Blackberry

The campus wireless network has enabled mobile computing for laptop and tablet computers for years.  Faculty and staff may be less aware that NACS also offers services to users of handheld mobile devices such as iPhones and Blackberries.

If you use Oracle Calendar to manage your appointments, NACS offers support for wireless synchronization so you can carry your calendar with you.  Oracle Calendar offers two methods for synchronizing a personal digital assistant, Desktop Calendar Sync (for PDAs) or Mobile Data Sync (for smartphones and cell phones.)  These methods are mutually exclusive, and should not be intermingled.

For users of NACS’s Exchange server, you can get access to your email via Blackberry by using Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) for Exchange.  BES is a “push” technology meaning the Exchange server will update your Blackberry whenever new data (email, events) is delivered to your account.

If you need help with these resources, or have other ideas how NACS can support mobile devices and technologies, please call x4-2222 or email nacs@uci.edu.

If you currently own a Palm PDA or are considering purchasing one, please join us at https://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/uci-palm

Mailing lists dedicated to other technologies are available as well. There are lists for the major platforms (Macintosh, Linux, Windows), research software (Mathematica, Matlab, SAS, SPSS), and UCI software services (Oracle Calendar, Webfiles).

A selection of useful lists can be found at: http://www.nacs.uci.edu/org/nacslists.html

You can find the full (very long) list of UCI mailing lists at: https://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/

Oracle Calendar also accommodates schedules for rooms or equipment. Called resource accounts, the agendas for these items can be shared within a unit or a specific set of people. Resource accounts are available at no cost.

The School of Information and Computer Science is one unit on campus using this feature. It allows ICS faculty and staff to check the availability of conference rooms managed by the ICS Dean’s Office and to request reservations for these rooms.

ICS staff and faculty can check room availability on-line and then send Diane Triantis (dtrianti@uci.edu) an email to reserve a room. ICS staff and faculty who need assistance with the installation and use of Oracle Calendar may contact Janet Salk (jsalk@uci.edu).

Departments who are interested in using Oracle Calendar to schedule shared resources are invited to contact NACS (nacs@uci.edu, x42222).

Participating users can easily schedule meetings with one another as well as manage calendars on others’ behalf, while integrating shared resources such as conference rooms, equipment, front desk or lab staffing, and other elements of the workday schedule.

CorporateTime is well suited to supporting University-wide meeting scheduling. It offers a robust server architecture and desktop client software for the Windows, Mac OS and Unix/Motif platforms, as well as access via the Web and PDA synchronization.

There are a number of advantages to using CorporateTime:

• Many campus departments use the CorporateTime service, making it very convenient to schedule meetings across campus.
• You can access your calendar via a Web browser. Whether you’re at a meeting across campus or at a conference in Europe, you can access your calendar wherever you can use a Web browser.
• You can carry a copy of your calendar on a Personal Digital Assistant. Many people now use these devices, principally the Palm and Microsoft Pocket PC platforms.
• You can view and coordinate with the calendars of others, and you can set the level of privacy of your own calendar. You can control who may manage your calendar, and the amount of information about your appointments that is revealed.
• You can notify meeting attendees via e-mail. You can send your invited guests, as well as people not using CorporateTime, all the details on important meetings via e-mail as you schedule the meeting.
• You can access your calendar 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The CorporateTime server is maintained by NACS around the clock and is only down for maintenance Friday nights from 9 PM – midnight.

More Information: http://www.nacs.uci.edu/ct/

Departments who use CorporateTime: http://www.nacs.uci.edu/ct/orgmap.html

Many people have asked, “What’s the difference between the classes NACS offers and the classes given through LEAP?” For one thing, the majority of NACS’s classes are half-days and do not require homework. LEAP’s 5 and 10 week sessions typically give people the opportunity to dig a little deeper into a subject and experiment more with an application. The NACS end-user classes are chosen and designed to complement what LEAP offers. NACS has been offering half-day classes this summer in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Microsoft Project. Classes are held in the Engineering Gateway Building using PCs. Classes are $79 and a recharge number is required to register.

NACS also conducts free monthly CorporateTime classes using the Mobile Laptop Training Lab in conjunction with the UCI wireless network. For researchers, seminars in academic software such as ArcGIS and Matlab are offered.

To view course outlines and register, see http://www.nacs.uci.edu/training. If you have a suggestion for computer training needed in your department, please e-mail nacs@uci.edu.

As part of its Enterprise Services project, NACS is launching a campus calendaring service using CorporateTime from Corporate Software & Technologies. Our goal is to serve the campus’s needs in electronic calendaring and scheduling, and facilitate the growth of this service throughout UC Irvine.

This new service will allow users to track personal appointments, schedule meetings with one another, include a conference room if appropriate, track tasks and events, and check their calendars while away from their desks or traveling. Client software supports Macintosh, Windows and UNIX (Motif) computing environments, and optional software is available for synchronizing one’s calendar with a personal digital assistant (e.g. Palm Pilot).

Several schools and departments are participating in the initial rollout of this service. Interested users should contact theirComputing Support Coordinator for participation details. Departments who would like additional information on this service are invited to contact us at nacs@uci.edu.