IT Center Blog

Look out!

There is again useful knowledge about some of the RWTH’s services.
Today for you: Interesting facts about our communication tools.

Source: Freepik

(Cisco Jabber, DFNconf, Microsoft Teams and Zoom).

After we already informed you about our collaboration tools in the first part of this small series, we will introduce our communication tools to you today. What digital communication options are actually available at RWTH? Can you use them all? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Let’s get started!

Probably the best known tool is Microsoft Teams.

You study at the RWTH? Then take a look at our documentation for students. If you are an employee at the RWTH, you will also find instructions there.

This is because the login and the scope of use or functionality to the Microsoft 365 (M365) services or Microsoft Teams differs depending on the status of students and employees.

In short, the following applies:
Students first log in with egal@students.rwth-aachen.de and then get redirected to RWTH Single Sign-On.

RWTH employees instead enter the mail address egal@m365.rwth-aachen.de at the beginning. You can then use the M365 products for official use on your official devices.

A more detailed description of the contracts that govern the use of M365 and other products at RWTH can be found on our documentation portal IT Center Help.

Zoom

Let’s move on to probably the second most popular tool for digital communication in our company – Zoom video conferencing software.

If you need a virtual meeting room where you can invite many participants and give presentations, Zoom is a suitable tool.

It is provided at RWTH by the Center for Teaching and Learning Services (CLS).

Since spring 2020, Zoom has been offered as part of our teaching. During the pandemic, this gave us the opportunity to hold lectures, exercises and other courses in different group sizes, even without presence.

In order to ensure a high level of security for your personal data, the IT Center works together with the Center for Teaching and Learning Services in this area. This cooperation has resulted in the connection of Zoom to the Identity Management, which enables you to log in to Zoom via RWTH Single Sign-On. This way the transmitted personal data is protected by the same security mechanisms as in other services of RWTH Aachen University (RWTHonline, RWTHmoodle etc.).

However, this can also lead to problems. If the contact email address is changed in the selfservice, you can no longer be identified when you log in and it will not be possible to use Zoom. If a change is necessary, please note that the change of the contact e-mail address must also be reported to the CLS via mailto:video@cls.rwth-aachen.de, so that the account can be adjusted and the login can work again.

Cisco Jabber – More that just telephony!

One component of the network renewal at RWTH Aachen University is the procurement of a pure VoIP (Voice over IP) telephone system.

The advantages for RWTH employees at a glance:

• Mobile accessibility under the business telephone number even outside RWTH Aachen University
• Individual definition of personal availability times through forwarding
• Self-management by users
  • Reduction of waiting times for users
  • Activation and deactivation of individual features

All this through the new TK-Portal and the CISCO Jabber.

However, the client offers not only 1:1 telephony but also a chat function and the possibility to start conferences.

All functions and instructions for this all-rounder can also be found in IT Center Help.

DFNconf

This service enables RWTH Aachen University staff to hold ad hoc video, web and audio conferences without having to reserve resources in advance.
By directly accessing the service portal, one can register as an organizer and thus create conference rooms and prepare invitations to the corresponding participants. Participants do not need to have their own account. This makes it possible, for example, to invite industry partners or international discussion partners to a meeting room.

Further information about DFNconf can be found in IT Center Help.

Well, did you recognize your favorite communication tool or did you discover a new one?

Each of these tools enriches the communication structure at RWTH in its own way.

We hope we could give you a short insight into the different tools. But don’t hesitate to use our documentation to get further and background knowledge.

In the next article of the series #goodtoknow – IT services in the spotlight we will take a closer look at VPN and eduroam. Everything you need to know for a stable connection!

Responsible for the content of this article is Dunja Gath.

Kategorie: Announcements, Fun & Facts, Insight IT Center, Support, Services & Updates, Students, Audience
Schlagworte: Cisco, eduroam, Jabber, Microsoft Teams, Teams, Telefon, Videokonferenz, VPN, Zoom
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