ISG Blog

Of course, if you prefer you could reset your own password through the support portal.

A new Lifecycle Replacement round was kicked off on Friday. 

This means that managers at various Corps/Centres that have machines that are now due for replacement will have received an email from iSG with a request to complete a simple online form (3 questions) to confirm that machine is on site, and requires replacement.

The choice is also available for managers to return the machine.  Please note that if you select this, then ISG will expect the machine to be returned at your earliest convenience to ISG.

ISG will give managers and directors 2 weeks to complete the online form at which stage, the information will be collated and a bulk purchase will be made with our supplier.   Machines ordered are sent direct to each centre.  Once they arrive, the expectation is that the centre will notify iSG and book a mutually agreeable time to get the new machine connected and final configurations completed.

HOWEVER, if the deadline is missed... fear not!  Still complete the online form, as this information will be stored for the next LRP round to be held in October.  iSG have 3 LRP rounds every year (Feb, Jun and Oct).

The most important item to note however is simply this... IF an online form is NOT completed, iSG will  NOT have any information to process, and so NOTHING will be done.  We require an action from the recipient of the email, before iSG is able to take any action.

If using BiAS, then any machine with a status of "Awaiting Confirmation" means an email has been sent to the respective manager.  If "Awaiting Order" then the manager has completed their task as requested, and if showing "Awaiting Replacement", the order has been submitted to the supplier and centre can expect delivery of machine within 3 weeks of this.  If any delays in delivery occur, we endeavour to keep the centres informed of this as news comes to hand.

Thanks for all you do for, and for helping iSG help you.

When logging in to the Support Portal you may have noticed a few added icons at the top of the window.  We informed you about "Ask Sally" last week, and this week we want to let you know that we have started organising some electronic forms which will assist us all in getting tasks done more efficiently and with less hassle for you.

The purple 'paper pad' icon is the EDP3 form for User Requests and is the only form available electronically at the moment.  This helps us ensure that the information ISG requires is provided in full to us for completing it.  This REPLACES the existing EDP3 form (paper or Word version), which we are still accepting for the next few weeks over a transition period.

When completing the electronic EDP3, please ensure you select exactly what you need, both in the "Type of Request" and the "Systems Affected" areas, as each option will provide you with different questions for you to answer.  Once you have completed the form, simply "Submit" and ISG will act on it within 3 days.

You can stay on top of what has been happening with your jobs by simply logging into the support portal at any time, and looking at your tickets, either in the Open Tab, for all active jobs that have you as a contact or involved user, or the Closed Tab, for any jobs ISG may have already dealt with for you.

Feel free to provide us with any feedback you think may be helpful to us.

Today we introduce you to Anthony McFarlane who has been doing some volunteer work, then contract and now permanent work with us at ISG as part of our Service Desk Ops team.

He is well known around Christchurch Army circles, as he worked really hard with the Earthquake Recovery Team in the first months after the earthquake.  He is now assisting us primarily with mobile, broadband and telecommunications queries. and in the few weeks he has been working with us he has made a very favourable impression with our Telecommunication partners and is well respected.

As part of becoming a permanent member of the team, Anthony has recently moved to Wellington and is based out of THQ.  

You will no doubt get to talk to him from time to time as and when you have requests, queries, or tickets logged with us.  Feel free to pop in to ISG to say hello next time you are in THQ, or even on a phone call.

We wish to introduce you to Lyndall Reid, who has recently started work with us at ISG on a permanent basis as part of our Service Desk Ops team.

She is very new to the Salvation Army, but we are particularly impressed with her commitment to helping others achieve the mission, and so fits perfectly in the team and our motto to "enable the mission".

You will no doubt get to talk to her from time to time as and when you have requests, queries, or jobs logged with us.  Feel free to pop in to ISG to say hello next time you are in THQ, or even on a phone call.

Hi everyone,

If you are subscribed to the ISG blog, and receive all the NEW blog notifications, you will have received a strange blog entry email this morning which we recommend you simply delete and ignore.

We are aware of this issue and are working to resolve this from happening again.

Its great to see so many of you using the new Support Portal to log all your jobs with ISG.  

You would have seen a few blogs about this, and we value any contributions you may have to help us make the experience easier for all involved.

Don't forget there are already many answers to your queries under the FAQ's section, and you may want to look at that before logging a job.

Also, it will be really helpful to ISG for us to see the type of request with a correct indication of what the job is.  So to help you here's a little explanation for you.  When logging a job you will need to select whether your job is a:

1. 'Change or Request' - This can relate to updating software, changes to access, any complete requests forms, etc.
2. 'Error or Issue' - This can relate to inability to login, error messages appearing on screen, inability to print,  inability to access applications (LN, Connected, SAMIS, etc)
3. 'Information Request' - This can relate to requesting information on how to perform a task, or how to find a policy or procedure, or maybe a query on the rental billing.

Selecting any of these will provide you with a different list of 'Subjects' to choose from.  Selecting the right subject helps iSG prioritise our tasks.  AND the more information you can provide us in the job (under 'Details'), the better iSG are able to assist on our first contact with you.

Thanks for helping us help you, and for assisting us in "enabling the mission".

We thought is would be a good time to remind the territory that the Salvation Army has a nationwide Service and Rental Agreement with FujiXerox for all our printing needs.

We have had a few requests recently about having printer drivers for donated printers and cheap off the shelf printers to be installed on our machines.  We understand that a $100 printer from the local IT store can look attractively cheap while on the shelf, or better still a donated machine which costs you nothing.  But when you start calculating the consumables, any service required, plus the time spent by various staff in managing this equipment one soon finds that its very hard to beat the competitiveness of a FujiXerox machine.

FujiXerox will match the printer for your centre to your Centre's needs.  All you need to do is complete the "FujiXerox - Printer Request form" found on the intranet under ISG Forms, and then submit this through your relevant Divisional or Nationally Managed Management Board.  We will then submit to FX who will find the 'best fit' machine according to your need and volume.  There is no cost to getting the machine, and the agreement is for payment on a per copy/print basis.

This is 2 cents ($0.0265) per A4 black, and 13 cents ($0.135) per A4 colour copy.  This includes the service agreement which means when your machine needs to be looked at, it just involves a call from you direct to FX to send their technician out to you.  The only other cost is the cost of the paper you use.

It couldn't be simpler!

So next time you are needing a new printer for your Corps/Centre... think FujiXerox !!

Some replacement machines are starting to arrive at various centres as part of our Lifecycle Replacement Process.

These still require ISG assistance for final configuration and installation before they can be used.  ISG request that someone from the centre contact us (either by phone or logging a job through MyDetail) and let us know of these arrivals.  This will then be assigned to an ISG team member who will contact you to schedule a mutually agreeable time to get these connected for you.  Please ensure you have discussed with the ISG team member as to the required availability we may need from each user, ie. particularly if we need them to login to system to check they are up and running.  We DO NOT want you to give us their password which is why we may need you to be available through this process (check your Computer Code of Conduct for more information on this).

If staff at the centre are unaware of any machine(s) arriving, they will need to talk to their manager who approved the LRP to happen. Another way of figuring out which machines are being replaced at the centre is to do a search in BiAS and look at the current status.

Simply login to BiAS, and do a Hardware report for their cost centre. The assets to be replaced will be listed with their status showing as "Awaiting Replacement".

The LRP happens around 3 times a year (February, June and October) and you can expect the next round to happen early next year.

Thanks for helping us help you.

Dear friends,

The THQ server requires some maintenance and we are envisaging doing this on Friday night/Saturday morning, 25 October. This maintenance will commence at 2:00am Saturday.

The following services will be available:-

• Goldcare
• SAMIS : use the URL https://nzft.auesamis.org/home-samisIntro.htm to login
• Webmail

However, the following services WILL BE AFFECTED:

• Citrix Applications : other than Goldcare, TechOne and iMIS, all other Citrix applications will not be available
• IBM Notes application and email servers: can access via webmail
• THQ QuickConnect Shares
• TechOne
• iMIS
• Intranet

Just thought you should know... ;-)

Enjoy the long weekend.

We are pleased to assist and support all Corps and Centres as best we can.  ISG is here to "enable the mission".  But often the "stuff" that happens in the background is just as important in order to keep the mission enabled.

At ISG we are heading more and more towards giving the individuals and Centres having full visibility of the information ISG has which is useful to the centre.  As you know, you can log jobs via MyDetails and keep an eye on your logged jobs through this system.

More recently, we are now making available to centres the visibility of the asset register recorded in our systems, and also the users being charged against your cost centre.  We are doing this via BiAS, our Billing and Asset System.  To view this, go to the internet and on the internet address bar simply type "sarmy.net.nz/bias" and you will be asked to login.  Using your normal credentials you are then redirected to the main screen (see below)

You can simply select what report you want to view (Hardware/Software) and then type in your location and/or cost centre and then "Get Info".  This will give you the full list of machines currently assigned against the selected location and/or cost centre.

No more waiting for the ISG Operations Manager to get that report sorted and emailed to you. 

It's important to note that with regards any 'hardware' cost centre changes these are directed to ISG.

With regards any 'software' cost centre changes, these need to be directed to our payroll team, as this information is taken from the TechOne system. The Salvation Army NZ, Fiji & Tonga are focusing on using 'One Version of the Truth' to reduce administration costs across multiple systems and so we are working hard at only having to change the information once for various systems we have.  Be aware there may be other implications to this, and the information showing is what was originally provided to the payroll team when the individual was added to TechOne. 

We trust this will be a useful tool for your administrators and managers.

Many of you will be aware that one of the many advantages we have of being with Vodafone is that you as the user can now call Vodafone direct to discuss issues you may be having with mobile phones, or landline connections.  

A big plus is that you are the one that knows whats going on, and you are the one on site that can assist the Vodafone support desk by doing the checks they request to assist in getting you back and running.

So whenever you have a problem with landlines or mobile connections the number to dial is 0508 725 2769 (or 0508 SALARMY) and make this your first port of call for telecommunication assistance.  Make a note (or even a poster) with this number and place it on your desk as a reminder.  Add it to your phone for future reference.

ISG are still happy to help, but we would simply ring them and they will ask us questions that we then have to go back to you on for answers, so we would ask that calling ISG for these types of problems be a last resort for you.  ISG is your escalation point.  If you believe Vodafone are not providing satisfactory assistance then let ISG know, and we will escalate via the proper channels with Vodafone.

Thanks for helping us help you.

If you didn't see TV3 news on 30 June, then have a look at the link below.  Some of you may remember that the THQ phone system was subject to toll fraud a few years back.  We have had a number of instances over the last few months of voicemail accounts being locked out for no apparent reason and I can only assume that the hackers are attempting to do the same thing again.   And THQ are not the only TSA centre with a VoIP phone system so we thought it was relevant to make you aware of this article.

Now is a good time to remind you all that you should have a PIN number on your voicemail and it should be a decent PIN not something simple like "1234" or "0000".   If you need any help changing your PIN contact ISG or your centre manager.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Phone-hack-leaves-man-with-26k-bill/tabid/423/articleID/350806/Default.aspx

Did you know that according to The Salvation Army's Year Book, our territory has close on 3,000 people employed.  That does not count the hundreds of volunteers.  Trying to stay on top of what needs to be done when replacing a staff member, or training a new volunteer can be exhausting, and there are ways a manager can minimise all the 'added extras' that come up as you train a new person at your centre.

For example, most managers know what access a user requires on their servers, and all the applications of Lotus Notes.

From an ISG perspective, completing the EDP3 form (found under ISG forms on the intranet) gives us all the information we need to ensure users have the right access, but you as the manager can make the process easier during the induction by creating an "Induction email" template.  (Lotus Notes 8.5 Series - part 1: Mail (Stationery)).  In this induction email you could add the links to the various mail files they need access to, and the databases as well (Giving access to your Lotus Notes Mail and/or Calendar to others).

You might even want to provide them a link to this blog (https://intranet.sarmy.net.nz/index.php/departments-a-services/isg-help-desk/isg-blog/latest) so they can search the various tips and tricks available here, and suggest they subscribe.  

And when you have a new staff member or volunteer arrive, once their account has been created, you simply need to go to your saved stationery and send them a copy.  In one quick method, you can inform them of a bunch of links, which they can study at their leisure and the various links provided will add them to their workspace ready for future use.

At times we think its important to give all TSA users a big picture of what happens within our department and so today we wanted to make you aware of some of our work related stats for your information.

Here are the stats from the previous 2 months

We also send on occasions random emails to users for jobs that have been recently closed, and ask people to rate ISG's service on a scale of Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent.  Here are results for the overall results so far compared with last month's results as scored by our users:

Overall Total

May 2014 Total

Thanks for keeping us busy as we continue to work towards 'enabling the mission'.

Most of us know that we can create calendar entries within Lotus Notes, but did you know that when you invite someone to the meeting you have just created you can also stay on top of who has replied to you and who hasn't?

In Lotus Notes this is a very simple process.  First you create your meeting invite as per your normal process and under 'Who: Required:' you would enter the email addresses of those you wish to have present, so if a staff meeting, you would enter your staff group name, or individually those in your staff you want to attend.  Remember to check their calendar to minimise the backwards and forwards of having to sort out the right time (this is under 'Find available times' at bottom of screen) and then 'Save and send invitations'.

To check on who has replied to you or not, you simply go back into the meeting entry on your calendar and at the top you can:

• 'View invitee status' - this shows you has accepted the invited who haven't and who you are still waiting to hear from;
• Go to 'Owner's actions' and select from the drop down list what you would like to do.  Reschedule, Cancel, Send message to invitees, Send message to invitees who have responded or Send message to invitees who have not responded

This is also an easy way to send an email to the various invitees with all the information already in the calendar entry and means you only do a job once rather than send an email enquiring about a meeting, and then having to send a calendar invite.

We thought it timely to remind all users who have a smartphone on the TSA mobile plan that one of the good applications to load on your smart phone is Lotus Traveler. We do have a tip sheet with some brief instructions on how to load it, but to assist you we have provided below the steps you need to follow to get this operational:

1. Open the internet browser on your phone.
2. In the address bar enter type “traveler.sarmy.net.nz”.
3. Use your lotus notes logon (e.g. FirstName [space] LastName, i.e. ‘Joe Blogg’) and then your current lotus notes password.
4. Then select ‘Sign In’.
5. On next screen, select ‘Configure your Android’.  A download of Lotus Traveler should begin downloading.
6. Once download is complete, select it to install it.  Depending on your current settings your phone may get this message “Install Blocked: For Security your device is to block installation of applications not obtained from Google Play.”
7. Go to settings and then tick the box to allow unknown sources of apps to install.
8. On the following screens simply select ‘Next’, then select ‘Install’, then select ‘Open’, and lastly ‘Accept’
9. Enter your Lotus Notes Credentials First Name – Last Name and pass word and click next.
10. Select Activate
11. Choose between your phones internal or removable memory and then select finish.
12. Select Ok in the next screen.  Your phone will now sync with the server and set itself with your data.  This may take a few minutes.

As with your normal Lotus Notes account you have to change your password every 90 days / 3 months. Every time you change your Lotus Notes password you also need to change the password on your mobile phone.

To do this you need open the actual Lotus Traveler icon on your phone.  Once done you will get options on the bottom of screen.  Open the settings menu, then to update your Lotus Notes password select ‘Account’.

To select items like notification sounds and other settings select ‘Applications’.

To download the tip sheet simply go 'Department and Services' on Intranet menu, and select ISG Tip Sheets.

Our grateful thanks to Anthony McFarlane for his assistance in the writing of this blog entry.

If you have ever had your phone lost, stolen, or damaged only to find you have to re-enter all your contacts onto a new phone, then today's blog is short, simple and very effective.

When entering contacts onto your phone, store these either using your Gmail account, or using Lotus Notes Traveler.  Don't save it on the phone or the SIM!

This means, that if you have to replace your handset, all you will need to is sync it to your Gmail or Lotus Notes account and all your contacts will automatically synchronise to your phone.

So is the Office upgrade from 2003 to the current version driving you insane because you can't find anything in the new look ribbon?  Then fear no more.  

The following three downloads will help you find the commands you can't find anymore.  Simply download and run.  Then you just need to do what you used to on 2003 that appears on the screen, and this little program will help you find where it now resides in the latest version.  It is based on 2007 but as far as commands go there isn't a lot of difference on this in 2010.

The three main Office programs used in our organisation are Word, Excel and Powerpoint.  The three downloads relate to these three programs.  Just click on the one you want, and run.  Or if you want you can just save it after download for later use.

 Microsoft Excel

 Microsoft Word

 Microsoft Powerpoint