Technical Support

 

Information Center at College of Commerce and Economics started to provide Technical Support since the early opening of the college in 1993. One vital role of Information Center is providing Technical Support to the college academic faculty, staff and students. Moreover, Technical Support department is responsible for supervising all computer labs Information Center via its Helpdesk division.

 

1. Helpdesk Mission

Our mission is to assist faculty, staff, and students of The CCE College with all of their computing needs. We provide assistance to the College community in the areas of microcomputer applications, hardware, and net working. We also support e-mail, Web pages, and other applications that run on the College's campus-wide systems.

 

1.1 Direction and Availability

The IT Helpdesk, currently located in the second floor of the Information Center at CCE and, is open from Saturday through Wednesday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 

2. Services

The major service provided by the Helpdesk division is the User Support. The division provides onsite instant services through its call center, intranet emails, and later on via the center website. Generally speaking, it provides the users a central point to receive help on various computer issues.

 

2.1 How it works?

The user notifies the help desk of his or her issue and the help desk staff asks the user about details of the problem. In case the technician isn't able to solve the issue from the first time, he will seek others technician knowledge and sometimes contact computer center for further consultation.

2.2 How to contact Helpdesk Team?

You can contact Helpdesk team by:

-         Dialing one of the following extensions; 2901, 1801.

-         Email to: infocenter@squ.edu.om

 

 

2.3 What information Helpdesk technician needs for help request?

When contacting the Helpdesk team asking for a help, please provide the following information:

-         University ID Number

-         Room or Lab/Class Number

-         SQU username (in case of internet and email problems)

-         Details about the problem or issue.

 

2.4 What kind of services User Support is providing?

·        Hardware Support and maintenance

·        Software installation and troubleshooting: any faculty staff can request installation of software on his/her PC as well as on Labs to be used in teaching purposes.  

·        Internet and Network configuration and troubleshooting

·        Regular software maintenance and update

·        Regular hardware replacement and upgrade

·        System problem solving and troubleshooting, which include dealing with wide range of system problems such as viruses, slow-down performance,

 

3. Installation Policy

Any installation of new software should adhere to the following policies:

-         The requested software or system should be available in SQU software repository (support server) and its license is valid till at least end of current semester.

-         In case the software or system is not available in support server (not purchased by SQU or CCE), then the staff has to contact the college administration for initiating the purchase procedure for the requested software or system.

-         Installation on one PC (staff PC): helpdesk team will assign one technician to proceed the requested installation based on work load and priorities of scheduled tasks.  

-         Batch Installation: for installation of multiple software or application, the staff or the corresponding head of department has to notify the Helpdesk team one month before semester breaks starts (in December and May) in order to schedule the installation during students' breaks and carry out all necessary updates and checks.

-         Individual Installation: In case the staff need an urgent installation of one software or application in CCE labs, then he /she has to contact Helpdesk team two weeks prior deployment of his software. This is to schedule the installation when labs are vacant and no lectures are undergoing.

 

4. Center IT Labs

The center has 5 labs equipped with the desktop computer with latest description.   Each lab has 30 PCs plus the instructor PC and printer PC. Students can use printing facility in labs through software called PaperCut where student have rechargeable account.   Students have to use their SQU account and password for using this software. 

 

 

5. Wireless—Coverage Map

 

The wireless access points are spread over the college and available in all lobbies and student rest areas, library and college classes.

 

6. IT Training and Workshop

 

Technical Support department is continuously carrying out internship programs for university and college students.   The program is taking mostly over semester breaks and in summer time. However, sometimes, it is even available during semester.   The program includes teaching students with the basic Helpdesk duties and arrangement to pursue its responsibility.     It assists students thought some planned workshops and problem trail solving sessions. Moreover, it let the trainee to tackle some real life problems by attending service requests calls with the technicians. In some cases, trainees take the call themselves.

 

In addition, the department is planning to start a series of workshops for academic faculty and staff in basic PC troubleshooting and must know-how regarding software, hardware and networking.