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Archive for the ‘Reception-desk’ Category

How we improve LRC assistants’ and tutors’ visibility using name tags

2012/01/05 Leave a comment
  1. We posted name tag holders on lanyards at the bulletin board behind the reception desk.
  2. When you come in, take one, insert your student id card, and wear it during your shift.
  3. At the end of your shift, do not forget to return the name tag holders to the bulletin board for the next LRC assistant/tutor.
  4. CIMG0008
Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, Photos, Reception-desk, service-is-hr-managing Tags:

How to check if components of Canon camera (01-10) are complete

2011/12/19 Leave a comment
  1. Battery
  2. Battery Charger
  3. AV cable – FIREWIRE cables for transferring video are not included, we do not have enough. Use in the LRC only.canon-zr-800-CIMG0002 (2)
Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-students, Film-studies, Reception-desk, service-is-library Tags: ,

How LRC assistants can print LRC jobs from the reception desk

2011/11/03 Leave a comment
  1. If you have (ONLY! printing is tracked) work-related jobs to print from the reception desk, please use this method:
  2. Choose “print” as normal and then this Toshiba printer driver ONCE I HAVE IT INSTALLED:CIMG0010
  3. the printer driver will ask you for a code; the code in the LRC Moodle announcement board sticky post, above the threads: CIMG0009
  4. You can pick up the print outs in the mailroom behind the LCS department’s main office.
Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, documentation, e-infrastructure, Reception-desk Tags:

LRC assistant responsibilities: A checklist (on reception desk next to your screen)

2011/10/26 Leave a comment


For larger view, click “Full screen”windows in lower right corner. Mote that the sheet with LRC assistant responsibilities is handily posted right under your screen at your work station – refer to it as needed,

reception-desk-responsibilities

Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, checklists, e-infrastructure, e-languages, e-learning, Reception-desk, service-is-hr-managing, service-is-library, training

How we provide more computer support for walk-up clients at the LRC reception desk

2011/10/05 Leave a comment
  1. We have set up 3 PCs at the reception desk. They all contain an exactly identical software configuration (based on Symantec Ghost imaging and Faronics Deepfreeze).
  2. Except that two (we could not get hold of another monitor) have a secondary screen connected that can extend the Windows Desktop, or mirror it (use CTRL-ALT-F11 and CTRL-ALT-F10 to switch between the modes of the )
  3. coed433-CIMG0001 Stitch
  4. coed433-CIMG0016 (2) Stitch
  5. To aid in this communication over the counter, press CTRL-2 to freeze and on the screen (uses MS-ZoomIt) which helps when pointing out screen elements.
  6. So that LRC staff and clients can both use the university’s most important web applications,  the computers have been configured to automatically launch a number of web browsers on startup, and within each browser, open a number of home pages with(LRC website, Moodle, NINERNET, faculty&staff Mail, WordPress, Excel Web App with he LRC databases for hardware, software, media and learning materials inventories). (When done, instead of closing the browser, use the “sign out” link of each web application).
  7. As a reminder, the most basic instructions (with keyboard shortcuts) have been posted on both primary and secondary monitor.  
  8. Can we also implement a screen sharing solution allowing for MS-remote assistance, to enable reception desk LRC staff to escalate client questions they cannot resolve, like our IT department?
Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, audience-is-language-learning-center-temp-staff, audience-is-teachers, e-infrastructure, Institution-is-University-of-North-Carolina-Charlotte, Reception-desk, software Tags: , , , , ,

LRC Outlook/Exchange 2010 Resource Calendaring: How to display a Room/Staff/Tutor calendar aggregate at the reception desk using live@edu

2011/09/28 1 comment
  1. The LRC needs an overview aggregate calendar of its many rooms and services for clients in the entrance area. This should be always on display on the higher one of the reception area dual screen computers when screens are in extended mode
  2. From the calendar mailbox in OWA , these calendars can and have been published to the internet.
    1. LRC assistants can load and bookmark multiple (published or shared) calendars in their OWA, but there are limitations
      1. We do not want to clutter LRC Assistants OWA with LRC calendars more than we have to.
      2. OWA displays calendars (currently = 2011) only side-by-side, there is no overlay (=aggregate) mode like in Outlook 2010, and only up to 5 simultaneously, again unlike Outlook 2010 (30) (Students do not have Outlook (although it is being considered installing it on student staffed computers).
    2. A standard web browser allows for display of only one (HTML) calendar at a time in a web browser.
    3. ICS compatible applications like live@edu
    1. can display many (=aggregate) ICS-based calendars in overlay mode.
    2. In addition, it is easy to change the display color (like in Outlook 2010) and display color (unlike in Outlook 2010, for me at least).
    3. In live@edu, this looks promising:
    4. uncc-lrc-calendar-aggregation-with-names
    5. To display more meaningful/less misleading subjects than “Busy” for pseudo-rooms (“offices” like LRC assistants or  language tutors), add a subject (office name “LRC Assistant”or max class-level tutored).
    6. To have LRC assistants easily and consistently load this aggregate calendar view,
      1. we need to give tutors the password to uncc-lrc credentials  – being “friends”  not enough (which makes their own access to SkyDrive which we finally achieved yesterday useless –  unless they log in as themselves and as uncc-lrc in 2 different browsers)
      2. However, I have not found a way to aggregate calendar ics files and display them without password (ideally in Joomla)
      3. Workaround: use a AutoIT auotmation script that runs when LRC Assistant logs in form the All users Startup Folder.
Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-manager, audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, e-infrastructure, Reception-desk Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Reception area PCs: Remaining issues with the software image

2011/09/08 Leave a comment
  1. That’s a new one: CIMG0011. likely fixed by logging in with an admin account first before freezing.
  2. IE8 windows in kiosk mode where clients need to log in (and out, using the  built in links not by closing the browser)
    1. 49erexpress , the rest is linked there and opens in a new window which can also be closed, as long as the login dialogue stays up
    2. mail.uncc.edu
    3. Moodle
  3. Safari
    1. default dialogues need to be changed
      1. no “not default browser”:
        1. close w/o saving settings/tabs
    2. should start and load the UNCC-LRRC calendar (could be home page)
  4. Chrome
    1. business chrome install, but interferes with zoomit shortcuts
  5. Firefox
      1. is missing tab 49erexpress: use this also for lrc assistants
      2. LRC Moodle
      3. LRC lists
      4. loads its required tabs twice – probably related to “save and quit” feature which needs to be set to “quit” and “never ask again”.CIMG0012
  6. Spreadsheet opens read-only.CIMG0013
      1. Trying to set the file attribute to read/write fails CIMG0017
  7. not needed, store in outlook, also we do not output code to spreadsheet anymore anyway to discourage manual copy: Writable spreadsheet is not useful anyway on a frozen PC
      1. w/o thawspace: implement one in Deepfreeze (which requires alteration of the DFWks.exe installer) (and during creation of the image, fake the drive letter from which the spreadsheet autoloads, with a  removable drive).
      2. Better would be Faronics Igloo which would with install of deepfreeze redirect spreadsheet folder to thawed virtual partition, but is not available
  8. Deepfreeze did install and could be frozen, but does not accept its password for thawing locally and needs to be thawed from the Deepfreeze Console. Password has been updated.
  9. The MS-Office tooltips are set to French – this is for testing:
  10. CIMG0014
  11. Internet Explorer managed to sneak in Bing as the default search provider; CIMG0015
  12. When starting MS-word, there is a DOCUMENT Recovery pane.
  13. in explorer, protected operating files are not shown, but hidden files
  14. label screens on lrc assistant side.
    1. LRC assistants use Firefox, clients use Internet explorer (full-screen – use ALT+TAB to switch windows)
    2. show on 2nd screen:
      1. SAFARI with UNCC-LRC calendar
      2. Moodle Spanish announcement (?)
      3. Printers
        1. department: optional
        2. Ricoh: default
Categories: audience-is-language-learning-center-manager, audience-is-language-learning-center-staff, e-infrastructure, Reception-desk Tags:

How to enable screen cloning and switching between display modes on the LRC reception desk dual screen Dell OptiPlex 780 with WinXP

2011/07/26 Leave a comment

Short, non-technical answer: on the keyboards of the reception desk computers, press key combination

  1. ALT+CTRL+F10 to mirror the same image on both monitors;
  2. ALT+CTRL+F11 to return to extending the primary screen, i.e. showing something different on the second screen.
  3. if this stops working, restart the computer.

We do not use any more key combination ALT+CTRL+F10 to cycle through the different desktop configurations, which include cloning/mirroring the same image on both screens (also keep pressing the key combination, in order to get back to extending the image to the 2nd screen, for running an informational display (calendar, PowerPoint) to display on the 2nd screen after mirroring the lab assistant’s screen onto the 2nd screen when interacting with a client on the other side of the help desk counter).

Longer, technical answer: You have to configure this. But the Win XP dialogue: Display Properties / tab: Settings only allows for “extending” the desktop to the secondary screen. However, button: Advanced leads to another dialogue, with a tab: ATI Control Center, by the graphics card manufacturer.

If you also enable the advanced settings in this dialogue, you can get to the hotkey settings where, among other things, you can enter a key combination for cycling through Display Configurations, one of which being cloning.

reception-screens-hotkeys

In addition, you can save this configuration as such:

reception-screens-hotkeys-profile

Why all these minutiae? You cannot have LRC clients and staff at the help desk communicate with the help of a computer (and all the goodies accessible now, from intranet to interwebs) if they cannot easily share the screen (and, in order to both even interact with the screen, share keyboard and mouse, which are easy to duplicate, if you have some spare USB input devices lying around). If you can make them share, you have applied AI to business problems (compare dual screen system in the LLC entrance area here). If calling the after state “AI” sounds too lofty to you, you may call the before state  “flying blind” instead: I just care about the delta which remains the same.

Categories: e-infrastructure, hardware, Reception-desk, software Tags: , , ,