From: Cathleen Curley <cacurley@umich.edu>
Date: Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 6:13 PM
Subject: Update: 3/19 LSA Technology Services Support Updates
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for your ongoing support! Our in-person support hours continue to change as we strive to keep every staff member safe and align our resources to provide the best support possible for our students, faculty, and staff. Remember to reach out via email at lsait@umich.edu or by calling 734.615.0100 for the fastest service. Starting here will get you the first available staff member. If you email, be sure to include important details like location, nature of the problem, any deadline you have and how best to reach you. Please see our latest support hours on the web and check updates at the Remote Resource Guide.
As of today, all our walk-in services are by appointment only during the hours below:
Our ‘Virtual face to face’ approach:
Staff is available to help and communicate with you via our ticket system. However, if you think a "virtual face to face" conversation will be easier, we are happy to set up a Google Hangouts, BlueJeans or Zoom meeting. These "virtual face to face" conversations are not an imposition. We expect video connection will be a regular part of our communication with you and may help us work with you to get to a resolution faster.
Below are resources for faculty and general interest that we ask you to share out to your unit. Consult with LSA Technology Services for equipment orders, as we may have loaner equipment to meet your needs. We can also help find alternate ways for ordering some equipment with off-campus delivery or scheduling an on-campus delivery.
We now have a Team Based Chat Option:
Team based chat via Google Hangouts Chat is now available for use at the University of Michigan. Hangouts Chat is free and covered under U-M’s agreement with Google and also can be used for certain kinds of sensitive data. To learn more about Hangouts Chat, visit the U-M’s “Getting Started with Google Hangouts Chat” documentation article or U-M Google support site. You can also visit Google’s Hangouts Chat Help Center or Learning Center for additional information.
What’s different?
It integrates with Google Drive and Hangouts Meet
You can use MCommunity groups to add people into a room. Hangouts Chat allows for creating virtual rooms around which a team can discuss topics.
Current Limitations
Chat does not integrate directly into U-M Google Mail but is expected to later this year, according to Google. Until Hangouts Chat fully integrates with Google Mail, a separate browser window or a Hangouts Chat client application is required.
There are a number of constraints related to interoperability between classic Hangouts and Hangouts Chat:
Direct messages: Direct messages can be viewed and replied to across both services.
Note: Currently, messages from people outside of U-M only appear in classic Hangouts, and not in Hangouts Chat.Group messages: Group messages of more than two people do not cross between both services. Wherever you made that group message is where that group message now lives.
Google recommends recreating any classic Hangouts group messages in Hangouts Chat.
This service has been activated and should be available now for campus-wide use.
Video Conference updates:
Google Hangouts Meet Update: Meet.google.com can record video now. Be sure that all participants consent to recordings. Important information:
Sessions include up to 250 participants.
Recording sessions get placed in your google drive in mp4 format.
DO NOT use this for HIPAA related meetings.
Be aware that currently, any participant can either remove or mute any other participant.
Zoom Update: Zoom is allowed for certain sensitive data like FERPA and GLBA. Tips for Zoom provide the best experience and allow for scheduling Zoom sessions from within Google Calendar. The Zoom for GSuite add-on is now available.
BlueJeans Update:
Effective this week, BlueJeans has increased the size of our BlueJeans Meetings (Basic) to 200 endpoints (e.g., individual devices, phone numbers, room systems).
We recommend you schedule BlueJeans class meetings via the website and not through the Canvas BlueJeans plug-in*. Things that can help all participants in a meeting are:
You can use moderator tools to mute participants for better audio.
You can turn off video yourself when not needed.
See https://support.bluejeans.com/ and BlueJeans tips for remote work (video).
*The Canvas BlueJeans plug-in has limited features and guests need to be part of the actual class to be able to join. If you do use the plugin through Canvas it is recorded. The video is uploaded to the BlueJeans where it is processed. Once processed a link then appears in the Canvas integration. There have been reports of videos taking a long time to process (sometimes several hours).
Information for Faculty:
Are you doing human subjects research? Not all data should be accessed from home and may have additional security requirements. If you don’t know if you can use your data off-site, reach out to the IRB (irbhsbs@umich.edu). To ensure only authorized users see data permitted for off-site work, we suggest:
Setting up a home office in a room with a closed door.
Adjusting the setup so screens are only viewable by you.
Using Screen privacy filters to protect data from view.
Guidelines from the Department of Health & Human Services and Safe Computing can help:
For the latest guidelines on what research can continue, see the ORSP page and the HSBS IRB page.
Globus Update: You may have received a notice from Globus about increased resources. For information about using Globus on UM resources as a file transfer service for large files, see the ARC TS Globus page.
Onward, Cathy
Cathleen A. Curley - Chief Information Officer
