All posts by Randolph Pfaff

Telephone System Replacement Is Underway

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In response to the aging infrastructure of the campus telephone system, Simmons Technology has initiated a project to fully replace the system and all telephones at the College. After reviewing several viable options during a competitive bidding process, we have chosen a solution provided by Avaya, a worldwide leader in business communications.

The new system will provide a cost effective solution that integrates well with our current infrastructure. Additional features of the new system include enhanced emergency notifications, improved disaster recovery, mobile twinning (which connects cell phones to office phones), and a voice activated campus directory.

A phased deployment of this project will occur during the Spring 2015 semester. When complete, the replacement of the telephone system at Simmons will represent a major technology upgrade and will provide the College with a stable, long-term solution.

Coming Soon: Unlimited Storage in Google Drive

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google_drive_logoIn the near future, Google will be rolling out Drive for Education, which will include unlimited storage and support for individual files up to 5 terabytes in size. If you work with large video or audio files or massive data sets, this will be a significant change. The switch to unlimited storage will roll out automatically across campus and you won’t need to make any changes to Google Drive or your account.

In addition, there’s a new Google Drive interface available. The new version will eventually become standard, but you can opt to switch to it now if you’d like to try out the new features. To switch, click the gear icon in the upper right corner of your Google Drive screen, then click Experience the New Drive.

After switching, you’ll immediately notice some changes: improved speed and performance, the option to use a grid or list view, one-click file previews, and drag-and-drop capability.

The toolbar at the top of the screen has also undergone an upgrade. Once you’ve single-clicked on a file, the toolbar allows you to preview, share, delete, or copy a direct link to the file without opening it.

Along with upgrades to the desktop version, there are new Drive apps for both Android and iPhone/iPad.

New Year, New Web Site!

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After conferring with key stakeholders and considering important campus-wide dates, the Digital Ecosystem team has moved the launch of the new web site to January 7th, with promotion and communication continuing in the following week as Simmons gears up for the start of the semester. This date ensures that external delays won’t reduce the amount of testing and training time available to the community and that we do not risk impacting key admissions deadlines. We will launch with a polished, attractive site that features Simmons news and stories and makes them more visible online.

We have been working closely with Area Editors from each functional group to make sure that all content is up-to-date and will be granting them access to their content within the site on a rolling basis to review and make changes. Training for “Simmons Internal,” an online repository for many of our existing resources for students, staff and faculty who are already a member of the Simmons community, began last week.

A Digital Ecosystem newsletter with more details about the new site will be sent out soon. Please visit our project web site  for additional information.