Tickets, please!

What is this ticket thing Brian is always yammering on about? I sent him an email already!

AC's technology department manages all the requests for support using a ticketing system. This helps ensure that requests are triaged and prioritized in the order they were received and based on impact to the classroom. Our ticketing system is called Spiceworks, and it's pretty awesome. It handles our inventory, support communications, reporting, purchasing and shipping - all for free! This system was put in place in the fall of 2011.

How does it work? Glad you asked! Teachers, students, parents and even equipment can submit a request for support with a simple email to our support address. It's not an employee email address, but a specific address just for support requests. Users can get help by visiting the IT Portal

Then the magic happens! The Spiceworks software checks the email inbox every minute and turns your email request into a technical support request ticket. It breaks out the category, requestor, related equipment, and all the other details. And that's when it gets noisy... A notification gets sent to my phone, my watch, my computer, and my iPad. The timer starts and records various metrics like "time to resolution", "time to acknowledgement" so I can strive for continuous improvement. Spiceworks will send you a reply that your ticket was created, and give you routine updates as I attend to your issue. Magic, right?

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

How can you help? Using the support email address is the biggest help. As you can see, it's more than just simple email at work. But since you asked, here's a couple tips:

• Read the email responses from Spiceworks, newly labelled as "AC Help Desk". Reply to the emails to add additional information, cancel the request, or to answer a question I might have come back with.


• Always use a short but descriptive subject line. Avoid things like "Help", "My Computer", "Question". Use phrases like "Install GarageBand on iPad Cart" or "Bake a dozen cookies".


• If you need me to meet you someplace, let me know when and where. I'll do my best to accommodate specific requests, but remember that I'm only one person.


• Help a friend out if they're unable to email and create a support ticket.


• As always, your continued patience is always appreciated. I love being able to address every items as quickly as possible, but sometimes it's just not possible to be in two places at once.

Secure Wireless

AC's secure wireless network is the safest way to be connected. To join AC's secure wireless, select "allendalecolumbia" as the wireless network.



You will be prompted to accept a security certificate. That's OK.

Then you will be prompted to enter your username and password. This is your AC network password, and the same one used to connect to the laptops and lab computers around campus. All staff, faculty and students have a network password.



Don't forget to forget!

Your computer will still remember the academic or student networks. Tell your computer to forget them like this:

1. Choose "Open Network Preferences" from the Wi-Fi menu


2. Select your Wi-Fi icon on the left, then click the Advanced button


3. Locate any networks in the list that you don't recognize and press the "-" button to remove them. The fewer you have the quicker your computer will connect to Wi-Fi. You can also choose to change the order.

Forgetting from your mobile device

1. On iOS, select Settings > Wi-Fi


2. Tap the name of the network


3. Tap the "i" button after the name of the network, then choose the red "Forget this Network" button

1. On Android, go to Settings > Wireless


2. Tap the name of the network


3. Click the "Forget" button at the bottom of the window

Adding New Printers

To add a new printer, follow these steps:

• Search "Managed Software Updates" from the Apple Spotlight Menu
   
• Click Optional Software after the update check is complete
  
• Scroll to or select the printer you're looking for from the list, and check the box next to it
• Click Update Software List
  
• Click Update Now. You can choose to log out, but it's usually not necessary.

Managed Software Update has all the brains behind it to ensure that the printer gets properly set up with all of the correct options and software.

AC Launches New Recruitment Program

After a whirlwind Southeast Asian recruitment and goodwill mission that took our school's administration some 17,000 miles around the globe, Allendale Columbia School is proud to announce one of our most ambitious programs to date.

Karyn Vella, AC's Director of Admissions explains, "Everyone deserves a chance at an education where students are free to dig deeper and have real and relevant experiences. We've analyzed the data, crunched the numbers and identified a group that we need to get in the door. That's why, starting today, we're going to redouble our efforts to reach that small but very significant population."

Working hand-in-hand with newly-appointed Director of Marketing & Communications, Courtney Dixon, Vella envisions a media-blitz unlike anything the school has ever attempted. Says Dixon, "Karyn is very committed to this. When she asked me about aerial signage, I reached out to my contacts at Goodyear and made it happen. It's very exciting."

At the core of this admissions push is the target demographic: young children who want to grow up and work in an independent school. In particular, this independent school. "Teaching is a most noble profession" remarked Mick Gee, AC's Head of School. "From a very young age, even before they attend school, they play 'school'. If we can bring them in the door now and shape their view of what a modern education looks like, then we can truly change what the 21st century classroom looks like. Well, at least the latter 2/3 of it. Our employee-alums are our most valuable treasure because they understand this best of all."

Dixon and Vella have worked hard with their focus group, coordinated by AC Librarian and Class of 1989 alumna Judy van Alstyne. Revising feverishly into the night on many occasions, the group is ready to launch with the tagline, "First here, then... right back here". "I think that really captures what we're trying to accomplish," beamed van Alstyne, speaking before a crowded Curtis Performance Center. She was joined onstage by other notable alums who've returned to Allendale Columbia to give back to the experience that shaped them, including Amy Mealey and Brooke Harter-Wheeler.

Billboards featuring employee-alums will begin dotting the I-490 corridor between downtown and Eastview Mall starting April 1st.

This post is an April Fools joke and not intended to represent any actual programs Allendale Columbia School may be offering. See last year's April Fools post.