The Hub: Published By, For and About ITS

You are reading the fourth 2006 issue of The Hub, a weekly newsletter published by, for and about ITS. The goal of this publication is to provide timely information about the services and activities of our department and to support the ITS community. We welcome your comments and suggestions and encourage you to submit your stories and announcements to its_communications@unc.edu by 5 p.m. Friday, March 3, to be included in the next issue.

The first deployments of VoIP on campus have been completed and the development of a next-generation Real Time Communications (RTC) architecture is underway. The RTC team wants to ensure that the RTC user experience meets expectations. Network performance has a significant impact on the user experience, as some VoIP users have already observed. VoIP users who have any problems with voice quality should send a Remedy ticket to the RTC group. Details follow.

In the ticket, include the following information.

• Your phone number and the phone number of the person(s) on the problem call.
• The nature of the voice quality issue. For example, static, echo, random silent periods, call drop, etc.
• The direction of the voice quality issue. Does the degradation only occur for voice coming into your phone, or does the other party hear the degradation, or both?
• The time of day when the issue occurred.
• The building where your VoIP phone is located.

Please be as specific as possible when explaining your voice quality issue. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will help us improve the RTC user experience for everyone.–submitted by Justin Church

Web access to the direct deposit pay stub was enhanced Feb. 3. Direct deposit participants can view their current and last 12 months’ stubs. HR Facilitators with secured capability can access an administrative menu that will allow them to view and print direct deposit notifications for their department if needed.

For now, Payroll Services will continue to distribute paper copies of direct deposit notifications, although this practice is under review.

All pay information is secured and can be accessed only with an Onyen. To view the notifications:

1. Go to the Payroll Services Web site.
2. Select Direct Deposit Pay Stub.
3. Enter your Onyen and Onyen password to display the direct deposit notification. For privacy reasons, the notification will be displayed in a small window but may be enlarged.

–submitted by Steve Seaton, Enterprise Applications

One of the services that Teaching and Learning offers is Computer-Based Training (CBT), which allows people to sign in with their Onyen to access hundreds of courses on skills relating to Web and print design, office productivity and more. Recently, CBT enrollment has skyrocketed after a campus mass e-mail was sent out last month to increase campus awareness.

“At the beginning of the school year, we had about 500 people subscribed to use the system,” said Training and Education Manager Elizabeth A. (Libby) Evans. “By mid-February, we had 1,750 subscribers, with more asking to be added daily. Among our subscribers, about a thousand have logged in and 186 have already completed an online course.”

The service is offered through CBT company ElementK. After users sign in to the single sign-on server with their Onyen and password, they are directed to ElementK’s site and can choose from about 500 courses offered to the UNC-Chapel Hill community.

Part of the new appeal stems from a change in vendor.

“We’ve had an online course license for a long time through various vendors,” Evans said. “We signed with ElementK last June, and now we offer classes with a much broader appeal. Most of the technical training we used to offer has been removed, but I hope to add more course libraries soon.”

In addition, subscribers who are interested in courses offered by ElementK but not offered in the UNC package can take the course for $50.

To learn more about CBT, visit http://cbt.unc.edu/.–HKC

Welcome ITS temporary Philip Ciampini to the Control Center (Infrastructure and Operations) as of Feb. 23…. William (Billy) Hylton, who has been a contract Web designer for ITS Communications, accepted a permanent position beginning Feb. 27…. Roger Rice will join the Operations Group (Infrastructure and Operations) as of March 6.

Farewell to Alison Perkins, who left Telecommunications–Networking for another State agency as of Feb. 17…. Joel Dunn will be the Director of IT and Data Center Services at MCNC beginning March 1…. Susan Gerard retired from Enterprise Applications Feb. 28 after almost 25 years of State service…. Don Waugh also retired from EA Feb. 28 after almost 24 years of State service.

Doug Brown and Scott McCall were nominated for On the Spot/Star Heel awards in December. Matt Conley, Derek McGhee and Jay Bazemore were nominated as a group in January.

EPA payday is Tuesday, Feb. 28. SPA payday is Friday, March 3.

SPA timesheets, on-call pay sheets and shift premium pay sheets for biweekly #18 (ending Sunday, March 5) are due to your designated boxes or to ITS–HR no later than 10:00 a.m. on Monday, March 6.

Remember to use your PID on all timesheets, on-call sheets and shift premium pay forms, even if the forms are labeled for Social Security Numbers.

A completion checklist and other important information follow.

Checklist for Completing Timesheets, Stand-By Pay Sheets and Shift Premium Pay Sheets
Did you–

• sign the forms? Computer signatures are not acceptable.
• write your PID clearly on the form? Use the space previously designated for SSN.
• write the correct biweekly number and dates on the forms? Pay period numbers and dates are available online for both biweekly schedules and monthly schedules.
• code leave clearly?
• write your department name and number on the form?
• have your supervisor sign the form?

ITS Business Office boxes are located in Giles Horney, the Undergraduate Library, Phillips Hall, Abernethy Hall, Carr Mill Annex and the Administrative Office Building.

Stand-by pay, on-call pay and shift premium pay forms are available from the ITS–HR Forms site.

Send all forms to Nealy Hall at CB #1150. Do not send them directly to UNC–Chapel Hill Payroll.–submitted by Nealy Hall

Remember that the deadline for submitting 2005 claims from health care or dependent day care flexible spending accounts is approaching. Aon Consulting must have received claims and supporting documentation for products purchased and services provided in calendar 2005 by Friday, March 31, in order to reimburse account holders. Unused money is forfeited.

Also, employees having difficulty with Aon Consulting’s administration of claims are reminded to contact Corrie Parker, HR Generalist for ITS. Her telephone number is 843-0501. The University’s Office of Human Resources can both help to resolve specific issues and address what appears to be a pattern of issues and problems with NCFlex and Aon.