ASKTOM UPGRADE

Information Technology Services (ITS) is improving the quality of customer service with an enhancement of AskTom. This will now be a part of the Remedyforce Service Desk.

What is it?

AskTom is a searchable database of general questions and answers for common questions. Now we are launching a chat service for additional Q and A.

How Do I use It?

1. Log in to memphis.edu.
2. Click on the left side.
3. Type your question and your AskTom answer will appear on the right side.

Or

4. Click, located at the bottom right of the window of the Self Service page.
5. Type your question or describe your issue in the text field then click Start Chat to begin chat session.

Let’s Recap!

Easier

Faster

Live Chat Feature!

As many of you know, I’m retiring effective 12/11.  I want to use this posting to express my appreciation to all and each of you – staff, faculty, students, and friends – who’ve made my time at UofM so rewarding.  You’ve helped work through the challenges and changes of the evolving higher ed and IT environments, bringing your creativity and commitment to keep us moving forward.  You’ve been excellent colleagues, and my work has only been possible because of yours.

Thanks for your support and dedication.  You make the UofM succeed.  I will miss working with you, and wish each of you the very best as you shape your own futures.

Go, Tigers!

Ellen

The UofM community will notice major changes to the MyMemphis portal beginning January 7, 2016. The redesign aims to improve the overall user experience with a fully responsive design and mobile-friendly approach to content.

We know you often access MyMemphis while on the go. The new look and feel of MyMemphis is optimized for outstanding performance not just on stationary computers, but also on phones, tablets and all other mobile devices.

The new portal has been running behind the scenes for quite awhile, and final testing is in progress. After the launch on January 7, we will address any operational issues if they are discovered and continue to implement tools that keep MyMemphis user-friendly.

We’ve worked hard to make improvements so that the secure, online, self-service resources of MyMemphis are much easier to navigate for everyone. If you have any questions before or after the new portal roll out, please send them to webservices@memphis.edu.

With the holidays about to go into full swing, the number of scams is on the rise. To keep yourself safe, here are a few things to remember:

• NEVER send personal or account information via email.
• ITS will ever ask for your password via email or phone.
• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Any suspicious emails may be forwarded to abuse@memphis.edu to be investigated.
• Do NOT click on links or attachments in suspicious or unknown emails.
• Phone calls can be a scam as well. Treat them the same as you would an email. Do NOT give out personal identification and report all suspicious calls to IT.

Feel free to contact x8888 with anything out of the ordinary.

Check out the resources listed below:

• https://www.fbi.gov/news/news_blog/holiday-shopping-tips
• http://www.memphis.edu/its/security/phishing.php
• http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-phone-scams

Remember: Be suspicious! Better to report something legitimate than to fail to report something fraudulent! While ITS provides a range of security protection in the background, YOU are the primary target and YOU are the link that closes the information security loop.

Happy Holidays~

Ellen

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month!  For more information visit http://www.memphis.edu/its/security/ncsam/.

Robert Jackson

Assoc. CIO & Chief Information Security Officer

Information Technology Services (ITS) welcomes you to the University of Memphis, and wishes you a successful academic year.  We understand this is a hectic time for everyone as the semester begins. However, we want to take a moment to provide you with these important reminders.

We encourage you to review tips for protecting your personal information by clicking this link: 

http://www.memphis.edu/its/security/index.php.  

Additional security information is accessible by clicking links on the left-hand side of that page.  If you receive any suspicious email, you may forward it to abuse@memphis.edu for analysis.

Please use the Service Desk to request technical assistance. For your convenience, you may use http://umhelpdesk.memphis.edu to submit your requests online or you may call 901.678.8888. Once your helpdesk ticket is submitted, someone will follow-up with you as soon as possible. 

Finally, please be sure to review the policies regarding information technology located at http://policies.memphis.edu/. We encourage you to especially review the following policies:

http://policies.memphis.edu/UM1691.htm

http://policies.memphis.edu/UM1337.htm

http://policies.memphis.edu/UM1566.htm

http://policies.memphis.edu/UM1535.htm

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Regards,

Ellen Watson

Chief Information Officer

Monday, August 3, marks the start of a new service support system for all faculty, staff and students.  The system is designed to enhance customers’ experience and to continue to improve service quality.

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) will be conducting Virtual and On-Ground training opportunities for all users.

For more information and to register for training, visit umtech.memphis.edu/service.

Sophisticated email phishing attempts are being conducted in an effort to compromise University computers.  Users are, therefore, reminded to use caution when opening any email attachments or clicking any links within suspicious emails.

Please review the ITS security web pages for additional information regarding phishing attempts: (http://www.memphis.edu/its/security/phishing.php).

Thank you!

Ellen

Colleagues,

In order to comply with TBR guideline G-052 (https://policies.tbr.edu/guidelines/access-control) and best practices for desktop security, desktop sessions should be locked after 20 minutes of inactivity.  ITS is investigating how to implement this change throughout the University with as little impact as possible and we are considering a phased roll-out beginning in administrative units, followed by academic units.

An additional consideration, however, is the impact on instructor workstations in classrooms and student lab computers.  We’d appreciate your feedback on this issue while we are in the early planning stages.

You can leave your comments, concerns and suggestions below, or you may email Jude Knight (jknight3), who will compile all of them and share them with the ITS team.

Thank you for your input.

Ellen

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

Information Technology Services (ITS) is participating in the annual Techqual+ survey to assess the quality of technology services on campus and we need your help.  Your input is critical in helping us to gather information so that we can identify and plan appropriately to provide the best technology services possible.

Participants may enter a drawing for a $50 gift card.  Four winners will be selected!

Your participation in this survey is completely optional and your responses are anonymous. No personally identifiable information about you will be collected during the survey.  You will be given an opportunity to participate in this year’s gift card drawing at the end of the survey and, if you choose to participate, you will be redirected to a separate website to provide your email address.  The email address you provide for the gift card drawing will not be associated with your survey responses.  Gift card winners employed by the University of Memphis are subject to appropriate IRS tax withholding and reporting.

To participate in the survey, click the following link:

https://www.techqual.org/survey/dl.aspx?g=051a8d8a-e9e1-472f-a5eb-e544e2f06fc9

Your feedback is important because it helps us develop action plans that assist in continual improvement. The survey closes April 24, 2015 at 4:30PM.  I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to participate in this process. If you have any questions about the survey please feel free to contact Dr. Robert Jackson at rjax@memphis.edu.

Thank you for your participation!

Ellen