School of Education Knowledgebase
This document points to resources to assist students, faculty and staff in working remotely.
In order to work remotely, you may need any or all of the following:
You may only need a few of these options in order to perform work or school-related tasks. This document will give you options for accessing these services.
If you have any questions please Contact the DoIT Help Desk.
There are several options for internet access if working off-campus if you do not already have internet access at home (i.e. cable, DSL, or dial-up):
DoIT provides free dial-up internet access using your home phone line and the modem on your computer. You are responsible for any phone charges. If you wish to use the campus dial-up service to access the internet, follow these setup instructions: https://helpdesk.wisc.edu/search.php?q=configure+dial-up.
Many cafes, hotels, and public places (such as libraries) offer free wireless access. This may be a option for those working remotely without a local phone line.
You may be interested in receiving high-speed internet at home. This service is usually installed by your cable, phone, or satellite company. Prices vary based on plan and usage. You may wish to contact the following companies to inquire about service plans: Charter Communications, AT T, AT T U-Verse, TDS Metrocom, TDS Telecom, or Verizon DSL. The university does not offer personal high speed internet as a service for private use..
Now that you're online, you'll want to make sure that your computer is secure before accessing any campus resources.
If you don't have anti-virus programs on your computer, or the anti-virus program that you are using is expired, DoIT and OCIS recommend downloading our free anti-virus software, Symantec Endpoint Protection. You can download this program here: http://www.cio.wisc.edu/security/antivirus.aspx
Additionally, DoIT and OCIS recommend using WiscVPN to create a secure connection between your computer and campus. For more information, click here: http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/search.php?q=download+wiscvpn cat=0.
General information about computer security can be found at http://www.cio.wisc.edu/security/.
Once you have a secure connection, you'll need to perform the functions you normally do at work: access online courses, communicate with colleagues, access and save work-related files securely, schedule meetings, etc. Luckily, the university provides tools such as WiscMail, WiscChat, MyWebspace, WiscCal and Learn@UW to allow you to easily perform these tasks.
To access your email, simply point your browser to http://wiscmail.wisc.edu/. Enter your NetID and password, and you should have full access to your university email account. If you are using a WiscMail Plus account, follow this link instead: http://wiscmail.wisc.edu/mailplus
Please note: Not all campus divisions and departments use WiscMail or WiscMail Plus for email. If your department uses a different tool for email access you will need to consult your department web pages for access instructions.
If you'd rather use a third-party client to access your email (i.e. Thunderbird, Outlook, Mac Mail), no problem! Setup instructions for popular email clients are below:
DoIT recommends using an IMAP connection to receive your mail.
Windows Email Clients
Mac Email Clients
WiscChat Instant Messaging allows you to chat with colleagues in real time, just like instant messaging through AOL, MSN, or Google. A list of WiscChat clients for PC and Mac, along with instructions on how to set up WiscChat for these clients can be viewed here: http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=6839
MyWebSpace is a great tool for working remotely, as it allows you to upload and download files from any computer anywhere in the world. Want to save a file securely? Upload it to MyWebSpace! Simply point your browser to http://mywebspace.wisc.edu/ and log in.
More information about MyWebSpace, including usage instructions can be found here: http://www.doit.wisc.edu/mywebspace/index.asp
WiscCal is a great tool to keep track of meetings, appointments, and events. You can also schedule meetings, invite colleagues to meetings, and view colleagues' agendas.
Please note: Not all campus divisions and departments use WiscCal or WiscCal Plus for calendaring. If your department uses a different calendaring tool you will need to consult your department web pages for access instructions.
For more information on WiscCal, visit this link: http://www.doit.wisc.edu/calendaring/wisccal/index.asp
Learn@UW is a collection of software tools enabling instructors to create course web sites with state-of-the-art communication, collaboration, content delivery and student assessment capabilities.
To learn more about Learn@UW, follow this link: http://www.doit.wisc.edu/learnatuw/
Often, working remotely requires software such as Microsoft Office that you may not have at home. If you are a faculty or staff member and you require specific software for working from home, inquire with your department about purchasing a copy of the software for your home use. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of productivity software from the DoIT Techstore.
If you require an office suite, but cannot acquire a copy of a supported office suite (i.e. Microsoft Office or Apple iWork), you may want to try the free, open source office suite Open Office. Open Office is able to open almost all Microsoft Office documents (including documents, powerpoint presentations, and excel spreadsheets), and is cross-platform compatible.
Please Note: The DoIT Help Desk does not support Open Office.
Certain departments allow remote desktop access so that employees can access their work computer from home. This is usually achieved via a combination of running WiscVPN and connecting to your work computer via a Remote Desktop Connection or VNC program.
Access to this service varies by department, so you should contact your local IT support staff for more information.
| Keywords: | Work remotely home vpn wiscvpn internet access desktop social distancing pandemic flu planning h1n1 telecommuting telecommute working e-commuting e-work telework working from home (WFH) or working at home (WAH) | Doc ID: | 10038 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner: | Chris G. | Group: | Help Desk |
| Created: | 2009-05-27 | Updated: | 2009-11-17 |
| Sites: | Computer-Aided Engineering, Help Desk, Learn@UW Madison, Network Services, School of Education, Systems Engineering, WiscCal, WiscMail | ||
Copyright © 2009 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System