Category Archives: User Services

New Helpdesk Ticketing System Implemented

As one of our steps to improve customer service, the IT Department is moving to a new ticketing system to process your requests for IT assistance.

Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16, we will be transitioning all new IT service requests to Harvard University IT’s (HUIT) Service Now ticketing system. This will replace our current Origin ticketing system.

Some of the new features that will allow faster response time on tickets are:

  • Integrated communication with a customer through built-in email, so all questions or requests are easily captured in the ticket.
  • Automated ticket creation using our IT web forms, such as new account request or new computer requests. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/information-technology/forms-fees/
  • Full integration with other HUIT departments that support our email and networking systems allowing quicker turn-around time for those related service requests.

On the customer side, the major change you will see are the emails you receive when a ticket is opened or resolved will have a different look than the current emails from the Origin system.

Tickets that are currently open in our Origin system will be resolved in that system and will not move to the new system.

Please contact us if you have any questions on this new ticketing system.

Thank you,
Taso Markatos, CIO
HSPH Department of Information Technology

Netstorage Restored

This is an update to inform you that the problem which occurred yesterday with our Netstorage system (used for offsite access to your P: and S: drives through a web browser), was completely resolved last night by 8:30 p.m.    We delayed this notification to be certain that there were no issues with the corrective action.

If you should encounter any anomalies in using Netstorage, please contact the Helpdesk at 617-432-4357 or email: helpdesk@hsph.harvard.edu.

Taso Markatos, CIO

Update Your iPhone and iPad!

IPHONE_5S_BLKDue to the recently exposed security flaw in Apple products, we recommend that users upgrade their iOS devices (iPhones, iPads) to release 7.0.6 as soon as possible.

If you are already on iOS 7.x, the process takes a couple of minutes to complete.  If you haven’t upgraded recently and are still on iOS 6.x, the process may take 10 or more minutes.

Prior to beginning the upgrade, we strongly recommend backing up your device using iTunes.

For an explanation of the security flaw, please visit recent articles from Reuters and The New York Times:

If you have any questions, please contact the HSPH Helpdesk at 617-432-HELP.

Thank you,
HSPH Department of Information Technology

New Staff Additions: Lina Ji and Thomas (TJ) Porter

We are pleased to welcome two new additions to the Department of Information Technology, Lina Ji and Thomas (TJ) Porter.  Both Lina and TJ are Northeastern University students and will be working for 6 months full-time as co-ops at HSPH as part of their degree program.  They replace Anastasiya (Stacey) Gudoshnik and Joe Horrigan, who completed their assignments with great success.

Lina Ji is a candidate for a bachelor of science in industrial engineering and will graduate from NEU in May 2015.  Her last co-op was with Agricultural Bank of China in Shanghai, China, where she was a systems engineer responsible for building LINUX servers.

Lina is fluent in Mandarin and is a Northeastern Student Ambassador, which helps new international students become acquainted with the campus.

She will be working the 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM shift.

Lina Ji

Lina Ji, Northeastern Co-op

Thomas (TJ) Porter is candidate bachelor of science in business administration. He will graduate from NEU in May 2016.

His last co-op was with New England Baptist Hospital as a General Stores co-op, where he helped stock operating rooms.  While there, he discovered annual cost savings opportunities in the amount of $9000 in their supply ordering chain.

For you gamers, he is a published contributor to Alienware as an arena writer! He is also a referee and scorekeeper for the Hudson Youth DekHockey League.

He will work the 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM shift.

TJ

TJ Porter, Northeastern Co-op

Please join us in welcoming Lina and TJ to the Harvard School of Public Health!

Fraud/Phishing alert from Bank of America

Bank of America has contacted Harvard University to make us aware of a recent email scam that has affected the University of Michigan and two local schools. The emails will appear to come from an official University department with a link asking employees to either confirm their login information or update their payroll or Open Enrollment benefits. If employees enter their data, it is captured by the perpetrators of the fraud. Once that credential data is captured, the information may then be used to change direct deposit information.

As always, please be suspicious of any link in email. If asked to log in to PeopleSoft or another sensitive system, do not follow the link. Instead, enter the URL directly into your web browser, or connect via a trusted source such as harvie.harvard.edu.

If you suspect that you are the victim of a fraudulent email, please contact the HSPH Helpdesk for support.

Thank you

Departmental Hours and Services on October 25

Because of the all-day HSPH Centennial Celebration tomorrow, October 25,  the Department of Information Technology will only be able to provide the following limited services:

Computer Support

Phone and email support only, technicians will not be able to be in the field for service requests.

Phone: 617-432-4357
Email: helpdesk@hsph.harvard.edu

Media Services
We will be unable to provide media services support for the day with the exception of the full slate of Centennial events.

Closure During Celebration

The IT Department will be closed from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM so the staff can attend the celebration in the Kresge Café.

We will reopen for phone and email support at 4:00 PM and will be open until our normal 6:00 PM close time.

We thank you for your understanding.

Thank you,
IT Helpdesk

New Staff Additions: Sherrell Pierre and Joe Horrigan

We are pleased to welcome two new additions to our IT staff, Sherrell Pierre and Joe Horrigan.

Sherrell Pierre began working in September and will be working 10-12 hours each week through early December as part of her program at Roxbury Community College (RCC).  She is a candidate for an associate of science degree in information systems technology. Sherrell manages and teaches at a computer laboratory at the Grove Hall Apartments and has formerly worked for RCC as a computer lab assistant.

Sherrell is our fourth coop in the the HSPH-RCC partnership coordinated by the HSPH Office of Human Resources.

Sherrell Pierre

Sherrell Pierre, Roxbury Community College Intern

Joe Horrigan also began working in September as a contractor and will be with User Services through early December.  Joe has been working in IT for nearly 10 years and brings excellent computer and communications skills to the department.

Both Sherrell and Joe will be providing computer support to the community at the Helpdesk, as well as in the field, with support and training provided by our User Services team.

Joe Horrigan

Joe Horrigan, User Support Technician

Please join us in welcoming Sherrell and Joe to the Harvard School of Public Health.

New Staff Member: Bill Dantowitz

The HSPH Department of Information Technology welcomes new hire Bill Dantowitz. Bill will work as a user support specialist in our User Services Group providing helpdesk, desktop, classroom, and media services support to the community.  

Bill is a graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in English.  While a student, Bill spent a year working at OSU’s IT Helpdesk, the main IT support group for one of the largest public universities in the country.  Bill supported the President’s Office and other administrative groups.

Most recently, Bill worked as a Help Desk Administrator at TechTarget, where he won a departmental award for automating and streamlining tasks.

Bill

Bill Dantowitz, User Support Specialist

We are excited about Bill’s technical and customer service skills.  He brings great support experience to HSPH.

Please join us in welcoming Bill to our technical staff and to the HSPH community!

Interesting fact: Bill is a fan of rugby and played for the OSU Rugby Football Club.

Harvard Secure Wireless Network

UPDATE, 11:50 AM: this issue has been resolved.  All three wireless networks available are fully functioning.

We are currently experiencing problems with Harvard Secure Wireless connections within the HSPH campus.

This is related to a regular scheduled maintenance that Harvard University IT preformed to the wireless systems this morning.

HUIT engineers are working on the problem but we do not have an ETA for a resolution at this time.

Harvard University and Harvard Guest wireless networks are working. To use either one, please choose it from your wireless settings, then open a web browser.

  • For Harvard Guest, just click on the Accept terms button.
  • For Harvard University, sign in with your HUID and PIN and follow the instructions to authenticate to it.

We will send out updates as soon as we receive information. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thank You,
HSPH IT Helpdesk

New Coops: Stacey Gudoshnik and Myles Gosmon

We are pleased to welcome two new coops to the Department of Information Technology.

Anastasiya (Stacey) Gudoshnik began working in July and will be working full-time through out the fall semester.  Stacey is a candidate for a bachelor of science degree in information science and business from Northeastern University.

Stacey, HSPH coop

Stacey Gudoshnik, HSPH coop

Myles Gosmon began working in June and will be working 10-12 hours each week as part of his program at Roxbury Community College.  He is a candidate for an associate of science degree in information systems technology.  Myles is our fourth coop in the the HSPH-RCC partnership coordinated by the HSPH Office of Human Resources.

Myles

Myles Gosmon, HSPH coop

Both Stacey and Myles will be providing computer support to the community at the Helpdesk, as well as in the field, with support and training provided by our User Services team.

Please join us in welcoming Stacey and Myles to the Harvard School of Public Health.