Contacting ITS
- Justin Fleming
- Paul Menchini
Please refer to the following recommendations for how best to reach out to ITS, and best practices and expectations about when you should do so.
- 1 Reaching out to ITS team
- 2 Physical spaces
- 3 Projects and when to contact ITS
- 3.1 Want to buy new software, or use software or services from a new vendor?
- 3.2 Want to buy new hardware and equipment? And also wanting to connect it to the NCSSM network?
- 3.3 When moving any computing devices or networked equipment
- 3.4 When establishing new programs, applications or workflows integrating with institutional data
- 3.5 👩🏫 When visitors or events require IT support
Reaching out to ITS team
Sending ITS a ticket, either via the portal at ithelp.ncssm.edu or emailing ithelp@ncssm.edu, is the best and only supported way to send ITS a request.
The ticketing system:
Makes sure all ITS team members are notified of your request.
Allows us to assign and prioritize your request.
Enables ITS to document our work and note solutions for future cases.
Provides us with the ability to track our time, and to create metrics to help us get the resources we require.
Please never:
Directly call or email a specific member of the ITS team, unless you have no method by which to reach the ticket portal or email the team’s ticket address, ithelp@ncssm.edu.
Drop-in to a ITS team member’s office without a scheduled appointment.
Physical spaces
Please review ITS' campus-specific locations below. As always, however, please make sure that your first point of contact for ITS is a ticket, either via our ticketing portal at ithelp.ncssm.edu or by emailing ithelp@ncssm.edu.
Durham
ITS staffs a Help Desk in Bryan, just to the left of the entrance to the Library where the School Store used to be prior to 2021.
ITS also has several offices in the Cottage, which is not available for walk-up service, and by appointment only.
Morganton
In Morganton, ITS staffs the Smart Bar in the Library, in the Academic Commons. Availability is posted in that space.
Projects and when to contact ITS
Aside from creating tickets for short term issues, whether they be for reporting network issues, or notifying us of software installation needs, for example, how else might you get in touch with ITS? And when should you get in touch with ITS?
Summary: If you are buying new software/services, planning on purchasing hardware that needs to be configured and networked by ITS staff, or needs assistance with support for a visitor or event, please create a ticket to let us know as soon as possible, at at least two weeks prior to the need for work to begin.
Want to buy new software, or use software or services from a new vendor?
Please send ITS a ticket, using the portal at ithelp.ncssm.edu or emailing ithelp@ncssm.edu. And please do so well before buying anything or committing to a purchase. You should bring ITS into the conversation as early as is possible. This means a notice of at least two weeks prior to any evaluation and integration work required by the new software or service(s).
ITS will need to engage with the vendor to evaluate:
Do they meet our security requirements and best practices? This includes how accounts and sign-in works, and where data is being stored.
Will they require ITS involvement for implementation and support?
ITS can also be consulted to help determine the best solution to a given problem, and may be able to play a role in the vendor selection and RFP process, as needed.
Want to buy new hardware and equipment? And also wanting to connect it to the NCSSM network?
Please send ITS a ticket, using the portal at ithelp.ncssm.edu or emailing ithelp@ncssm.edu. And please do so well before buying anything or committing to a purchase. You should bring ITS into the conversation as early as is possible, and in fact, please provide us with at least two weeks notice prior to any plan to either set up this new hardware or to connect it to the NCSSM network.
We will need to plan:
The setup and configuration of any computers.
Make sure that there is an appropriate plan in place to network that equipment, and if not, to put the appropriate infrastructure in place.
We will need to evaluate all hardware and software for meeting our security requirements and best practices.
The last thing ITS wants would be for hardware to be purchased that is somehow incompatible with the NCSSM network, making it impossible to support or not to have the full functionality required.\
When moving any computing devices or networked equipment
If you or your department are moving offices, or even just rearranging an existing office, and this means that either a computer, a printer, a desk phone, or any other networked device will be moved, please let ITS know immediately. Please do not unplug or re-plug any network cables yourself. Doing so can result in devices not functioning properly or, at worst, can create network disturbances that are difficult to diagnose and resolve.
When establishing new programs, applications or workflows integrating with institutional data
If you are looking at setting up a new program, launching a new application, or establishing a new or updated workflow, consider how it may integrate with institutional data, such as student data, employee data, course data, etc. Please reach out to ITS for consultation and evaluation. We will need to be involved in any changes to existing data flows, securing new minimum data elements for institutional reporting, creating new integrations required by your program and ensuring the data is secure and valid. Send a ticket to data-request@ncssm.edu to begin a discussion with the data strategy group.
👩🏫 When visitors or events require IT support
ITS provides numerous services for visitors and special events, whether that is supplying network connectivity, providing laptops and other hardware, assisting in Zoom configuration (for Meetings or Webinars), or standing by in the event in-person support needs are required. If you are planning an event that will require ITS assistance, please submit a ticket to us two weeks or more in advance of any event support needs.