A lot of us do work from home. Whether it is just checking voicemail or email, grading papers or lab reports or making meetings and entering data into Virtual Bryn Mawr or Blackboard, many of us have had to reach out to Bryn Mawr virtually from home. Do you have all of the tools you need to do this effectively? What kind of support can you expect?
These are questions that the Help Desk often tackles, so let's try to shed a little light on best practices, shall we?
Checking Voicemail: Call 610.526.5555 and follow the instructions you hear the friendly Octel Voicemail System woman give you to retrieve your messages.
Checking email: Webmail is a great way to check your email when you are away from your work computer. However if you keep your email files on your work computer you may not have access to everything you need. If Webmail doesn't work for you consider making an appointment with a Desktop Support staff member to discuss options. If you have a laptop and are having trouble using Eudora or Thunderbird when you are at home, read this page on the Computing website which may help you identify the problem( http://www.brynmawr.edu/computing/docs/quickfixes.shtml).
Shared Drives: You can have access to your Novell drives at home. It is a little slower than if you were on campus, so it is always best to plan ahead and move the files you need to a convenient storage location (jump drive, or email it to yourself) but if you find you need something at home, please refer to this page to set up access via the web: (http://www.brynmawr.edu/computing/docs/NetStorage.shtml).
Hint: bookmark the site once you login to make it easier the next time you need it!
Meeting Maker: You can easily use Meeting Maker at home too, there are two ways you can access your calendar. If you are using a laptop, you can login the same way you would when you are on campus, but if you are using a personal home computer, you can use the web-based MeetingMaker or if you use it frequently you may want to install the client on your machine. The client will work exactly the way it does on campus.
Meeting Maker online calendar access - http://calendar.brynmawr.edu
Installing client at home - http://www.brynmawr.edu/computing/docs/software.shtml
Remember the Help Desk is a great resource for questions, but they do not have information about your home computer, the software you run on it or the network you are using. When in doubt, give them a call at 610.526.7440. If you have other tips or tricks that you use when working at home, please share them with us!