Media Services » Virtual Office

Media Services’ Fall Training Schedule

Matt Dobosenski — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:15:28 +0000

Prior to the start of each academic year, the Media Services Office conducts training for returning student works and student supervisors. This is done so we can provide the best service to those that we serve with the resources we have available. Given the fact that the Media Services Office is only staffed by one full time position, the means that while in training sessions, our office will not be open since all available staff will be in training (kind of difficult to be in two places at once).

Individuals who require assistance during our training times should first visit the Media Services VirtualOffice to see if their request can be submitted on line. If your request can not be made online, then you are encouraged to contact Matt Dobosenski via email and an appointment will be set up.

Media Services training begins Tuesday, September 1st and will continue through Saturday, September 5th. During this time, 4PM-5PM is reserved as a walk-in office hour for those individuals who need to drop things off or pick things up. Please plan accordingly.

The Media Services Office will be closed Sunday, September 6th, however we will be open on Monday the 7th as the College is officially open on the Holiday.

Our office follows the College’s standard business hours of M-F, 8 am- 4:45 pm during the academic year unless otherwise posted.

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!

Large format printing overload. . . expect delays

Matt Dobosenski — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:02:00 +0000

This is a general heads up that Media Services is experiencing a higher than usual number of requests for large format prints. As the Gustavus Community prepares for the upcoming combined festivities of The Presidential Inauguration, Home Coming, Reunions, Family Weekend, and the Nobel Conference there are greater than usual large requests happening simultaneously in addition to department and program needs.

This coupled with some delays we are experiencing on media ordered (there have been a few big storms in parts of the country that are causing issues with transportation and distribution systems so items ordered well in advance are on back order) is creating a situation in which the usual three day turn around will not be possible in most cases.

We respectfully ask that requests are submitted as far in advance as possible, and that you can expect communication from our staff regarding your request and any delays you might expect in your request.

To submit large format printing requests, please do so on line using our VirtualOffice located at:

http://mediaservices.gac.edu

Thank you!

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

Summer office hours

Matt Dobosenski — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:50:33 +0000

Media Services will have the following summer walk-in hours starting Monday, June 2:

Monday-Friday: 9am-12pm, and 1pm-4pm

Saturday and Sunday: Closed

During these times, a student staff member will be available to assist with requests. We ask that you please plan ahead (yes we are around other times of the day, but these hours help facilitate staff meetings and other important thing- like lunch), and know that you have the option to visit our Virtual Office on line at http://mediaservices.gac.edu as a way to submit requests outside of these hours.

If you wish to set up an appointment for a specific need, please email us at mediaservices@gac.edu and a staff member will follow up with you.

Have a wonderful summer.

Office closed over break.

Matt Dobosenski — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:52:57 +0000

Just a quick reminder to all that the Media Services office will be closed for the duration of Spring Break. Those individuals that require access to equipment during this time should make sure that their reservation (and check out of the reserved equipment) is for Thursday March 20. Equipment checked out on Thursday will be due back on Monday March 31. Any submissions for large format printing will be processed once the student staff is back following the customary three business day turn around.

If you have a need that must be addressed prior to the break, please visit our Virtual Office online at http://mediaservices.gac.edu or email your need to mediaservices@gac.edu

Have a wonderful (and safe) Spring Break.

Event support request form added.

Matt Dobosenski — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:22:59 +0000

Tis the season (for events). Spring Semester is known (at least in our office) for a high volume of Department and Organization events ranging from guest lecture series, to conferences (Building Bridges, Mayday! etc). Most of these events will require assistance from Media Services in some form or another, so we are working on standardizing how event support requests are submitted to our office to ensure a consistent method of responding and following up on these requests. In the past we have received a wide range of requests in various forms ranging from an informal hallway conversation, or email, to very detailed requests for services that arrive on official letterhead and have been CC’d to half the administrative council. The two main problems we were having is that these requests were coming in last minute (making it difficult to align resources with the needs), and the details being provided were often incomplete (believe it or not people have asked for help, and failed to indicate when and where they need the help).

This new form is located within the Media Services Virtual Office. You can access this system by going to http://mediaservices.gac.edu (you might want to bookmark this location as there are many other useful features located here also). You will be redirected to a secure log in page. The log in credentials are the same as your Gustavus username and password (so the same as email). Once you log in, the Campus Menu on the left has a link for “Event Support Request” (see image to the right).

Equipment Check in/out Times have changed. . .

Matt Dobosenski — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:49:08 +0000

In the past, equipment check in and out occurred at the same time which had some advantages, but as we have seen an increase in use of this service the inherent disadvantages became apparent. The biggest issue was that individuals that had an item reserved were coming in wanting the item right at the beginning of the time, and the previous user had not yet returned that item, and was not required to do so until the end of the time (ever seen a dog chasing its own tail- that’s what it felt like on some days). Starting Spring Semester 2008, all equipment is due back between 9AM and 11Am on the date it is due, and equipment is available for check out between 1PM and 4PM. When setting up reservations in Virtual Office, you will see two boxes per day in the kit calendar view, which correspond to the AM “check in” and PM ”check out” periods. For an item to be available to check out on a given date, the second box needs to be white, indicating that the item is not reserved for that day’s check out period. Thank you for your cooperation, and careful planning when it comes to when you can and can not have equipment transactions occur.