Our Blackboard Server environment is scheduled to be down for system maintenance on Friday, June 20th, 2008 between 10:00 p.m. - 3:00 a.m.  During this outage period, simulated tests will be run to test our Blackboard Server capacity to ensure system scalability.  Based on the test results, we may have to bring down the system and repeat the test on Wednesday, June 25th between 11:50 p.m. and 4:00 a.m.

We apologize for any inconvenience this maintenance may cause you.  We are completing this maintenance in efforts to provide you with a more robust and stable system environment.  For outage updates or technical assistance, please contact Support Central at 220-1616 and press option 4 or access our system alert facility located at the following website: http://webprod1.accd.edu/sys_status/postingslist.asp.
Thank You

Support Central

On November 30^th 2007 Microsoft released Office 2007 to the general public. MS Office 2007 is the latest version of the Office suite products (MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Access, MS Outlook etc.).  There are significant changes in the look and feel of the newest version.  ACCD Information Technologies and Client Services have begun working on a planning process that includes a deployment schedule, configuration and compatibility testing, documentation, web resources, support processes and end user training resources.  Software licenses will be available through the MS Campus Agreement Program.  Select the following link for more information on software licensing:   http://www.accd.edu/it/support/licensing/licensing_procedures.html. 

To ensure smooth transition, ACCD IT department has partnered with St. Philip’s College, Continuing Education department to host a series of MS Office 2007 training for District Office employees.  The training is scheduled to begin May 12, 2008.  Please access the MS Office 2007 project website (http://projects.accd.edu:3455/2/90 ) for more information on training and registration.

microsoft-office-2007-release-announcement.pdf

Thank you,
Irene Sanchez
Information Technologies
Alamo Community Colleges (ACCD)

The Support Central office will be open during the holiday weekend.  Our office hours for the holiday weekend are as follows: 

5-24-08  Saturday   8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

5-25-08  Sunday    12:00 noon to 12:00 midnight

5-26-08  Monday   12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.  

During off hours, voice messages will be checked to address critical issues that require immediate attention.             

We will maintain regular scheduled system hours for Saturday and Sunday.  Due to the closure of all Administrative Offices during the holiday weekend, the Web for Students/Faculty/Employees will not be available on May 26, 2008.  Web For services will return to its normal operating hours on May 27, 2008.  As always, we are here to serve your technical needs.  For other system related updates, please regularly check our System Alert Facility located at the bottom right of www.accd.edu/it.

Irene Sanchez
Help Desk Supervisor
ACCD Information Technologies

 We encountered an issue with the Exchange Email System Mailbox Size Limits.   This is preventing some accounts from being able to send/receive email messages.   We are continuing to work on this matter and expect to have all email accounts operational by 8:00pm.   When sending an email message, you may receive a notification that states “The message could not be delivered because the recipient’s mailbox is full.”  This means that the email recipient needs to free up some space by deleting unneeded messages or archiving email. 

Please note that accounts that are approaching their size limits will also receive a notification.  If you receive a notification, please contact your local Information Technologies Department to request that your email be archived.  Archiving will free up space to allow you to continue receiving new email messages. 

Information on how to archive email in Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007 is available for your reference.

 The following FAQ provides additional size-limit information: 

Is there a limit on the amount of mail I can store on the server?
Yes, you will receive a warning message. To prevent from going over the quota, delete all the unneeded messages and deleted messages.Employees are allocated 250 MB of space. Students are allocated 50 MB of space.Employees will receive a Warning message when 200 MB is reached. When 225 MB is reached, a Prohibit Send message will display. When 250 MB is reached, a Prohibit Send & Receive message will display.Students will receive a warning message when 40 MB is reached. When 45 MB is reached, a Prohibit Send message will display. When 50 MB is reached, a Prohibit Send & Receive message will display.

  Sincerely, 

Frank Landin, MCSE, MCP+I, MCP
Systems Administrator
Alamo Community colleges

An upgrade to the Support Central telephone system was recently implemented which affects the manner in which you can reach the Support Central office. As a result, employees stationed at the Houston District location must dial the entire help desk phone number (220-1616) in order to contact the Support Central office.

This telephone upgrade was necessary to improve system reliability and performance. We apologize for any confusion this change may have caused. As always, we are here to serve your technical needs. For other system related updates, please regularly check our System Alert Facility at
http://webprod1.accd.edu/sys_status/postingslist.asp.

Thank you,
Irene Sanchez
Information Technologies
Alamo Community Colleges (ACCD)

The Spring Break holiday schedule is now available for your use. Please note that ACCD Information Technologies will have limited operating hours and services during the holiday break (March 20th -24th ).

During the holidays, the following systems and services are scheduled to be available:

Helpdesk Services (Support Central) – (210) 220-1616:
March 20-24 - 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

During off hours, voice messages will be checked to address critical issues that require immediate attention.

Holiday Web Services (Web for Employees/ Web for Students / Web for Faculty) Hours:
March 20-24 - NO SERVICES AVAILABLE

Holiday Switchboard Hours:
March 17, 18 & 19 - 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Mail Room services will be unavailable from March 20th through 24th. Mail Room will resume normal operations on March 25, 2008.

As in previous years ACCD Information Technologies intends to take advantage of this period of low activity to complete system maintenance to critical systems. The following maintenance tasks are being scheduled for the holiday period:

Besides the defined outage periods noted above in the table, Email, Banner, PALS, WebCT, Blackboard systems are expected to be fully operational.  Full ACCD Information Technologies operations will resume on Mar. 25, 2008.

Our Holiday Schedule will also be posted on our IT Website http://www.accd.edu/IT. Select the “IT Blog/News” link from the left navigation bar and click the “Click here to launch the Blog” button.  For up to date system outage information, please select the following link Click Here. Wishing all of you a safe Spring Break week.

Irene Sanchez
Help Desk Supervisor
ACCD Information Technologies

A new worm software has been reported to have gained momentum. The storm worm malicious software comes in the form of an electronic greeting card email. When the e-mail greeting card link is selected it can cause damage to your computer.
Most of the PC’s at the college and district locations are running managed versions of Norton Antivirus and are frequently updated. This email is sent out to make you aware of this potential email worm virus.
Be wary of any e-mail received from an unknown sender. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and do not click on any links provided.
For more information, please visit the following website: http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/escams.htm

Please feel free to call Support Central at 220-1616 or email to helpdesk@mail.accd.edu if you have any questions regarding this or any other virus.

Thank You,

Usha Venkat
Client Services Manager
uvenkat@mail.accd.edu
220-1616

On Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, the help desk phones will not be available from 2:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.  Our Telecommunications department will be conducting some emergency maintenance and repairs to the phone system.  This brief outage will not affect the support line for PALS password reset or Blackboard Vista issues.  Employees and students will be able to directly contact Presidium for Blackboard Vista and PALS Login issues at 866-401-8071.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and we thank you for your patience.  As always, we are here to serve your technical needs.  For other system related updates, please regularly check our System Alert facility at
http://webprod1.accd.edu/sys_status/postingslist.asp.

Thank you,
Support Central Team
helpdesk@mail.accd.edu
(210)220-1616

The Support Central office will be open during the holiday weekend.
Our office hours for the holiday weekend are as follows:

1-19-08 Saturday 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
1-20-08 Sunday 12:00 noon - 12:00 midnight
1-21-08 Monday 12:00 noon — 5:00 p.m.

We will maintain regular scheduled system hours for Saturday and Sunday. Due to the closure of all Administrative Offices during the holiday weekend, the Web for Students/Faculty/Employees will not be available on 1-21-08. Web For services will return to its normal operating hours on 1-22-08.

For other system related updates, please contact Support Central at
(210) 220-1616 or check our SYSTEM ALERT facility at http://webprod1.accd.edu/sys_status/postingslist.asp .

Thank you and have a great weekend!!!!!

Support Central
helpdesk@mail.accd.edu
(210) 220-1616

Welcome Back. Hope you had a nice break and are ready for a great semester!

The ACCD IT, Support Central Help Desk (210-220-1616) is experiencing longer than usual wait times for telephone support calls due to the normal high volume for the start of the semester. Several clients have shared their concerns over receiving phone line busy signals. In addition to our helpdesk number (210-220-1616), as an alternate option, for PALS Login/PALS Password Reset Issues and Blackboard Vista Issues, you can directly access the helpline by dialing the following support number: 1-866-401-8071.

Please bear with us as we work hard to meet your technology needs and answer all your support requests. Thanks!

Usha Venkat
Client Services Manager
ACCD IT

Beginning on Monday, January 7th, ACCD Information Technologies will implement a new telephone menu for Support Central (220-1616).  Please listen to the menu options carefully before making a selection.

The Support Central helpdesk telephone menu will now include the following special options:

• Option 1 - PALS password resets or PALS login issues
• Option 2 - Blackboard Vista Support
• Option 3 - System Outage Inquiries
• Option 4 - All other support inquiries or to speak to a friendly customer service technician.
• Option 5 - New software availability
• Option 6 - To leave a voicemail
• Option 7 - For Support Central Hours of Operation

These new menu options will allow for appropriate routing of calls and faster service. 

ACCD has contracted with Presidium Learning to provide first-tier phone support to deal with Blackboard Vista support, PALS login issues, and PALS passwords resets. If needed, the issue will be escalated to ACCD IT staff.

ACCD IT encourages students and employees to contact Support Central for two important reasons.  First, ACCD IT would like to support your technical needs in a timely manner.  Second, ACCD IT client services staff will properly document the incident to consistently and efficiently process support requests.

In conjunction with this change, ACCD IT has implemented the new software “ASK ME” to make it quicker and easier to get technical help online. Users can now enter a question within the ASK ME knowledge base, located at www.accd.edu/it/.

ACCD IT hopes that the New Menu Options, Contracted Support, and ASK ME Knowledge Base will assist in providing “faster, friendlier, and easier” delivery of services to all ACCD employees and students.

Thank You,

ACCD Information Technologies

The holiday season is drawing near; our semester break schedule is now available for your use. Please note that ACCD Information Technologies will have limited operating hours and services during the holiday break (December 19 thru January 2nd).

During the holidays, the following systems and services are scheduled to be available:

Helpdesk Services (Support Central) – (210) 220-1616:
Dec 20 - Dec 23 - 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Dec 24 - Dec 25 - SERVICES CLOSED
Dec 26 - Dec 30 - 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Dec 31 - Jan 1 - SERVICES CLOSED
Jan 2, 2008 - 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Holiday Student Registration and Web for Employees Hours:
Dec 26 - Dec 30 - 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Jan 2, 2008 - 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Mail Room will resume operations on January 2, 2008, 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m, to process all incoming mail from Dec 19 through Jan 2nd. Interdepartmental mail (Pony) will resume on January 3^rd 2008.

As in previous years ACCD Information Technologies intends to take advantage of this period of low activity to complete system maintenance to critical systems. The following maintenance tasks are being scheduled for the holiday period:

Besides the defined outage periods noted above in the table, Email, Banner, PALS, WebCT, Blackboard systems are expected to be fully operational. Full ACCD Information Technologies operations will resume on Jan 3^rd, 2008.

For up to date system outage information, please select the following link System Alerts.

Wishing all of you a very Happy and a Joyous Holiday season.

Client Services Division
ACCD Information Technologies

The message reads:

Dear Bank Of America Customer,

During our regularly scheduled account maintenance and verification procedures,
we have detected a slight error in your account information.
To securely confirm your personal information please click on the link bellow:

http://www.bankofamerica.com/colappmgr/colportal/
prospectfpb=true&_pageLabel=page_logonform

Confirm Your Bank Of America Account now to enjoy the benefits of
online banking and finance to avoid identity theft and fraudulent activities on
your account.

Note: THIS IS AN GENERATED MESSAGE activity.

© 2007 Bank Of America . All rights reserved.

This eMail is intended to gain access to personal and financial information. This information can be used for identity theft, and monetary gain. If you receive this or any suspicious emails please DO NOT OPEN IT, DELETE IT!

Please feel free to call Support Central at 220-1616 or email helpdesk@mail.accd.edu if you have any questions regarding this or any other security risk.

From: Credit Union 1 [mailto:accounts@creditunion1.org]
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 6:57 AM
Subject: Credit Union 1 temporarily suspended your account.
Importance: High

Dear Member,
Credit Union 1 temporarily suspended your account.
Reason: Billing failure. We need you to complete an account update so we can unlock your account.
To start the update process follow the link below :
https://online.creditunion1.org/support/login.hbsOnce you have completed the process, we will send you an email notifying that your account is available again. After that you can access your account at any time.
The information provided will be treated in confidence and stored in our secure database.
If you fail to provide required information your account will be automatically deleted from Credit Union 1 database.Copyright © Credit Union 1, All Rights Reserved

The eMail is intended to gain access to personal and financial information. This information can be used for identity theft, and monetary gain. If you receive this or any suspicious emails please do NOT open it DELETE it!

Please feel free to call Support Central at 220-1616 or email to helpdesk@mail.accd.edu if you have any questions regarding this or any other security risk.

To request that your exchange email account ( @mail.accd.edu ) be setup in your computer:

1. Go to www.accd.edu/district/it/erequest
2. Enter your Userid, then click ‘Next’
3. Enter or verify your personal information, then click ‘Next’
4. Click the ‘PC Technical Support’ box.
5. Click the drop-down menu and select ‘Miscellaneous Requests’, click ‘Next’.
6. Under ‘Description of Services,’ request that your @mail.accd.edu email account be setup in your Outlook desktop.
7. Scroll down to the Justification section and enter a justification (i.e. email migration).
8. Scroll down and Select a desired completion date.
9. Scroll down and click ‘Send Request’ Once your request is received, a Technician will be dispatched as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, concerns, or need assistance submitting an e-request please feel free to contact Support Central at 220-1616. As always, we appreciate your continued support and patience as we move forward with the Email Upgrade Project. District Information Technologies Staff

Based on feedback received from faculty and staff, the (accd.edu) email server decommission date has been moved from December 15, 2007 to December 19, 2007. This is to accommodate the end-of-semester communication between faculty and students.

If you have any questions, please contact Support Central at 220-1616.

Thank you,

The Web for Students/Faculty/Employees will not be available on 7/4/07, due to the closure of all Administrative Offices. Web Services will return to its normal operating hours on 7/5/07.

This delay will allow any email communications between students and faculty during the last few days of the Spring semester to be unaffected. I will appreciate your continued cooperation.

Thanks….

Training Dates and Times will be announced soon. For additional information or registration contact Support Central at 220-1616