Media Services » Kevin Seitz

VirtualOffice server update

Kevin Seitz — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:56:16 +0000

As of this afternoon, we have relocated our VirtualOffice system to a new server. Using this new server provides us with several advantages and new features. Most noticeably we have implemented Gustavus Single Sign On for authentication, so if you go to http://mediaservices.gustavus.edu, you will see our “VirtualOffice splash screen” — a quick greeting before you are sent to the Gustavus Single Sign On system (this will eventually go away as the campus grows accustom to using SSO). This means if you log on to Google Calendar, the GTS Toolbox and etc, you will automatically be authenticated on VirtualOffice. (Likewise, logging in to VirtualOffice will authenticate you on these services as well.)

In addition, we have made some changes to the VirtualOffice home page and reservations system. We plan to introduce some other new features during the month of January as well. Keep an eye out for other announcements as we continue to improve our system.

We would appreciate any feedback you may have. Please tell us your comments, suggestions, or questions. You may post a comment here or use the “provide feedback” link in VirtualOffice. If you prefer e-mail, do not hesitate to contact us at mediaservices@gustavus.edu.

Have a great weekend.

Thanksgiving break and equipment check-out

Kevin Seitz — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:50:19 +0000

Media Services will be closed during Thanksgiving break. We will close at 4:30pm on Tuesday the 25th and remain closed until the following Monday morning. All equipment checked out on Tuesday before Thanksgiving will be due back the following Monday when Media Services reopens.

Thank you for your cooperation. Have a good break!

gac.edu or gustavus.edu?

Kevin Seitz — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:44:57 +0000

There is no doubt that community members are familiar with both the gustavus.edu and gac.edu domains. The gac.edu is most commonly used on campus because it is shorter and was established first. At the same time, Gustavus would like to be known as “Gustavus” and not “GAC” to the outside world, so both exist. Appropriate server voodoo has happened over the years to generally support either domain interchangeably. While Media Services generally supports this concept (gac.edu and gustavus.edu are one in the same), VirtualOffice and your web browser would like to disagree.

Long story short: you should access VirtualOffice by visiting http://mediaservices.gac.edu.

Here’s why: VirtualOffice uses an encrypted connection to send web page data to you (and keep your information safe!) In order to establish a secured connection without your web browser freaking out, the website has to be “something.gac.edu” and not “something.gustavus.edu.” If you were to visit “https://mediaservices.gustavus.edu,” your web browser would complain, so we encourage you to come visit us on line at mediaservices.gac.edu

Media Services VirtualOffice 6

Kevin Seitz — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:49:18 +0000

With summer “break” ending in a month, Media Services is still hard at work on VirtualOffice 6, the successor to our current version. After using version 5 for over a year and collecting some much-appreciated feedback from students, faculty, and staff on campus, we have learned a great deal about how VirtualOffice helps everyone using our variety of services. In addition, we’ve found several ways we can improve.

This year, we plan to set up a notification system which sends reservation confirmations and due date reminders to your Gustavus e-mail account. In addition, we are redesigning the check-out system to include a larger variety of our audio-visual equipment, but also to allow for more flexible organization. (For anyone interested, we’re setting up the system such that we track all of our assets in our office by location and barcode — pretty sweet!)

Finally, we are updating the large format printing form to accomodate our new printer and make it easier to select inks and media. The new upload system will prevent your request from being lost if too many files are uploaded. We will also be including a quick cost estimator in the near future.

Overall, we are pretty excited for all the changes we are making. If you have any suggestions for our newest version, please let us know! Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

The current version Media Services VirtualOffice can be accessed at (version 6 will become accessible to the public mid August for Public Beta testing at this same address):

http://mediaservices.gac.edu