| 24-Hour Help Desk
Now the AU community can contact the Help Desk 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Throughout the semester, the Network Operations Center (NOC) staff will provide limited support to faculty, staff, and students calling the Help Desk with general information requests and emergencies outside of regular hours (8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday). Staffed around the clock, the NOC is responsible for monitoring AU systems and network infrastructure and performing evening maintenance. Please note that wait times may be longer than they are during regular hours. However, because call volume is much lower during the evenings and weekends, long waits should be rare. E-operations has also extended the hours of available on-site support for faculty, staff, and students to include evenings and weekends until 12:00 a.m. This should especially benefit students who have difficulty scheduling appointments with technicians during the day because of class and work schedules. The AU community uses technology around the clock, and the NOC exists to ensure all technology resources are available any time of the day or night. In addition to answering the Help Desk calls after hours, NOC staff answer the System Status Line at 885-3535 and update System Status messages at that number and on the System Status Web page, status.american.edu. In the event of a system outage, NOC staff will resolve the problem or contact the appropriate system administrator. They can also dispatch rapid on-site assistance for technology emergencies after hours until 12:00 a.m. Faculty who need emergency technology assistance while teaching a class can use the special emergency classroom support line (option 4 in the Help Desk phone menu at 885-2550). This is a special line that rings on all Help Desk phones rather than waiting behind other customers in the queue. The Help Desk analyst or NOC staff member receiving such calls will provide quick answers or contact an on-site technician who will visit the classroom as quickly as possible. Assistance with video projectors is still provided by the Audio-Visual staff at 885-2296. In addition to on-site, e-mail, and telephone-based support, the Help Desk Web site at help.american.edu and the Getting Connected guides offer comprehensive information on technology at AU. These on-line and printed publications provide information on connecting to the Internet, accessing e-mail, resetting a password, protecting your computer, and more. The on-line guide is updated as needed, and the printed guide is published once a year in two separate versions, one for faculty and staff and another for students and parents. To speak with a technician any time of the day or night, call 885-2550. Requests for assistance can also be sent to helpdesk@american.edu; however, e-mail requests are only answered during regular business hours. |
