Finding IT Services Just Got Easier!

Announcing the new ITS Service Catalog

Widener University Office of Information Technology Services is pleased to announce our first iteration of our Service Catalog. It serves as a new way to access and request information regarding ITS services.

How to Access the Service Catalog?

You can access the Service Catalog by searching on the myWidener portal or using the direct link to the Service Catalog at http://sites.widener.edu/service-catalog/.

What is a Service Catalog?

The Service Catalog provides an organized collection of services that are available to the Widener University community. The web-based Service Catalog offers one location to access information about ITS services, contacts, and resources. While this is currently not an extensive or all-inclusive list, we will continually add services to the catalog, as well as information about each service, such as: how to request a service and links to support information.

Why an IT Service Catalog?

You may be familiar with ITS services, but it can sometimes be difficult to know whom to contact for what. The Service Catalog was developed to:

      • Provide one central source of information in a standard format.
      • Enhance the understanding of what services ITS provides.
      • Improve customer service by integrating with Helpdesk and support activities.
      • Provide a regularly updated web presence for ITS services which are accurate, current, and contains timely information about new and changing services.

How does the Service Catalog Work?

The web-based Service Catalog is broken up by categories and then into services. It was designed as an easy way for customers to navigate the inventory of services.  Each service includes a brief description of what is provided and to whom. Each may also include links to additional information. There is a search function to quickly locate specific services.

How do I provide feedback?

To provide comments and suggestions on our services and the Service Catalog itself, please email itscs@widener.edu. We are especially interested in how we can make the Service Catalog more useful to you!

 

 

Who is Cortana and Why Am I Receiving “Your Daily Briefing” Emails?

Summary: Office 365 users recently began receiving daily Cortana emails. In this article we will explain what these email are, what Cortana can do, and how you can disable it if you choose to.

Who is Cortana?

Cortana is Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence (AI), promoting it as a personal productivity assistant to help you save time and focus on what matters most. Cortana powers their entire secure cloud, which includes Office 365. Cortana is voice activated.

Why is Cortana Emailing Me?

Your Daily Briefing email is sent to help you stay in control of your calendar and be more intentional with your day. Cortana learns when you get to work and will send the email based upon what it predicts is the start of your work day.

What can Cortana do for me?

Cortana can be found by clicking start and typing “Cortana”, it will ask you to login using your email account. Some of the things that Cortana can do for you:

      • Join a meeting in Microsoft Teams or find out who your next meeting is with
      • Manage your calendar and keep your schedule up to date
      • Create and Manage Lists
      • Set reminders and alarms
      • Open apps on your computer

Not receiving Cortana Emails?

Cortana is data driven, the more data it has the better to predict your needs. If you are not receiving the Daily Briefing emails, not to worry, Cortana just doesn’t have enough data to send them. You may also not be subscribed.

How can I unsubscribe, subscribe or find out if my Cortana is active?

If you do not want to receive Cortana emails, look in the footer of the Daily Briefing email, there you will find an “unsubscribe” button.

To verify if your Cortana is active or to change your subscription. While logged into your Office 365 account, you can go to https://cortana.office.com and change your subscription at any time. 

If you would like to learn more about what Cortana can do for you, please visit the Cortana LinkedIn Learning playlist. You can also search in LinkedIn Learning to find more in-depth tutorials.

Connect and Collaborate
Welcome to Microsoft Teams

It is inevitable that technology will change, sometimes faster than we can keep up with and sometimes not fast enough!

At some point, you may have heard ITS staff mention that GroupWise messenger (aka Novell messenger) would be retiring. On July 31st, GroupWise messenger will end its long reign and pass the crown to a new resource in our growing Office 365 arsenal – Microsoft Teams. Whether or not you currently use GroupWise messenger, we are excited for you to see the Teams application and learn how it can work for you! While Microsoft Teams has a multitude of functions, we will only focus on its chat feature during the initial roll out. ITS already scheduled some training dates so you can come learn more about Teams and how to use it. If you would like to register for training, please click here and choose the session that works best for you.

In addition to providing training, we have compiled an initial FAQ below; this FAQ will grow as more questions arise. We highly recommend subscribing to this blog to receive notifications when new information posts.

If you have a question or concern that is not addressed in the FAQ, please email the Client Success Team at itscs@widener.edu.

 

FAQ’s

Q:  Why are we moving from GroupWise to Teams? 

A:As you may have heard, we are moving away from Novell and the physical server maintenance it requires. Thus, moving towards the cloud-based chat option that Office 365 offers.

 
Q:  Why are we moving to Teams instead of Skype for Business? 

A:Skype for business is at its end of life, therefore we need to move to a more sustainable solution.

Q:  Can I access my saved GroupWise message history?

A:Yes, but only before July 31. You will be able to access your saved message history, provided you have that function enabled.

Q:  Can I export my contact list out of GroupWise messenger

A:No. You are not able to export contact lists out of GroupWise.

Q:  Can I edit names? 

A:No, but you can hover your cursor over a name to see their contact information, you can chat, email or call them through the internet (with or without video).

 Q:  How do we create a Team?  

A:Although the ability to create a team is enabled, we are requesting that you do not create any Teams at this time. If you need a Team created, please open a quick ticket and ITS will assist you in the creation. http://quickticket.widener.edu/

Q:  Will anyone be able to see my status? 

A:Yes. Others will be able to tell if you are available, busy or in a meeting by looking at the icon by your name. Know that this same information has always been available through the Outlook scheduling assistant in your calendar.

Q:  Can you import your contacts into Teams? 

A:No. The applications are from two separate providers, there is no ability to import contact from GroupWise into Teams. However, if you have contacts in Skype they will transfer over to Teams.

Q:  How do I chat with my colleagues? 

A:Choose the chat option from the menu on the left margin, then type the contacts name in the command bar, once their name appears select it and you can start your conversation with them.

Q:  How do I create a chat including multiple colleagues? 

A:Choose the chat option from the menu on the left margin, then select the icon at the top of the page next to the command bar that looks like a pen and paper, this will allow you to select multiple contacts to have a conversation with.

Q:  Can I block from receiving chats from another colleague? 

A:No, but there is an option to mute them and hide them. This selection is found by clicking on the ellipsis (three dots) next to the contact name. This brings up more options. If you use this feature, you can change the option by searching the contact, select the ellipsis and then change the setting back.

 

 

Extra! Extra! myWidener is here! Search. Click. Done.

Today we officially say goodbye to CampusCruiser and move on to myWidener. We hope you agree that the new site makes it easier to find what you need quickly.

MyWidener treats every resource you access as a task, whether it’s a link to a web form, site, or app. While we organized those tasks into logical groupings, like “Library Resources” or “Employee Services,” the most powerful way to use myWidener is simply search for the specific task you’re looking for. Wondering what’s on the menu at the Pride Cafe? Just search for “menu.” Once you’ve found a task you use regularly, click or touch the star in the task’s button. It’ll be added to your favorites, which show up at the top of your window every time you log in.

We wanted to thank our university colleagues for their support through all of the long hours with helping us build out these new sites. Just a little fun info we wanted to share, the following has been built out for myWidener:

  • 187 tasks in 32 task centers
  • 44 public office web sites
  • 20 internal SharePoint web sites

Have a question? Please email us at cruisercloseout@widener.edu. If you have feedback on myWidener, please send us a note by selecting the feedback option under your name (or the hamburger icon on your mobile device), then select “Send Feedback.” We welcome your questions, feedback and support.

5 things you should be doing for the CampusCruiser closeout

Here are the top 5 things you REALLY need to do if you haven’t already:

  1. Download all your data within CampusCruiser.

We have no guarantee that CampusCruiser will be available until March 15th, and even if it is, there is very limited support.  Therefore, we are directing everyone to download their data as soon as possible if you haven’t done so yet.

  1. Move your office data to a Group in Office 365.

Do you currently have an office within CampusCruiser that is only for use by internal students, staff, and faculty of Widener?  If so, you can create an Office 365 group for your office. For assistance with creating the group, please contact the helpdesk by opening a quick ticket. http://quickticket.widener.edu and select “Microsoft Group Creation” from the dropdown.

Also, don’t forget to extract your memberships list out of your offices!

  1. Remove all mail.widener.edu accounts from your contact lists.

We recommend when sending an email to check the address of the person you are sending the message to.  If it shows that it is a mail.widener.edu account, please click on the black X to delete that account for your contact. If you are unsure, please contact the helpdesk for assistance.

  1. Sign up for e2campus alerts.

Remember to sign up for the e2campus alerts.  Please go to the Omnilert page and register.  Click here to register for the e2campus alerts

  1. Subscribe to the blog.

We highly recommend subscribing to this blog to receive notifications when new information is posted.


Do you have a question or concern?  Please send an email to cruisercloseout@widener.edu for further assistance.