This article is for all Western NY region CCE staff. Our goal with this article is to provide, or help you find, all of the IT support services you will need to do your job. While this information is primarily for new staff, it has many items that will be helpful for long-term employees as well. The following list will help new employees find the resources they need to settle in more quickly.
Who can use this service/system?
CCE staff in the Western NY shared business network (WSBN)
Table of Contents
About WSBN Regional IT Support
The WSBN Regional IT Support team is composed of two regional staff members, based out of the CCE Wyoming County office in Warsaw, NY.
- Jenn Matthews, Regional IT Manager
- Christi Smith, Regional Support and Training Coordinator
Your local IT support is provided by your local IT contact and elevated to the regional IT support team as needed.
We are also affiliated with the larger CALS-OIT and IT@Cornell community (CIT). CIT is the Central IT organization at Cornell and they manage campus-wide services such as NetID management, e-mail, file storage, etc. Rarely do you need to contact them directly. Instead, you can put in a request to the Western CCE helpdesk and we will either help resolve your issue or escalate it to the appropriate team within CCE, CALS or CIT. Find out more about CIT-provided services.
Getting Help
Requesting Support
- To request IT support, please first reach out to your association's local IT contact. (If you don't know who this is, please ask your supervisor.)
- If your local IT contact is unavailable or unable to assist you, submit your request through our Western CCE helpdesk web page. Emailing IT requests directly to WSBN IT staff risks your request going unseen. Especially if the technician you emailed is out of the office.
Urgent Support Requests
- For urgent IT support, please call us directly via MS Teams (recommended method) or by phone.
- Office - 585-786-2251
- Cell - 585-708-9040
How We Provide Support
- We will use a variety of methods to assist you; email, phone call, remote support assistance, visit to your office, direct you to online instructions (from us, CIT or sometimes an off-campus source).
- For remote support, we may ask you to initiate a BeyondTrust remote assistance session with us. We will walk you through this process should the use of BeyondTrust be necessary.
Important First Steps
If you are a new CCE employee, please review the New Hire Packet folder on your association's shared drive. (Association\IT\_New Hire Packet)
- Ensure you have at least two devices set up for two-step authentication.
- Update your preferred name in WorkDay. This is the name that will be used in the Cornell e-mail directory.
- Review and update your e-mail signature in Outlook and on your mobile device, if applicable.
Acquiring Technology
To ensure the supportability of technology purchased with CCE funds, please consult with WSBN IT regarding all technology-related purchases.
For Managers/Supervisors
As soon as possible, either upon a position becoming vacant with the intent to fill said vacancy or the creation of a new position, begin thinking about the technology needs of the role. You should determine:
Is there an adequately powerful, and fully supportable, computer already available for this role within the department?
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Yes - Great! Hold onto it until you know the NetID of the employee filling the role. Once you have the employee's NetID, please submit a support request and include their NetID, start date, and where the computer is currently being stored. As their start date approaches, we'll back up the data currently resident on the computer and reinstall the operating system to ensure the private data of any previous users are removed. If there is a subset of the previous users' work-related data you wish for the new employee to have, we'll work with you to identify it and copy it to the newly set up computer.
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No - Please submit a support request to begin the computer quotation process. Please include with your request whether you'd like us to quote a laptop or desktop model. CCE is working to provide a more consistent and cost-effective computing environment, and to that end, CCE is encouraging the purchase of a set of popular configurations as standard bundles with a number of configurable options through Dell. We're confident that our Dell offerings will meet your needs.
Besides a computer, what other technology purchases may be required?
- New peripherals - keyboard, mice, webcam, surge protectors, etc.
- WSBN IT staff can recommend items or you can peruse suggestions at X:\IT\Purchasing
- Software
For New Staff
Your manager should have already identified the computer you will be using and coordinated with WSBN IT to configure it for your use. We will coordinate with your manager to determine a good time, on your start date, to meet with you to finish personalizing your setup.
If WSBN IT staff were not coordinated with to prepare a computer for your use, please speak to your manager and ask them to submit a request to IT to either set up an existing computer or to start the quotation and procurement of a new computer. If a new computer needs to be purchased, temporary access to a loaner may be necessary. If this is the case, please inquire with your supervisor about availability.
Getting Online
Ethernet (Wired) Access
Managed Network
WSBN IT managed CCE computers equipped with Ethernet ports (desktops, laptop, docking stations), are registered for use on the managed network as part of our setup process.
- If you are being prompted to register a CCE device on the network when opening a web browser, please contact the WSBN IT staff.
- Non-CCE devices may NOT be plugged into our CCE network.
Wireless (WiFi) Access
Access to CCE's wireless networks is available for CCE-owned and personal devices. CCE offers two ways to connect your wireless device to the network:
- CCE owned devices: cce-wsbn
- Personal devices: guest - name of guest WiFi network varies across offices
Accessing Network Resources
Association Shared Drive
Your association has a network drive where all association and program-related folders and files are saved. Please check to ensure you have access to the folders your supervisor indicates you will need. Your supervisor can submit a request if you need additional access.
Networked Printers
You should have access to print to the association copier(s) in your building. If you cannot print, or need access to another network printer, please submit a helpdesk request.
Audio-Visual / Teleconferencing
Web and Video Conferencing
- Zoom - The university-supported web and video conferencing solution is Zoom. Zoom is a full-featured web and video conferencing service that offers online meetings and webinars. Features include polling, breakout rooms, and a wide variety of audio options. For more information, please see Article - Zoom (cornell.edu) and CIT's Zoom webpage.
- Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Teams is a workspace messaging app that provides real-time collaboration and communication with virtual meeting capabilities, and easy file sharing. For more information, please see Article - Microsoft Teams and CIT's Microsoft Teams webpage
Security
Cornell University's Policy Office, Cornell Cooperative Extension and your local association maintain multiple policies for information technology. These policies directly inform how CCE IT provides services and support.
Computer Software
All computers managed by CCE IT are pre-installed with security tools intended to promote the adoption of effective data security measures and policies.
Data security is a priority at Cornell and CCE, as outlined by University Policy 5.10, and the following software helps users better meet these goals for protecting their important files, data, and research.
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Crashplan (formerly Code42) cloud backup
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CrowdStrike advanced endpoint protection with antivirus and anti-malware
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Spirion confidential data identification tool
Fraudulent Email Resources
Cornell's IT Security Office also maintains a web page on how to identify fraudulent emails (phishing). The two most referenced resources on this page are the IT@Cornell Phish Bowl, which shows examples of phishes targeting Cornell, and the Verified Cornell Communications pages.
If you should receive a phish in your email, please forward the e-mail to wsbnit@cornell.edu and then click on the ‘Report Email to IT Security’ button in Outlook to report it to Cornell IT. If Outlook does not automatically remove the message from your inbox, delete it manually after reporting as phish.
Use the Phish Bowl to see some phishing (fake) emails that have been spotted at Cornell.
Secure Password Management
Cornell's password management service uses the LastPass product to offer all current students, faculty, and staff a free enterprise account. Increase your personal and professional online security by saving all your passwords in one secure vault. LastPass also allows teams to safely share passwords. LastPass remembers all your passwords so you don't have to!
Email
Office 365 is the university's email system for faculty, staff, and graduate and professional students. It is a cloud-based service from Microsoft that manages email, calendars, task lists, and address books. To access your email through a web browser, visit outlook.cornell.edu. For more information on Cornell's email for faculty and staff, see Article - Microsoft Office 365 (cornell.edu), Article - Microsoft Office - Outlook (cornell.edu) and CIT web page on this.
File Storage and Collaboration
Cornell offers several ways to share files with others. Before choosing a solution, we recommend you:
- Consult with the groups/individuals you wish to collaborate with to determine which tool will work best for everyone.
- Consult CIT's Regulated Data Chart to determine the appropriate tool for the data you wish to share.
- Consult with CCE Western Helpdesk if you have any questions.
File Storage Options
- Association Shared Drive
- Intended for ALL Association and program related files
- Local Computer (Desktop, Documents, Pictures folders)– files when offline access needed temporarily and rough drafts of large files (i.e. video editing, large collections of photos you need to sort through, etc) you are currently working on – once finalized, save final documents to final location on Association shared drive, or Box as appropriate
- Intended as short-term, temporary storage only.
- You can put shortcuts to other frequently used shared drive folders on your desktop for navigation ease – let the CCE Western Helpdesk know if you need assistance or have questions about this
- BOX – https://cornell.box.com - Group folders preferred (submit a request to the CCE Western Helpdesk if you need a new group folder or access to an existing one).
Permissions for existing group-owned Box folders can be granted now that we’ve set up your Box account and Box Drive on your computer
- Intended to store large files – videos, high-resolution photos, etc.
- Intended for cross-regional collaboration, or collaboration with people outside CCE/Cornell
Software
All computers are set up by CCE IT regional staff using a standardized imaging process. This process ensures a consistent end result which includes a standard set of software. We maintain a list of these standard software titles on our knowledge base article on this topic: Article - Software
The university offers many software packages, either under a site license or at a discount, centrally through CU Software. If you need to purchase software that is not currently offered at Cornell, please know that before any IT applications, software, or services can be purchased, an approval process needs to be followed. Requests can be initiated via the CCE Western Helpdesk.
Backup
Personal Productivity Backup
All CCE computers are backed up using Crashplan backup software solution.
File Server Backup
All CCE file servers are backed up daily. Submit a request to the CCE Western Helpdesk if you need assistance restoring a folder or file.
Working Remotely
Whether you need to remotely connect to a resource, or simply wish to know about best practices while working remotely, our page on this topic aims to set you on a path to remote work success.