Hello Malone Students, Faculty, Staff, and Alumni:
The updates in this early summer edition.
- New Unified Voicemail to Email
- New ID cards for employees and students
- Changes to How You Log into our Systems - single sign on
- Multi-Factor Authentication - what is it?
- WWF getting new wired and wireless equipment
- Malone Xpress refresh
New Unified Voicemail to Email
On 31 May, we transitioned all of our unified messaging over to a new product called Googify. Unified messaging is what allows faculty and staff to receive any voicemails that are left for them in their email box instead of having to check a separate voicemail account.
Why did we transition? Avaya Communications ended the life of their Esna software product. This is what we were using. Googify is a rewrite of the Esna software. The lead developer of Esna left Avaya and started his own company.
How does this impact you? You might see some of your unread voicemail messages duplicated in your email inbox. Stay tuned for more features and abilities in this area, but in the meantime, we are business as usual!
New ID cards for employees and students
Our ID card vendors are finally getting the new printers and the media to print our new cards to us We have been waiting for over a year! We expect the printers to show up in mid-June.
The new cards will have the RFID chips used for door access and copier logins integral to the card instead of an external sticker. Employees should consider getting their pictures retaken to account for changes in hair style and levels of distinguish-ness [sic]. Look for opportunities from Student Development (students) and Human resources (faculty and staff).
Changes to How You Log into our Systems - single sign on
The IT department is in the middle of a huge transition from our existing Active Directory domain of 'malone.int' to 'ads.malone.edu'. If everyhing goes to plan, you - our customers - will notice very little change to how you operate. Faculty and staff with Malone-owned computers will have some changes made to them. We will be in touch directly with anyone whose machine needs special attention. Laptops which spend a lot of time off campus will need to be brought back home to have them transitioned to the new set up.
What EVERYONE will notice is that we will start using Microsoft's systems for our single sign in. The familiar https://userid.malone.edu:
will start to look a little more Microsoft-ish:
with this transition, we will be implementing multi-factor-authentication. Keep reading to find out more about MFA....
Multi-Factor Authentication [MFA]- what is it?
Multi-Factor Authentication or MFA is a pretty straight forward concept once you break it down. Think, "Something I know" (such as a password) and "Something I have" (like a phone or key or code sent to you). Using MFA means that you need to provide at least two ways of proving you are who you say [assert] you are.
Many of you are already using MFA sometime also known as TwoFactor authentication when you sign into your bank or access your retirement portfolios online.
Why are we doing this? Using MFA to get into Malone systems will greatly improve the information security of our organization. It does not mean that you will have to get a text message or type in a code every time you log in. You will need to get and type in the MFA code at least once the first time you use a particular device or particular web browser.
It will keep random attackers who figure out your password from logging in from Oklahoma city when you are still in Ohio (this actually happened).
How can you prepare? If you are already using an app that generates single use MFA codes - apps such at Google's Authenticator (IOS or Android) or Microsoft Authenticator (IOS or Android) - then you will just need to add your malone.edu email address to those apps. You can also opt to get text messages to confirm your identity. Once your account is moved to the new system, there will be instructions to set it up.
When is this happening? We are actively working on this project. There are a tremendous number of steps we are taking in the background to make this smooth for you. Look for another post here or individual messages in your inboxes when you need to pay attention. It is happening between now and the beginning of August 2022.
WWF getting new wired and wireless equipment
The IT department has hit summer in full stride just like Physical Plant. As I type, the roofers are on top of Woolman, contractors are core drilling and painting and carpeting in Haviland (I hear the drills pounding directly above my office!), and IT and our contractors are installing brand new WIFI and wired switching equipment in the Woolman Whittier Fox [WWF] residence hall cluster.
You should expect an excellent wireless connection experience if you are hanging around the WWF buildings when students return this fall. The project is roughly 60% complete with new WIFI access points hung and operational in Fox and Whittier. We are still waiting for the switches (wired) equipment to ship from our suppliers.
Your best wireless experience will be when you are connecting to the EDUROAM network on campus. If you have any questions or any trouble connecting to WIFI, please let the IT Help Desk know. We can be reached via email at helpdesk@malone.edu , via the web at http://www.malone.edu/helpdesk or by phone at 330.471.8428.
Malone Xpress refresh
We are still finalizing the transition date with our vendor, but in sometime in June we will be updating the look, feel, and content of Malone Xpress.
What to expect:
- less clicks to get to what you need. The new Launchpad replaces the quicklinks portlet so you can get immediately to the parts of Xpress that you use the most
- a more user-centric design. Tabs are relabeled, "Students", "New Students", "Employees", and "Teaching" and the content in those tabs will be re-sorted
- announcements. The announcements portlet will allow us to send targeted messages to just the right groups of students, faculty, and staff. We hope this will allow a reduction in the amount of email that is sent to campus. Folks that want to get these messages as a "push" can sign up to get notifications while those who are comfortable with a "pull" style of access, i.e., I will go and check if there is a message, can sign into xpress and read their messages
- you will know who to ask if you get stuck. Each page will show who is in charge of it.
