In order to provide you with information about our services in this special situation and in the time of initial restrictions, situational mobile work from home and others, we have prepared a mini-series on our blog. We will give you tips and tricks as well as recommendations for use, which will simplify your work at a distance.
Today is all about communication. We all know that communication is the linchpin in the last weeks. To keep it up as usual, you need access to mails, the telephone and possible audio and video conferences.
Home Office & Communication – You can’t do it without.
Source: Pixabay
RWTH e-mail
With the webmail service RWTH Mail App (OWA) it is possible from everywhere – no matter if laptop at work or via the smartphone browser – to retrieve e-mails, make settings and organize appointments. The access is possible with all common browsers and offers the same functions as the Outlook e-mail client. You can easily check your e-mails at https://mail.rwth-aachen.de/owa. All you need is your username in the form ab123456@Domain (e.g. rwth-aachen.de or institute.rwth-aachen.de) and the password for the corresponding RWTH Service account. If necessary, you can set this password in the Selfservice and configure a forwarding. Instructions can be found in our documentation portal:
Telephony
In order to be able to continue to phone with colleagues, you have several options. One of them is to divert your business number to mobile or landline numbers, for example.
The following instructions will show you how to divert numbers from Alcatel devices:
With the CISCO Jabber Client, the new softphone of the CISCO telephone system, it is also possible to maintain telephone communication on the smartphone or on the computer. How to register and how the installation is done, can be found in our instructions:
- Instructions on how to log on to the Jabber Client.
- Instructions for call forwarding via Cisco self-help portal.
DFNconf System
If you want to hold a conference or a meeting digitally, the DFN conference system is suitable. You do not need to reserve resources in advance to hold such a conference. Just keep in mind that a maximum of 23 participants can join DFN conferences. An exception is the streaming of conference presentations. You can find information about this in the doc.itc:
- Instructions for video, web and audio conferences
- Instructions for recording and streaming of video conferences
- Current notes of the DFN association about the DFNconf system and COVID-19
Microsoft Teams
If you want to hold the meeting via chat, you can use the cloud platform Microsoft MS Teams.
In order to provide employees with a tool supported by the RWTH, the cloud platform MS Teams is made available for a limited period of time until the crisis situation has passed. For this purpose, the tool was reduced to the absolutely necessary offers and functions.
You can use MS Teams under the following conditions:
- MS Teams is intended for business use. There are no objections against the use for private purposes – to maintain the social exchange among each other. If business purposes require it, the use can be restricted.
- The use of MS Teams is permitted for the following purposes
- 1:1 communication via chats and video calls
- Chat, telephone and video conferences as a substitute for work meetings, meetings etc.
- No personnel or employee discussions as defined by labour law may be conducted via MS Teams.
- The use of MS Teams is voluntary. However, the RWTH strongly advises all relatives to replace physical contacts with digital services due to the current risk of infection.
- There is no control of behaviour or performance by MS teams. Any data collected from MS Teams cannot be used for such a purpose.
Even though this is a special situation at present, the usual considerations regarding data and secrecy protection, but also foreign trade law, must be taken into account when using MS Teams.
With MS Teams, the transfer of your personal data to Microsoft takes place via an Identity Provider (Shibboleth) controlled by the RWTH Aachen University. The use for the employees of the RWTH Aachen University takes place within an own domain m365.rwth-aachen.de, which is exclusively administered by the RWTH Aachen University.
More about MS Teams and how to use the tool can be found in the doc.itc:
Zoom
If you need a virtual meeting room where you can invite many participants and share presentations, Zoom is a suitable tool. Zoom offers different solutions for video conferences, especially for large groups of participants. From departmental meetings to lectures, Zoom enables video-supported, digital meetings. Due to the current situation and the circumstances of the digital semester, RWTH Aachen University has acquired appropriate licenses to use and provide Zoom. If you are interested, please contact your Dean of Studies to find out which license is suitable for your course. There, your requests will be collected, bundled and sent to the Center for Teaching and Learning Services (CLS) to obtain the licenses.
The CLS offers necessary information and instructions for Zoom on its homepage.
On top, the CLS supports you in the continuation of teaching during the Corona crisis with central video recordings as well as with licenses if necessary. So, if you need support for remote and online teaching, the CLS is the right place to get in touch with.
If you do not want to miss what it is like to access and collaborate in times of home office and the digital semester, do not miss the next blog post in our mini-series.
Further helpful information can be found at any time at
https://www.itc.rwth-aachen.de/corona
Responsible for this article are Nicole Filla and Liza Schwarz.
