STATA USERS - POSSIBILITY OF A LICENCE UPGRADE

Currently WBS has a 5-user concurrent network licence for Stata IC 9.2. WBS has the opportunity of placing an upgrade order in conjunction with other departments that would provide a substantial bulk-buy discount (over 50% of usual costs). 

If you are a STATA user and would be interested in an upgrade please contact me on martin.chandler@wbs.ac.uk .

DISCONTINUATION OF THE GW ARCHIVE PRODUCT (ARCHIVED GROUPWISE EMAIL)

In late 2011 or early 2012 the WBS staff email system will be merged with the wider University system and both outsourced to Microsoft's Office 365 suite. In preparation for this we shall not be renewing the annual licence for the GW Archive product that was used until late 2009 for archiving old email. 

This affects only staff who started WBS after 17 Nov 2008. For them, GW Archive typically holds the only copy of email received between mid 2007 and 16 Nov 2008. You can check for yourself exactly what is in your GW Archive by logging in at http://webmail.wbs.ac.uk and clicking the 'Archive' link in the top right.

All staff will continue to be able to access this old email until August 30th 2011. On September 1st these email archives will be permanently and securely destroyed. In the coming weeks we'll announce how staff with a genuine business need can request a permanent copy of this archived email. If you have any concerns or questions about this please contact me directly (martin.chandler@wbs.ac.uk). 

COMPUTER REPLACEMENT POLICY

Each member of staff at WBS in a permanent post is entitled to one fully-supported computer. Academic staff are further given the option of a laptop or desktop. Our aim is to ensure users always have either a laptop that is at most 3 years old or a desktop that is at most 4. Our wish is always to replace an old machine with a brand new one. With the current budget however this is not always possible. It is likely therefore that in the future old machines may be replaced by newer, but not necessarily new, ones. In times when budget constraints are tight, priority is given to the replacement of academics' machines.

QUALTRICS SITE LICENCE - ADVANCED SURVEYING SOFTWARE

The Doctoral Programme Office (DPO) have purchased an unlimited WBS site licence for the advanced surveying software Qualtrics. This licence runs until 30th June 2012. There is no guarantee that the licence will be renewed although the DPO have indicated they would be interested in sharing the cost with other programmes in the future. 

Sample survey: http://bit.ly/erHPQs 

Find out more, including how to sign up at http://help.wbs.ac.uk/qualtrics 

WARWICK VPN SERVICE

The Warwick VPN service is available to all users with a valid Warwick/WBS username. This service can be run on machines remote to Warwick and will make them appear to be located on campus. Example uses include:

*) Easy access to library electronic resources. When at Warwick most resources are available without the need to log in. To save having to log in when using your personal computer (or your WBS computer when situated at home) run the Warwick VPN service.

*) Continued access to software that requires access to the WBS network. Some WBS software licences only allow software to run when connected to our network (an example is STATA). By running the VPN client on your WBS laptop it allows you to continue to use this software, even when the laptop is away from Warwick.

To find out more and start using the service visit http://vpn.warwick.ac.uk .

FAKE (PHISHING) EMAILS ATTEMPTING TO STEAL YOUR PASSWORD

We continue to receive fake emails that attempt to trick you into handing over your passwords. Typically these emails warn that your email account is going to be closed or similar and that you must visit a website and enter your details to prevent this from happening. Please ignore any such emails that do not come from a Helpdesk address that you recognise. If in doubt please contact us. For more information see http://help.wbs.ac.uk/kb/email/spamphish/phish

HOW ARE WE DOING AND HOW WE HANDLE YOUR CALLS

Ever wonder how support calls are prioritised and handled? See http://help.wbs.ac.uk/handlecall .

After each support call you receive a closing email that includes an invitation to complete a short questionnaire on your experience. Thanks to everyone who completes these. The results can always be found at http://help.wbs.ac.uk/handlecall/feedbackresults