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Removal of Windows 10 “Mail” app

What is happening?

We will be removing (i.e. uninstalling) the native Windows 10 and 11 “Mail” application from all University of Reading managed Windows computers in the next few weeks.

Windows Mail does not have the functionality or security that Microsoft Outlook provides, and for this reason we are going to remove it from all University of Reading managed Windows computers. Microsoft Outlook is the approved application for email and calendaring, and is already installed on all UoR computers as part of Office.

How do I know which I am using?

Most people will be using Microsoft Outlook. If you have a newer computer (particularly a Microsoft Surface) you may be using Windows Mail without realising. The easiest way to tell is to check your email programme icon on the taskbar, so open your email and see what the icon looks like.Taskbar with Outlook icon and Windows Mail icon. The Outlook icon is different. Outlook has an envelope icon with an “O”, whereas Windows Mail has a simple envelope icon.

Do I need to do anything?

The removal of Windows Mail will happen automatically. If you are using Windows Mail now, it would be wise to open up Outlook to familiarise yourself with the interface.

The first time you open Outlook,  you will be prompted for your email address. This will pull all the information needed for first time set up. You can find Outlook by putting “Outlook” in the search bar.

Further information and contact

DTS Outlook webpage

Microsoft Outlook training

Linked In Learning Outlook training topic

If you have any questions or need any advice, please contact the IT Service Desk.

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Request your Curriculum Software now for Autumn 2023

Many software logosIn Digital Technology Services (DTS) we review all software packages each academic year. Our Application and Deployment team are now preparing to package software required for classes for the next academic year (23/24).

If you use any software in your teaching, we need your requests for curriculum software for the next academic year by 16th June.

What is happening?

For your software to be available for the start of Autumn term, you need to complete a software request form now for each software package required for your classes. You do not need to request Microsoft Office.

DTS coordinates curriculum software requests from within and across all Schools to ensure app configuration and any additional requirements requested are included in the deployed app, so please make sure you complete a form even if you think someone else might.

What do I need to do?

Complete the Software Request form on the DTS Self Service Portal 

(If the above link does not work, from https://uor.topdesk.net/ go to: Place a DTS request – Request software – PC and classroom support – Request software for labs/Apps Anywhere)

Apps Anywhere home page

This form can also be accessed directly from Apps Anywhere by selecting the “Request Software” tile.

Important information about completing the form

A complete form will enable DTS to action and work on your request without coming back to you if we have all the required information, including any licensing and test steps. If any fields are incomplete there is a delay while we try to contact you for this information and we may not be able to action your request in the specified time.

Please don’t put “same as last year” as we will need to look back through requests to see what you requested last year, and it also makes it difficult to coordinate this with new requests from across the schools.

Points to note:

  • An individual form is required for each software package.
  • You do not need to request Microsoft Office. 
  • You must complete the form whether the software has been used in previous years or not.
  • Please complete all fields in the form with as much information as possible so we can process requests promptly.
  • If you are planning on using new software, please discuss this with your DTS Business Relationship Manager (BRM) before completing the form.
  • Where possible, all software is made available via Apps Anywhere.
  • All software requested should be at a supported version, ideally the latest version (for the latest fixes and patches)

DTS do not make any assumptions about what software is needed for next year and anything not requested may be retired from Apps Anywhere.

Deadline

This information is required by Friday 16 June. Requests after this deadline cannot be guaranteed for the start of Autumn term. 

How can I find out the progress of my request?

Submitting the request form creates a ticket. You can view the progress of your ticket either by clicking the “Track my ticket” link in your confirmation email, or through “My logged calls” on the DTS Self Service Portal.

Further information and contact

If you have any questions, please contact the team through the IT Service Desk or your BRM through Ask a Question.

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Emails: Advice for senders

How to stop your email being sent to the Junk Email folder or reported to us as phishing

If you receive an email that you are worried about, DTS are always happy to take a look and advise. Often these turn out to be legitimate emails which have raised red flags with the recipient as a potential phishing attempt. We also see people reporting missing emails, as the emails are being diverted to email Junk folders or sent to Microsoft Quarantine because they have been flagged as spam. 

Junk Email folder in Outlook

Junk Email folder in Outlook

Here we look at a few ways you can make sure emails you send avoid being deleted, quarantined or marked as spam or junk. 

Following these tips will help friends and colleagues determine whether your email is genuine. 

What can I do?

Help emails reach their intended recipient by following these tips: 

  • Proofread your emails and check grammar
  • Have a coherent and relevant subject line:
    • Don’t use CAPITALS, emojis 😀 or exclamation marks !!!!! in the subject line
    • Single word subject lines such as Urgent! or Information? are more likely to get sent to junk.
    • Avoid spam filter trigger words in the subject line e.g. Urgent!, Limited Time!, Available?
  • Don’t send the email content as a picture which may get blocked
  • Limit the number of colours and fonts you use, which also helps with Digital Accessibility. 
  • Address the email to the person you are emailing, e.g. Hi John
    • If you are bulk emailing, consider using mail merge to address people separately
  • If you have a link in an email, particularly to personal details, provide an alternative route to that information. For example, a link might say “Access your staff account“. If you add “or go to the Staff Portal and click the link to the Staff Self Service”, you are giving people an option of finding their own way without relying on the link. 

Emails from or on behalf of the University occasionally get trapped by the Microsoft spam filter. If you are sending emails, here is some additional guidance.

  • Sign off from a named person, rather than a department or team. This gives people a point of contact and someone they can look up on the staff directory.
  • Add your University email signature to the end of the email
  • Use the correct language and spelling for University terms; see the UoR House style guide
  • Send from an @reading.ac.uk email address where possible.

If an email will come from an external email address (for example a third party who are providing a service), make sure you check what they are sending also follows this guidance. 

Someone typing on a computer keyboard

 

You should pay particular attention to your email content if you are sending an email out to many people at once (which may look like spam), or if you want people to click a link (which may look like phishing).

Why does it matter?

Apart from the obvious that you want people to read your emails…

If people report University of Reading emails as spam to Microsoft, then all emails from @reading.ac.uk will start to be scrutinised and potentially held in quarantine. The same is true from a personal email address.

Further reading

We have a Cyber Security section on the DTS website, which also includes information about spotting phishing attempts.

Also check our Digital Accessibility Resources  which can help further with content and displaying images.

Contact

If you have any queries or require any advice, please contact the IT Service Desk.

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Update to SailPoint IIQ (myid.reading.ac.uk) – summary of changes

MyID menu

SailPoint IIQ user account menu

On April 25th 2023, a new release of SailPoint IIQ (accessed via myid.reading.ac.uk) will be going live. This release includes several new features as well as performance improvements.

The main changes are highlighted below.

  • New starters will now be prompted to change password on their first login to a University system (apart from students who set their passwords through RISIS).
  • Employee extended accounts will now need to be applied for every three months (this is an account management requirement for security credentials ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials). If you know an account is required for longer than three months, consider requesting an External account instead of an extension. Any current employee can request an external account for you.
  • We have improved acknowledgement emails. When you request a new account or an extension, you will now get an acknowledgement email with information on who needs to approve your request.
  • We’ve also added a link to RISIS Ask A Question (for student extensions) and an additional course to the Compliance section (for employees and externals).

We have updated our documentation and the User Account Management webpage to reflect these changes. 

For a full list, including bug fixes, please see change C-2304-210 (ask IT Service Desk for a copy if you cannot access the change tickets).

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Device Lifecycle News – April update

What are the drivers behind the 2023 Device Lifecycle Programme?

Image showing a computer with the words device lifecycle printed across the middle. An arrow encircles the computer to represent a circular process.The 2023 Device Lifecycle Programme is a University directive stemming from the New Ways of Working (NWoW) strategic pathway. In order to support the Smart Working framework, where staff are able to work on campus or at home, the University aims to provide all staff with one portable device to cater for flexible working.

As well as supporting the NWoW strategic pathway, the policy for a single, University-managed device allows for improved and efficient staff technical support in addition to a more robust cyber security model and compliance.

IT security breaches can be extremely costly. Older devices and a diverse range of equipment manufacturers cannot be managed centrally for security patches and software upgrades. Staff IT equipment must be fully managed with up to date software to be compliant with audit and risk standards such as Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO27001.

Finally, aging devices require more frequent maintenance and support, leading to low staff satisfaction with recurring issues such as poor performance and lack of software compatibility.

DTS have been tasked by the University with replacing old and unmanaged devices with new Surface Laptops (or MacBook Air).

What does this mean in practice?

Any staff member who is not currently using a UoR laptop is entitled to receive an upgrade to a Surface Laptop 5 i7 (at no charge to their department).  Current Mac users are entitled to a MacBook Air (at no charge to their department).

These DTS-supplied devices will be replaced at no charge if they become faulty, or at the end of their lifetime.

How can you receive a new laptop?

The Device Lifecycle team works with your entire team or department to co-ordinate the set-up of new devices for all staff members in scope for replacement. Contact the Device Lifecycle team to discuss.

What will be happen to devices which are replaced?

We are working on a new disposal strategy which will focus on reuse, recycling and recouping money for the University.  In addition, any equipment (especially Surface devices which are only a few years old but are no longer fit for the job function) will be reused within the University.

Further information

If you have any questions or need any advice, please contact the Device Lifecycle team who will be happy to help.

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Changes to email lists: External lists (Mailman)

As part of our ongoing project to improve our services and ensure they meet current requirements, we are replacing the Mailman email distribution list service. You can read more about why we need to move away from Mailman in our post Changes to email distribution lists.

We have already migrated over 400 lists to Microsoft Outlook Distribution Groups. These are lists which contain internal members only.

Moving from Mailman Lists to LISTSERV

Listserv smallWe are now ready to tackle moving our external facing Mailman lists to a new managed email service called LISTSERV.

LISTSERV has been running since 1986. Thousands of organizations worldwide use LISTSERV to manage email newsletters, discussion groups, email communities and opt-in email marketing campaigns that reach millions of subscribers.

Key information for existing list owners

The migration of lists and users will be done automatically by DTS over the next few weeks. If you are a list owner, we will email to let you know when your list migration will take place.  This email will also contain your new email list address.

There are a few steps we would like you to take to smooth the transition for yourselves and for your members.

  • Familiarise yourself with the new interface (demo at Moderator interface)
  • Notify members of the changes: We advise you to notify your members of the change of email address for your list.
  • Update moderation and list settings: We have configured the new list moderation to be fairly restrictive, however you can make changes to these settings as you please.
  • Use the new email address: We encourage you to use the new address as soon as possible. There will be a grace period of two weeks where both email addresses can be used.
  • Send emails to both lists for two weeks: to allow all members to ensure that they have been successfully migrated, and that emails from the new service are being correctly delivered (and not sent to spam/junk).

I’m subscribed to a Mailman list, what do I need to do?

First of all, wait until you are advised by your list moderator that the list email address has changed!

  • Familiarise yourself with the new interface (demo at Subscriber interface)
  • Use the new email address: Please note that for the first two weeks after the migration, all email sent to the old address will redirect to the new list. An autoreply will notify the sender of the new email address to use.
  • Create a LISTSERV account so you can access your settings and check your subscription status has migrated successfully. You must use the same email address as the email address used by your existing list.

Instructions, demos and FAQ

Instructions for list owners and subscribers can be found here: KI 1816 LISTSERV Information. We have also published an FAQ on the same page.

There are demos of the new LISTSERV interface you can try out:

Further information and Contact

If you have any questions or need any advice, please contact the Mailman migration team via the IT Service Desk.

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Device Lifecycle News – February 2023

Image showing a computer with the words device lifecycle printed across the middle. An arrow encircles the computer to represent a circular process.New IT Equipment available to Functions

The Device Lifecycle team has been in contact with departments across various functions to arrange upgrades to standardised portable equipment, in line with the University’s Smart Working policy. The feedback from staff is that they appreciate the increased flexibility of the new laptops as well as the personalised support provided during transition from the old device. 

Anyone who would like more information on the Smart Working policy can find the details on the HR website https://www.reading.ac.uk/human-resources/working-life/smart-working

Problems with a new Surface device?

If you received a new Microsoft Surface device last year and either haven’t set it up, or have had problems setting it up, then you need to know that the Device Lifecycle team are offering any member of staff who has queries or on-going difficulties a 1-2-1 deskside support session. If this applies to you then please go to our Microsoft Surface set up webpage for details of how to request a visit from the team.

Is your team eligible for Device Replacement?

Have a look at our website to see if your department could benefit from an equipment upgrade, and contact us to discuss by emailing Device-lifecycle-DTS@reading.ac.uk

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Device Lifecycle News – January 2023

Device lifecycle logo - a green square with a white computer icon in the centre. An arrow going round it represents the cycle.Progress report

The Lifecycle team have completed successful delivery in Human Resources and Legal Services. We are now finalising dates with Student Services for the roll-out of their equipment over the next two months. 

We have published a schedule January-March which can be found on our new website.

Device Lifecycle Website is Live

The Device Lifecycle programme is up and running and anyone interested in more details can have a look at the website. The site explains how the programme works within the University’s New Ways of Working strategy, which devices are in scope for replacement and how the new process operates in practice.

Screenshot of the DTS device lifecycle homepage

Got a question? See our FAQs!

The team has put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions to answer common queries and clarify any issues which staff may be uncertain about.

We will update this page as work progresses and we come across more questions. 

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Eduroam (Wi-Fi) maintenance schedule 24/01/23

Tuesday 24th January – Whiteknights/London Road

What is happening?

DTS are doing some work on the Eduroam Wi-Fi service between the hours of 1900 and 2200 on Tuesday 24th January. During this time there may be some interruptions in the Wi-Fi signal whilst changes are carried out.

Where: Whiteknights/London Road
When: 1900 to 2200 – see schedule of works
Who is affected: Everyone (staff and students)

This work forms part of the ongoing upgrade and improvement to Wi-Fi availability on campus.

Schedule of works

Please note timings are for information only and are subject to change. 

Testing will place at 7pm in the Mathematics/DTS building. The Library will be last at approx. 8.15pm. London Road will start at 8.15pm and should complete by 9pm.

1900-1930

1930-2000

2000-2030
Mathematics & DTS (testing) Polly Vacher Meteorology
JJ Thomson Allen Lab Palmer
Philip Lyle Wager Miller
Minghella Studios ICMA Agriculture
Sports Park Russell Mathematics & DTS
Hopkins Student Union Park House
  Carrington Cedar Hotel
  Chemistry Archway Lodge
  Health & Life Sciences Harry Pitt
  Henley Business School (Whiteknights) Whiteknights House
    Estates
    Foxhill House
    Edith Morley
    Library

Contact

If you have any questions or need any advice, please contact the IT Service Desk. 

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Eduroam Wi-Fi update 22/12/22

Eduroam logo

What do I need to know?

The Eduroam wi-fi security certificate has been renewed, which in some cases requires re-authentication when you join for the first time.

What do I need to do?

If you are using wi-fi on campus for the first time after 22/12/22 and you are having issues connecting, you should “forget” the Eduroam wi-fi network on your device and then re-join Eduroam, re-entering your username and password (particularly iOS users). If you get a message e.g. “Do you want to accept this new certificate”, please accept the new certificate.

If forget and re-join doesn’t work, please go to wifi.reading.ac.uk and download a new certificate for your device before connecting (you may need to use mobile data to do this if you have no other connections available to you).

Further help

If you still can’t get on to wi-fi, please visit our Service Desk on the first floor in the Library at Whiteknights where we can help in person. Alternatively, raise a ticket with the IT Service Desk.