Service Level Agreement
Here are the terms of the agreement between the Division of Information Technology and our customers—current faculty and staff members and active students. The agreement specifies which information technology (IT) services the Division performs and for which users, as well as the limits of the services we offer and the users who may receive them.
We also honor the:
University of Massachusetts Computing Awareness and Data Security Compliance Statement.
Introduction
The Division of Information Technology provides IT services and support (installation, problem-solving, repair, and upgrade) to the University of Massachusetts Boston Community (UMass Boston), which includes current faculty and staff members and active students, with certain exceptions. (See Supported Users and Limits on page 3.)
The Division of Information Technology and the UMass Boston user community agree to work together with
mutual respect and courtesy.
- The Help Desk
- Supported Users and Limits
- Supported Hardware and Software and Limits
- Recommended Hardware
- Backups and Data Loss
Help Desk (617-287-5220 or helpdesk@umb.edu)
When you have problems or questions, call the Help Desk. It is your first point of contact with the Division of Information Technology. The goal of the Help desk is to answer your IT questions and solve your IT problems. We welcome all inquiries.
Contact the Help Desk with requests, problems, and questions about:
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The Help Desk will try to answer your questions about buying a computer and
computer accessories. You are responsible for backing up the data on your PC.
See Backups and Data Loss.
The Help Desk handles your requests for assistance according to an assigned priority
and staff availability.
Hours of Support Availability
The Help Desk is staffed Monday–Friday: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
The desktop consultants, who can visit your location are available:
Monday – Friday: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
To contact the Help Desk, email: helpdesk@umb.edu or call 617-287-5220
Emergency Support
Emergencies are defined as network outage or loss of email.
In case of emergency, phone 617-839-0933
"The after-hour emergency phone support will end on December 31, 2007."
Limits
The Help Desk answers only questions about
university-sanctioned standard software and hardware.
Here are things the Help Desk doesn’t or can’t do:
- The Help Desk does not install software that is licensed to the University
( i.e., through NeedCD) on student-owned computers. - If a third party (for example, a vendor, student, or private consultant) installed
software on your computer and did not to give you a legal copy of the installed software,
the Help Desk can not assist you. To resolve the problem, consult the person
who originally installed the software or purchase a legal copy of the software. - The Help Desk will not load unlicensed copies of software on to your machine.
Turn-Around Time
Barring emergencies, the Help Desk aims to:
- Acknowledge receipt of your call or e-mail during the same business day.
- Begin problem-solving during the same business day. After our new call-tracking
system is in place, we will automatically send you daily updates on the progress
of the problem-solving. - Install your new computer on the campus network within at least 10 business days lead time.
- You can make an appointment with the Help Desk. It does not give priority service
to walk-in clients without an appointment. These are served in the order of their
arrival and according to staff availability.
Supported Users and Limits
The Help Desk supports:
- Current Faculty.
- Current Staff.
- Active Students.
- Retired faculty members, who may use their UMass Boston email accounts for life.
The Help Desk supports these email accounts but no other software or hardware. - Staff members who have been laid off and retained their email account.
The Help Desk supports these email accounts but no other software or hardware.
The Help Desk does not support:
- Students who are no longer “Active”. (Student email for life is supported by the
Customer Service Center. - Faculty, staff, and students who wish to set up their Modem, DSL or Broadband network
connections at home (even if the computer belongs to the University).
Supported Hardware and Software and Limits
The Help Desk supports only computers that are connected to the campus network and
that belong to university departments and other official University entities.
The Help Desk does not service computers belonging to individuals.
The Help Desk supports the following:
* See also Unsupported and Unavailable Operating Systems.
Software Applications
The Help Desk supports:
- Windows 98SE for legacy software applications ONLY
- Microsoft Office versions 2000, 2002/XP, 2003 for Windows
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Pro, XP Pro
- Microsoft Office versions 2001, X, 2004 for Macintosh
- Windows 2000, XP Pro
- Publisher 2000, 2002, 2003 for Windows
- FrontPage 2000, 2002, 2003 for Windows
- Visual Studio Basic 6.0, .NET 2002, 2003 for Windows
- SPSS—The license must be renewed yearly in June for a fee
- AMOS—The license must be renewed yearly in June for a fee
These software titles are available through Need CD for installation on staff and faculty
computers used for University activities. Email your request to needcd@umb.edu.
Anti-Virus Software
The Help Desk installs and supports McAfee virus protection software from our server only on computers owned by the university and used on the campus network. We neither install nor support McAfee virus protection software on computers that are owned by university personnel but used at home, even for university business. (These are not covered by our license.) Customers must supply a virus protection program for that computer.
The Division of Information Technology strongly recommends that all computers
have anti-virus software installed and that it be kept up to date.
Computers without anti-virus software are not allowed on the campus network.
Update Software
McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) must be installed on all computers on the campus network. There are no exceptions. This software loads antivirus updates on the user’s computer without user intervention. This system is still being deployed.
Updating your Windows Operating System
When you receive your computer, its Windows operating system and Microsoft Office application contain the latest updates. After that, you must update the operating system and appplications yourself. To do so, in your Windows Internet Explorer (your Web browser), on the menu bar, select Tools > Windows Update and follow the prompts.
Updating your Microsoft Office Applications
- In your Windows Internet Exlorer, go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx.
Microsoft Office Online appears. In the upper right of the window, "Office Update" is displayed.
- Click Check for Updates and follow the prompts.
Operating Systems
The Help Desk supports:
- Windows XP Professional
- Macintosh OS 9.x and 10.x
Unspported and Unavailable Operating Systems
The Help Desk does not support:
- Windows XP home or Windows ME. Neither version is available through us, nor can be put on the university’s wired network
- Windows 95/98
- Macintosh OS 7.x, 8.x
The following operating systems are unavailable for sale, because not licensed by the University:
- Macintosh Operating Systems 9.x and 10.x
- Windows ME or XP Home
Email Clients
The Help Desk supports the following email clients:
- Microsoft Outlook 2000, XP, 2003
- Microsoft Outlook Web Access (faculty and staff only)
- Microsoft Entourage
The Help Desk provides limited support for the following email clients.
That is, we will supply you only with the server settings that you need in order to use
those mail systems off campus:
- Netscape
- Eudora
- Pegasus
- Mozilla
Point-to-Point (PPP) Accounts
PPP accounts enable you to establish a direct connection to the Internet from a remote location.
The Help Desk supports PPP accounts provided by the university. However, the Help Desk cannot assist you, if you do not already have a PPP account or if do not know the user name and password of your PPP account.
If you don’t know your PPP user name or password or if you need to create a PPP account, contact PPP@umb.edu. After you have an account and know the requisite information, contact the Help Desk.
The Help Desk will help students, staff, and faculty set up PPP accounts, but will not set up the modem. Click here to request a PPP account.
Hardware
The Help Desk primarily supports Dell and Apple computers. It also supports PC name brands that have been purchased by the University. Help Desk PC hardware service technicians will work only on Dell and Apple computers owned by the university and on university-owned printers, scanners, and faxes.
Wireless
The Help Desk supports wireless cards used to connect to the Campus’s wireless network. The Help Desk will help you to set them up to run on the wireless network.
Table of Help-Desk Supported Hardware and Software
The next table lists Help Desk-supported hardware and software by user community:
| Licensed Software | University-Owned Hardware | Personally-Owned Hardware | ||
| Faculty | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Staff | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Grad. Student | No | Yes | No | umb.edu only |
| Undergraduate | No | No | No | No (Customer Service Center) |
Table of Help-Desk Supported Hardware and Software
The next table lists Help Desk-supported hardware and software by user community:
| Faculty | Staff | Graduate Student | Undergraduate | |
| Scanners | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Laptops | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Personal computers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDAs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Blackberries* | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Printers | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Other** | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
* University-issued ** University-owned computer equipment
Recommended Hardware
We recommend the following for computers running the Windows 2000: Professional Edition or
Windows XP Professional operating system:
Minimum Requirements: Pentium IV processor |
Recommended Configuration: Pentium IV processor |
*Antivirus software is recommended for this operating system.
Backups and Data Loss
You are responsible for backing up the data on your PC.
The Help Desk is not responsible for data lost during service it performs on your computer.
Please back up your data before sending your PC to be serviced by the Help Desk.
The Help Desk will provide advice on backup strategies and will publish recommendations
for backing up your computer.
[Revised 9-12-05]