Voicemail Services Is Now Cloud Based

Voicemail Services for Faculty and Staff

The campus voicemail system has moved from on-premises to the cloud which will be compatible with the new O365 email system!

Faculty and staff will begin receiving voicemail messages to their O365 email accounts starting this week. Inbound callers for individual employees will hear a standard telephone greeting utilizing their name. Inbound callers for resource mailboxes will hear a greeting utilizing the name of the resource box (ex: Admissions, Registrar, etc.).

Additionally, faculty and staff may receive an email message this week from the voicemail system with a new voicemail PIN and a voice mail access number.  The voice mail access number was used previously with the on-premises system so that you could dial in and perform tasks such as creating your personalized voicemail message or changing your PIN.

The voice mail access number will not work if you call it at this time. Additionally, the voicemail PIN will not be needed with the new voicemail cloud based solution as there are various ways now to access and personalize your voice mail account.

IT will be sending out more information shortly about the cloud based voicemail account options available to faculty and staff.

IT will work with any departments in setting up a front desk or main resource voicemail box if needed. Requests for assistance, questions or inquiries can be directed to helpdesk@capital.edu.

Email/Calendar/Contact PST Files for Faculty and Staff

Email/Calendar/Contact Files:

Majority of Outlook PST files for faculty and staff, which contains your emails, calendar, and contact information prior to the August 1st service disruption, have been extracted from the old server and placed in a secured file location.  All email PST file names are listed as  Lastname, Firstname”.

If you do not see your PST file listed yet, it is still in the process of being moved to the file location. IT estimates that all PST files should be moved to the file location by tomorrow afternoon.

Department resource mailboxes are still being extracted and IT will work with departments with installing their mailbox PST file to their cloud account.

If you are off campus, you will need to connect to the campus VPN to locate, download and save your PST file to your computer desktop.  Mac and Window PC users should follow the detailed help document instructions below for their operating system:

Upon downloading your PST file to your desktop, please disconnect from the campus VPN immediately. Please be aware that while your PST file is being pushed to the cloud, your email account and Skype client will not be usable during that time.  

*Important Tips:

Downloading/Installing from off campus:  Please be aware that this process off campus could take several hours depending on your internet speed, size of your PST file, and the number of users that are utilizing the campus VPN simultaneously.

It is recommended that you try to connect to the campus VPN to download your PST file to your desktop after regular work hours.

Downloading/Installing from Campus: The faster method would be to come directly to the Capital campus to utilize the 10G internet speed.  If you chose to come to the campus, please coordinate and communicate your campus visit with your supervisor so that as few people as possible are in shared spaces.

While the end result is that you will be moving your email PST files to your O365 account, you will be using the Outlook program to do so. The instructions provided (Mac or Windows) will help you remove your old Outlook account and create a new account so that it connects to your new O365 account in the cloud.

When everything is complete, you will be able to use email either in the cloud or with the Outlook program. Once your PST file has been installed to your cloud account, you may need to recreate some of your email filters, rules and/or alerts that you previously had.

If you need help with your PST install, please send a request to helpdesk@capital.edu for a desktop remote session.

 

Update: University Email system

8/10/20

The Department of Information Technology is working diligently to establish full functionality to the institution’s email and telephone infrastructure due to a virus attack.

As of today, all faculty and staff have new Office 365 email accounts in the cloud which can be accessed online for now at https://outlook.com/capital.edu. We will be working with the campus soon in sending out information on how to setup and access your email message through the Microsoft Office program on your computer.

 

We have released and redirected all inbound email messages to your cloud account which was previously stored on our Barracuda spam server as of Friday, August 7th.

Below are our next implementation steps this week for your awareness.  Please be advise that this process is complicated and timely and we appreciate your continued patience as we work out the kinks to establish a successful email work flow.

  • PST Files: A PST file is a personal storage table that stores copies of messages, addresses, attachments, calendar events, contact cards and other personal information used in Microsoft Outlook and/or Microsoft Exchange. Your old PST file will hold information prior to the email outage. IT technicians are currently working on extracting and moving all faculty/staff PST files to your email account in the cloud this week.  This is a new procedure that will need to be tested and vetted prior to full implementation, so we appreciate once again, your patience and understanding as we diligently work out the kinks to this process. We will keep you updated as we get closer to implementation.
  • Resource Mailboxes: Now that the email system is officially migrating to the cloud, setup for resource mailboxes will need to be recreated for cloud usage and accessibility. This is due to the way Microsoft currently configures resource mailboxes to run on their servers in their data centers in the cloud. If you had a resource mailbox that you would like for us to recreate and setup in the cloud with permissions, we kindly ask that you submit a request immediately to helpdesk@capital.edu. When sending your request, we ask that you give us the following information:
    • Name of mailbox(es) you need created;
    • Name of all personnel who needs access to it;
    • Info for a primary contact person (prefer cell phone) so that we can work with that person to ensure the mailbox has been created properly and functioning correctly
  • Distribution Groups: A distribution list allows a user to maintain a list of email addresses and send messages to all of them at once. There are two types of distribution lists—static and dynamic:
    • Static: Members of a static distribution list are added and removed manually by the group administrator(s). During the migration process from on premises to cloud, static distribution lists should not need any reconfiguration or changes. However, we ask that you test your list to see if you get a bounce back message and seek assistance with any issues by contacting helpdesk@capital.edu.
    • Dynamic: Dynamic distribution groups are mail enabled active directory group objects that contains a list of users based on a filter/criteria and the number of users can change automatically at any time based on the filter/criteria. Dynamic lists are best for emailing a list of contacts within the organization such as specific majors, minors, alumni or employees.

If you had a dynamic distribution list, you will need to contact IT, helpdesk@capital.edu to have it recreated and deployed to the cloud.  Please provide the following information:

    • Name of your group;
    • Name of primary contact person (prefer cell phone) so that we can work with that person to ensure mailbox has been created properly and functioning correctly;
    • Contact IT if you are unsure of whether your group is static or dynamic

We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.  Please forward any questions, inquiries or concerns to helpdesk@capital.edu and one of our IT professionals will connect with you.

 

8/5/20

We have upgraded and converted Capital’s on-premise email system to the cloud and created new Microsoft Office365 email accounts for all Capital faculty and staff!

You can access your new email account online at: https://outlook.com/capital.edu and login with your Capital username and password. Upon entering your new account, you will notice that you will not have your previous messages, files, documents and folders yet.

As we continue the conversation process, we will begin migrating all email account information that is currently being stored on our Barracuda spam server, to the mailboxes in the cloud. You do not have to do anything and you will automatically start seeing your emails appear in your inbox.

Email messages can be sent out internally, as well as to external email platforms such as gmail, yahoo, however, you will not be able to receive any incoming external email reply messages at this moment. We are currently working on resolving this.

We are continuously working on resource mailboxes and voicemail to email functionality. For those who are in departments that had access and permissions to specific resource mailboxes, these will need to be setup again.  Please email helpdesk@capital.edu for such requests, along with the name(s) of the resource mailbox needed.

We will send out instructions on how to setup Outlook computer software to your Office365 mailbox at a later time, as we are still working on the back end processes of the email system conversion from on-premise to the cloud system.

We thank you for your patience as we work to improve and enhance Capital’s unified communication platform.  Questions and inquiries can be directed to helpdesk@capital.edu.

 

8/4/20

Information Technology is currently working to restore full functionality to Capital’s email system and the Law School webpage this week after a virus attack. Please be assured that all email messages and file system databases are safe and secure as this is our top priority.

Faculty and staff accounts are not able to receive or send emails at this time. Student accounts are still accessible via 0365 and can send email messages to other external email platforms such as gmail, yahoo, however, they cannot receive any incoming email messages. Our spam server, Barracuda, scans all incoming email messages for spam and once cleared, delivers messages to student accounts up in the cloud.

Messages received from outside the university are currently being kept and stored on our Barracuda email protection system server. Those messages will be delivered to all faculty, staff and students once the email system has been repaired and restored.

As part of the email system resolution plan, O365 email accounts for faculty and staff will be created and moved up to the cloud. Faculty and staff O365 accounts will not have any current email messages, files and other archived content until IT migrates this information from the current email system into the cloud. This is a very large project with a short timeframe for implementation, so we ask for your understanding and patience.

Capital phones are working, but because the email service also handles voicemail, this function is not available. Busy signals are normal, as we are seeing a high call volume to certain lines. Departments with specific voicemail and telephone forwarding needs should email helpdesk@capital.edu for assistance.  Our telephone support team will contact you.

We understand the inconvenience this has caused everyone; however, we feel the final results will be very beneficial.  Again, thank you for your patience and understanding.

 

8/2/20

Work is still being done on the email exchange server this morning. Email is not accessible at this time.

 

8/1/2020 9:30am

We are experiencing technical issues with our Exchange server email system this morning.  This affects all faculty and staff accessing email.  We currently do not have an estimated time of resolution to the issue and are working with consultants to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Law School website is back online

8/10/20

Law School website is back online.  There are some more back-end website configuration and settings that we need to work on, but website is online.

8/5/20

Website files have been retrieved from the server and we are currently working on getting the law school website back online.

8/1/20

The law school website is temporarily unavailable.  We are aware of this and are working to bring the site back up as soon as we can.

Covid-19, Zoom Bombing and The Care Act Phishing Scams

The amount of news coverage and impact surrounding the coronavirus pandemic has continued to create an opportunity for cyber-criminals to take advantage of individuals in the form of phishing attacks, email scams and zoom video hijacking.

Looking to exploit the public’s fears and to take advantage of the increase in teleworking during the pandemic, cyber-criminals are sending email messages claiming to be from legitimate organizations with information about  COVID-19 and the Care Act.  Additionally, Zoom phishing emails and Zoom-bombing of video conferences have increased significantly over the last month.

We ask that all Capital University employees and students continue to maintain high awareness and to be very vigilance in not falling prey to these attacks.  Please review and educate yourself with the latest information below and report and/or forward any suspicious activity, spam, emails or phishing attacks to abuse@capital.edu. 

Covid-19 Phishing Awareness

Phishing messages will utilize tactics with a COVID-19 spin to them. Here are some things to be on the lookout for:

  1. An email asking you to open an attachment claiming to “provide the latest statistics on the virus”
  2. Encouraging you to click a link that will provide helpful information on “staying clear of the virus”
  3. Asking you to provide personal information to “see if your area is being affected by the virus”
  4. An email asking for information to receive government stimulus checks

Zoom Bombing Awareness

Across higher education, there is an increase in Zoom related phishing emails and Zoom-bombing incidents. Zoom-bombing is where Zoom video conferences used for online lessons and business meetings are hijacked and disrupted.

Zoom phishing emails may come in the form of a Zoom meeting request from an official-looking, branded, and registered Zoom domain.  They may include links such as zoom-us-zoom_##########.exe which likely contains malware.

Some best practices to apply when using Zoom include:

  1. When utilizing Zoom for official Capital University business and classes, utilize the capital.zoom.us domain
  2. Utilize private meeting rooms
  3. Do not share Zoom conference links on public social media
  4. Manage screen-sharing options (such as screen sharing to “Host Only”)
  5. Create a “waiting room” within your Zoom conference meeting so that all persons must be verified and admitted by you only
  6. When accepting a Zoom meeting request, verify it is from a known person and Zoom domain

Student Aid & The CARES Act Scam

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act includes funds intended to provide emergency assistance to university students. Many of our students will be eligible and will be receiving CARES Act grants.

Scammers are also aware of these grants and are already plotting ways to exploit the situation. Be vigilant for phishing scams related to the CARES Act student assistance that are likely to surface in the coming days and weeks.

Keep in mind the following tips for spotting scams:

  1. Federal, state, and local governments will not ask you to pay a “deposit” or any other fees to obtain CARES Act grants. Any attempt to collect money in exchange for grants is a scam
  2. Neither the government nor the University will request your Social Security number, bank account number or credit card number as a prerequisite for receiving a CARES Act grant
  3. Refer to Capital University’s official web page (https://www.capital.edu/cares-application/) for details about student aid being distributed through the CARES Act

What can you do?

  1. Be careful opening any web links or attachments, even if you know the sender, it may be a compromised sender.
  2. If you suspect that you have received a phishing email, delete it and do not open or click on any links.
  3. Look for “Red Flags” in emails you receive. Red Flags include abnormalities in the sender, topic, links, content, etc.
  4. Additional tips for spotting phishing scams is available on the following IT web page: https://members.eiia.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/SocialEngineeringRedFlags.pdf
  5. Please remember that emails with the words COVID-19 or Coronavirus coming from outside the University will be flagged with a header below: 
  6. Contact your IT department whenever you have any doubts or concerns at helpdesk@capital.edu or 614-236-6508.

 

 

Forwarding Office Phones to Another Number

Forwarding Office Phone to Another Number

  • In the Skype client click on the tools drop down menu

  • Choose Call Forwarding Settings
  • Select Simultaneously ring

  • Select from this list drop down menu choose New Number
  • Enter the phone number you want to ring 614-555-5555

You will now see your current call forward settings:

Calls will ring you at work +1 (614) 236-XXXX and also ring 614-555-5555

Unanswered calls will go to Voice Mail in 20 seconds (5 rings) you can adjust this as desired

These settings will apply:  All the time (You can set this to During work hours set in Outlook)

Important: If you do not have a Capital owned laptop or are unable to forward your phone using the Skype Mac client please contact the help desk, 614-236-6508 or helpdesk@capital.edu to have a service request ticket opened for assistance.  The telecommunication team will help forward your phone remotely.  Any department with a main telephone number assigned to multiple people simultaneously should contact the help desk to ask for assistance.

Listening and Retrieving Voicemail

There are several ways to check your voice mail off campus. You can dial the campus voice mail system via telephone; You can read your voice mail messages in your email account via MS Outlook; and you can retrieve your message via the Skype client on your laptop.

Dial the Campus Voice Mail System via Telephone

To check your voicemail off campus via telephone, call your own office telephone number. When the voice greeting starts, press *. You will then be asked to enter your voicemail PIN. You should now have access to your voicemail menu options which will allow you to check your voicemail message.

Retrieve Messages via Skype Client

Open and log into the Skype client and follow the instructions below.

Voicemail messages in Outlook

When you receive a voice mail message, a copy of the message will be delivered to your email inbox. You can locate the message in your account at a glance because it will have the message details, date and time and a preview button that you can press and play.  Press the preview button to listen to the entire message. Outlook will also transcribe the message for a visual reading experience.

 

EIIA – Warning – Phishing Emails – Coronavirus and COVID-19

The following is a Phishing Alert from EIIA – Educational & Institutional Insurance Administrators concerning recent sharp increases in phishing attacks occurring over the past week related to Coronavirus and COVID-19.

All emails from the outside with the words COVID-19 or Coronavirus will be flagged with a header:


Good afternoon,

I am sending this email to alert everyone about the recent sharp increase in phishing attacks occurring over the past week. Hackers and cybercriminals are using public apprehension over the coronavirus outbreak to advance their agendas. IBM recently warned consumers that ransomware has entered the mix of coronavirus-themed payloads hackers are unleashing. Emails purporting to contain information about the spread of the coronavirus will secretly download the Emotet malware that allows hackers to steal information and deliver malware.

The types of emails you may receive to get your attention to click a malicious link or open an attachment include:

  1. Fake school or CDC emails could make you think you or your child has been exposed to COVID-19. They could say your family may face quarantine.
  2. False claims that there’s a vaccine for sale or some form of remedy available.
  3. Misleading ads about masks that may not be effective or other helpful hints to combat the virus.
  4. Emails with “latest” updates to keep you informed as criminals are aware that everyone wants to know everything first.

What can you do?

  1. Be careful opening any web links or attachments, even if you know the sender, it may be a compromised sender.
  2. Look for “Red Flags” in emails you receive. Red Flags include abnormalities in the sender, topic, links, content, etc. To help everyone on this topic, please refer to the following link on our website for a helpful one page document: https://members.eiia.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/SocialEngineeringRedFlags.pdf
  3. Contact your IT department whenever you have any doubts or concerns.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope this information is helpful and everyone be careful out there.

Thank you.

Gerry Hamill, MBA, CISSP
Executive Director
IT Risk Management
888.260.7416
ghamill@eiia.org
www.eiia.org

VPN Frequently Asked Questions

DATE: Tuesday, March 10, 2020
TO: Capital University Faculty & Staff Members
FROM: Department of Information Technology
RE: VPN Frequently Asked Questions

Given the rapidly changing state of COVID-19 in the State of Ohio, The Department of Information Technology has had a lot of questions regarding the use of the VPN client. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions and best practices for using the VPN client:

• What does VPN do?
A VPN connection connects your computer to campus through a secure tunnel, so that you can use campus resources that are not available when you’re away.

• Should I contact IT to learn how to use the VPN on my machine?
Only if you are a Colleague or heavy Shared Drive user. Almost everything else Capital related can be done without a VPN connection.

• What computers have VPN?
All university owned Dell laptops have the VPN client already configured and it is ready for use. Many university owned Mac laptops have VPN installed as well, but not all. If you are unsure if you have a VPN installed on your Mac or you are unsure how to use it, please contact the IT Help Desk for assistance.

• What services require a VPN connection?
Generally, the most common services that require VPN are Colleague, Shared Drives, and Synoptix. Most other common services can be accessed without VPN, such as email, iLearn, WebAdvisor, MyCap, 25Live, Google services, and The Raiser’s Edge.

• Should I do all of my work through a VPN connection?
No. VPN is a secure connection, which means it is very bandwidth intensive. It is fine to use something like Colleague, or access files on a Shared Drive, but you will find slower performance if you try to watch videos, attend video conferences, or use services such as Skype or Zoom. It is best to do the essentials through the VPN, and then disconnect from it when you are finished.

• Can Capital IT set up a VPN connection on my personal machine?
For security reasons, we cannot because we do not know what is installed on personal machines. Additionally, it is not safe to set up VPN on non-Capital machines as it could potentially infect our network infrastructure.

One more helpful tip, is if you want to access your home drive (H drive) files on a non-Capital machine, one option is to move those files to your Capital Google Drive. You can access this by logging into drive.google.com with your Capital email address and password. If you have further questions, please contact us at helpdesk@capital.edu, or at 614-236-6508.

Thank you!

Resolved: Colleague UI

Updated 5:15pm

Colleague and myCAP are back to normal.

 

Updated 2:19pm

A temporary fix has been applied to the Person Lookup by removing Birth date from Context card (header) and Search results.

You may work in Colleague as usual. Only be aware that birth date is not displayed on the Person search or Context card.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

 

Updated 2:09pm

Colleague is back and running but users are getting an error when pulling Person records:

“Unable to retrieve data from requested column(s) in query Error message returned from database was: BIRTH.DATE is not a column in PERSON”

We have opened a case with Ellucian to get this resolved as soon as possible.