Blog from June, 2012

Let's Start Sharing!
Jenn Matthews posted on Jun 29, 2012

There are many, many ways to share documents with a group of people you are working with, whether they are a group made up of your local co-workers or across the region, or even with a team made up of CCE and non-CCE members. 

Along with sharing, some of these options may also be a temporary backup solution for those of you who do not have a county server.

I’ve put together a chart of a few of the more popular (free) options out there, what their differences are and links to get you started using them.  

To view this document, click here. 

Now that I’ve shared the ‘on the cloud’ (online) options, I want to go back to the best solution for sharing documents with your association co-workers and that is through your server (if you have one).  And soon all of us will have access to a server for sharing documents and backing up our data!

A Central Server Is Coming Soon! 

As you may or may not have heard, our Western New York Shared Business Network (WSBN) has decided to move forward with buying a central server that will be housed at Cornell and it will support all 9 of our counties in this region.   (There is quite a bit of prep work involved, so we will not actually start putting anyone on the new server until this Fall, and the process of moving all the counties over may take a few months.)  

Now, let me back up because you may be ready to ask “Alright, Jenn.. what does a central server mean?”   This means that our individual local files on the current servers (where our shared files are currently stored) will be moved to the new server so we can retire the outdated servers that are being used right now.   For those of you in counties that don’t currently have a server, it means you will soon have a place to back up all of your files and also share files with your co-workers!   (No more having to back up your  files manually to a thumbdrive or other storage space… somehow I don’t think you’ll miss doing that!) 

Outlook Tips
Jenn Matthews posted on Jun 21, 2012

I would like to share a few more Outlook tips with you since I run into needing the following a lot when setting up computers or searching my e-mail. 

Change the Default Address Book

Which address book do you use the most?  Do you keep all of your contacts in your own personal address book or do you rely on Cornell’s global address book more often?  Below are directions on setting the one you want as your default address book. 

  1. On the Home tab from any Outlook screen | select Address Book
  2. Select Tools | Options
  3. To choose what lists Outlook searches first:  Select either ‘Start with Global…” (Cornell’s List) or “Start with Local..” OR you can customize your desired order
  4. Select the desired address list to show first when opening the address book

How-To Videos:

Finding Someone In Cornell’s Global Address List

How many times have you tried searching the Cornell Global Address Book for someone who you know is in there, but you can’t seem to find them (or you have to scroll through a long list to find it)?  There is a better way to search for a name, read below to see how.

 

Option 1:  Search Address Book

  1. Open a new e-mail and open the Address Book by clicking on the To… button
  2. Select “Global Address List” under “Address Book”
  3. Select the "More columns" option, enter any part of the first and/or last name in the Search: box – Click Go (or hit enter) to start the search
  4. PLEASE NOTE:   You will need to change the option back to “Name Only” if you want to be able to scroll through your list of contacts again.

How-To Video:  http://screencast.com/t/mEx0rccj3

Option 2:  “Check Names” button

  1. Enter any part of the first and/or last name in the text box next to the To… in your new message
  2. Click on “Check Names” (if you don’t see this button, make sure you are looking under the ‘Message’ tab in your new e-mail)
  3. If Outlook finds the person, the name will be underlined
  4. If Outlook found more than one possible match, a new window will open with the list of possible matches for you to select from.

How-To Video:  http://screencast.com/t/yCWA0vfCMGSB

Find Related Messages

Looking to find an e-mail you sent to someone related to one that just came in? Or want to see more past e-mails from that sender?  You can quickly do this!

 

  1. Right-click a message | Find Related | Messages in this Conversation/Messages from Sender

  

Adapted from:  http://www.ndsu.edu/lunchbytes/Outlook%202010%20Tips%20n%20Tricks.pdf

New Internet Service... How Does It Affect Me?
Jenn Matthews posted on Jun 15, 2012

I apologize that it’s been a while since my last weekly IT e-mail.   It’s been a busy month, switching over our networks to our new internet service provider, Time Warner Business Class cable and setting up the new Cornell routers to work with our network.

So… I bet you’re wondering how does this new network set up affect you?  (Or maybe not, but let me give you a few of the highlights anyway. J)

If you have any questions or are having issues since the switch, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your designated local IT contact.

New Network Highlights

  • Internal and Guest Network  - Each association office now has an internal network and a guest network.
     
    • Internal Network:
      • Requires that all devices (computers, printers, wireless access points) be registered with Cornell before accessing the Internet.  As I switched over your county, I collected the needed information and going forward I will work with your local IT contact to get this information for any new devices that come into the office or when ownership of a device changes to a different employee.
      • Requires that all computers are password protected and have the most up-to-date anti-virus installed. 
      • The above requirements apply to personal computers that you use on our network as well.
         
    • Guest Network:
      • Available so that non-Cornell users and your wireless devices can gain access to the Internet without registering.  Each county has different ways to access the guest network, and it’s still a work-in-progress to make sure we have the best way for our guests to get online… see below for more information about guest access.
      • PLEASE NOTE:  If you are connected to the guest network and need to access your server or a printer, you can simply connect to the Cornell VPN.
         
  • Using the Polycom
    • Right now, the counties that have switched over, and are using the Cornell router, can dial each other using the new IP address (I’ve been labeling the Polycom devices so you know your own number but they are listed below as well). I will be working on updating the Polycom address book so you can dial any of the CCE Polycoms throughout the state.
    • If you need to set up a video conference with a non-Cornell site, then you will have to initiate the meeting by dialing them.   Non-Cornell sites currently cannot dial into us, but Cornell is working on fixing that.
       
  • Speed!!!
    • When downloading or uploading files from the Internet, you should notice a remarkable increase in speed. 

County Information:

  • Allegany
    • Status:  Switched over to Time Warner
    • Polycom:  10.19.46.10
    • Guest Network Access:
      • Via 1st floor wireless access point
         
  • Cattaraugus
    • Status:  Switched over to Time Warner, but will not be on Cornell network until Monday, June 18th.
      • Employees here will need to use the Cornell VPN to access some Cornell sites and applications 
      • Polycom not available for use until June 19th
    • Polycom will be:  10.19.57.10
    • Guest Network Access:
      • Via Wireless access point in Conference/Lunch Room
         
  • Chautauqua
    • Status:  Currently still on T1.  ETA 30-60 days before Time Warner will be installed
    • Polycom will be:  10.19.47.10, but still currently 205.232.126.101
      This means a county already switched over will have to dial Chautauqua, the Chautauqua Polycom cannot call them.
       
  • Erie
    • Status:  Switched over to Time Warner
    • Polycom:  10.19.48.10
    • Guest Network Access:
      • Wireless access point will be set up in Conference Room, until then a network cable can be plugged into guest switch in closet
      • Auditorium
         
  • Genesee
    • Status:  Switched over to Time Warner
    • Polycom:  10.19.49.10
    • Guest Network Access:
      • Via wireless on all 3 floors
         
  • Monroe
    • Status:  Switched over to Time Warner
    • Polycom:  10.19.50.10, but is currently not available
      If you need to use the Polycom, there is a workaround so please call me
    • Guest Network Access:
      • Via wireless in all first floor meeting rooms
         
  • Niagara
    • Status:  Currently still on T1.  ETA 30-60 days before Time Warner will be installed
    • Polycom will be:  10.19.51.10, but still currently 205.232.123.194
      This means a county already switched over will have to dial Niagara, the Niagara Polycom cannot call them.
       
  • Orleans
    • Status:  Switched over to Time Warner
    • Polycom:  10.19.52.10
    • Guest Network Access:
      • Via wireless access point
      • Guest ports will be available in the meeting rooms soon, and will be labeled so you will know which ones to use
         
  • Wyoming
    • Status:  Switched over to Time Warner
    • Polycom:  10.19.53.10
    • Guest Network Access:
      • Via wireless access points