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Dana Roode

UPDATING UCI TELEPHONE LISTINGS

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Last summer, NACS Electronic Communication Services implemented a pilot program to allow online updates to faculty and staff directory listings. This streamlined the update process and eliminated the need for paper mark-up listings for participating departments. NACS will again be offering online access for updates this year; to register and sign-up for a training class, call NACS ECS Customer Service at 824-5123.

If you have updates that you would prefer to have processed now, your campus telephone directory provides the necessary forms on pages 30 and 31. Submitting the updates now will save you from the larger job of making all updates via the mark-up listings in July.

FROM THE DIRECTOR: END USER COMPUTING SUPPORT AT UCI

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An important issue confronting UCI is the provision of adequate computing and electronic communication support to faculty, staff, and students. Below I summarize NACS’ view concerning the relative roles of central and departmental computing support.

NACS provides electronic communication infrastructure (the campus network, as one example) and basic computing and communications services to all faculty, staff and students. Two examples of the latter are the student Educational Access (EA) computing cluster and the E4E electronic mail service for faculty and staff.

NACS also provides expertise and services best provided by a campus-wide computing organization, such as contract UNIX support, and network management consultation. NACS provides a help desk for NACS services, common campus-wide questions, and to make referrals to other support resources where appropriate. NACS staff are also available to assist departmental computing personnel, and coordinate campus-wide discussions on technical issues.

However, with the rapid expansion in network and computing utilization over the past decade, it is neither possible nor appropriate for a central organization to provide the majority of direct user support. As is the case at most major Universities, UCI now relies on departmental and school support personnel to maintain local computing services and administrative systems and to provide direct assistance to faculty and staff. The common wisdom is that the optimal support strategy involves a combination of local and central staff, working in harmony, and following campus-wide computing standards.

Even with the combined staff of departments and central support organizations, UCI does not currently have sufficient staff to meet all UCI technology demands. The current support situation is under review, as it creates a fair amount of frustration on campus and slows UCI’s efficient use of technology.

The document referenced below contains NACS’ draft recommendations on local support. We invite your feedback on support issues, via e-mail to NACS@UCI.EDU, or directly to myself, to Dana Roode (NACS Associate Director), or to Jan Vescera (NACS Departmental Support Coordinator).

William H. Parker
Director, Network & Academic Computing Services

Draft Local Support Recommendations:
http:// www.nacs.uci.edu/support/local-support-recommendations.html

LOOKING UP E-MAIL ADDRESSES

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One of the most frequent requests made of UCI’s e-mail postmaster is to lookup an e-mail address. UCI’s electronic phone book can be accessed from Eudora and also from the Web via “Ph-WWW”: http://www.uci.edu/cgi-bin/phwww

This tool allows you to search for a person by name, phone number, department, or a combination of these and other fields. More information on the capabilities of this search can be found by clicking on “More Information about PHWWW” on the Web page.

So next time you need an e-mail address, “let your fingers do the walking.”

REVIEWING YOUR PHONE BILL

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In a time when we are all seeking ways to cut costs, one place to look may be on your telecommunications expenses. Each month, NACS Electronic Communication Services (ECS) provides your department with a telephone bill that details the ECS equipment and services you are paying for monthly. We suggest that departments review the billing statement for accuracy. If any questionable charges are found, just call our billing staff at extension 4311 for clarification. In the review process it is not uncommon to come across a line or service that you may no longer need or use and yet you continue to pay for it. In this case, you may submit an NACS-ECS Request Form to have the service discontinued. You may be surprised at the savings!

Update on Modem Pool Timeouts

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Early reports indicate the new two hour timeout on UCI’s 824-9000 modem pool has made a noticeable improvement in the availability of free modems during evening hours. Preliminary telephone company data indicates modem-users are encountering approximately 40% fewer busy signals since the timeouts were put in place. NACS will continue to monitor the situation during the 3 month timeout trial period.

Please note that it is not possible to provide a warning when the two hour timeout is reached while dialed up to UCInet using PPP or SLIP. You must keep track of how long you have been connected on your own. Note also that after your two hours is up, you may attempt to dial-up and access the modem pool for additional two hour sessions.