoundTable, there are long-term cost savings from making this transition as well.
  • On the whole modernization end of things, switching to Teams Phone allows users to integrate their calling experience not only with the Microsoft Teams app itself, but also with other Microsoft 365 tools and apps. In other words, the departments and groups already leveraging the 365 ecosystem for communicating and work collaboration now have the added benefit of calling others from that very same platform.
  • Users will be able to access your campus phone number from any internet-connected device, even if you’re working remotely. You’ll no longer have to rely on the traditional phone, meaning you can use your computer or tablet for taking/making calls.
  • Right now, as we’re awaiting some of the onsite physical changes needing to be done by Lumen for this project, at Highline we’re building out our configuration behind the scenes. This includes catering specific call flows and routing to different departments across campus. For example, we’re working on allowing a prospective student to quickly be transferred to Entry Advising when they call the main campus number. And that’s all part of other details that my team is meticulously working on. Automated greetings, building our menu options for the main Highline phone number, even what kind of music we should play when a caller is put on hold. Otherwise, it’s also a testing phase, and we’re open to individuals or units who’d like to be early adopters and part of this testing phase. If you’re interested, please let us know.

ITS Website Updates (Lori Evans)

As part of the services ITS offers, we provide tutorials for students and employees on the applications we use here at Highline.  These were largely being hosted on Google Docs and PDFs for years, but we are now converting them into webpages.

This move allows students and staff to use the Google Translate Widget, which can quickly translate sites into over a hundred different languages.

The simplified webpages are also easier to read using Screen Readers for blind or visually impaired users.

This has been an opportunity to rework these pages and tutorials into a more consistent format guided by Highline’s Accessible Technology Committee.

The tutorials are also being updated to match the application’s latest edition and offer guidance for various formats of use, such as Windows or Mac OS, Chromebooks, or Android or Apple mobile phones.  We are working on adding video guides to go along with the written instructions as well.  Overall, the goal is to make it easier for users to access the help they need in a format they can use, and keep it linked together in one place for quicker updates.

  • ITS website currently consists of 135 pages
    • 60 of them are new – some converted Docs/PDFs, some are new guides to organize the tutorials better
  • There are 80+ Google Docs and PDFs yet to be converted

Any broken links or incorrect, out-of-date pages or files can be emailed to levans@highline.edu for review and correction, and you can let us know if you have any other suggestions.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Rollout for Students (Tim Wrye)

Multi-Factor Authentication (see our MFA FAQ) is required for Cyber Security Insurance and State regulations when personal and financial information is being stored.  

  • This means it is required for all students in credit programs (“Term Activated,” meaning they may not be currently enrolled, but have the ability to do so) that are eligible for financial aid.
  • Non Credit (such as ELCAP) are not required at this time, as there is a higher level of staff support needed to get those students set up MFA.

Okta Dashboard

  • It is preferred that students start using the Okta Dashboard to get to ctcLink and other tools.  
  • Links for this are found on the ITS website in the main navigation banner at the top, as well as in the ‘Tools for Staff’ and ‘Tools for Students’ pages, and on the Thundernet homepage. 
  • Still working on login issues. Some problems cannot be addressed at this time because it is a shared system, and Highline is not able to customize every aspect.
  • Can be buggy when used on Firefox – make sure the URL reads “https” and not just “http.”
  • Important to start training students to use the Okta Dashboard to minimize the confusion of their applications being in multiple locations.

Participant Questions

  1. After activating MyHighline, is there a delay before they can use the Okta Dashboard?
    1. Students must activate their ctcLink account separately as well as their MyHighline account before they can access the Okta Dashboard.  It may take up to 24 hours to process their accounts and permit access.
  2. Through a student account, what can I do with Aviso through the Okta Dashboard?
    1. Same as before; see your assigned coach/advisor (success team), schedule meetings with them, and send/receive messages with them.
  3. Regarding Outlook – When I am using the mobile/web interface, I cannot see all of my emails and folders, only the general inbox.
    1. May need to check that they are not being saved to your computer.  If they are stored on the Highline server (as they are by default) they will remain accessible.
  4. Are my personal emails/files visible to Highline when I am not storing them on the Highline Drives?
    1. As long as you are careful to save your files on your own personal computer or cloud drives, Highline cannot access or view them.
      1. As a general rule, storing Highline files locally is not recommended.  Use a cloud-based storage such as Google Drive (recommended) or OneDrive.
  5. When is the Windows 11 conversion for the classrooms happening?
    1. Planned for Spring 2024
  6. Should we renew our passwords ahead of the expiration date?
    1. Always preferable. If you need any help with that, contact the Help Desk.
  7. How do the free Microsoft 365 licenses work?
    1. Allows users to install Microsoft 365 Suite applications on up to 5 devices
    2. When you leave the college, your license will be revoked
    3. Be sure to maintain separation of work and personal files, and store your personal files on your own personal computer or cloud drive.