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News Notes

New single-line phones being phased in
Network and Telecommunications Services (NTS) is phasing in a new single-line telephone. The STE-SDB has a built-in speakerphone, voicemail light, and programmable buttons. The new phones are line-powered and do not need batteries or AC connections.

Both the new set and current model STE-SD will be used for orders or repair during the transition as NTS inventory fluctuates. User guides and a photo of the new phone are available at http://www.umn.edu/nts/guides/phone/stesdb.html.

New telephone features added
NTS also has announced the addition of new telephone features, including anonymous call rejection, automatic recall, and caller ID block, now available to all University of Minnesota telephones on the Twin Cities campus.

Anonymous call rejection allows you to reject calls from callers who have blocked the display of their telephone numbers, thereby discouraging anonymous calls since callers must allow their numbers to be displayed in order to reach you. When this feature is activated, callers who have blocked the display of their number will hear an announcement telling them that you are not accepting blocked calls. They will then be instructed to hang up and dial again, without blocking their numbers, if they wish to reach you.

Anonymous call rejection works only for incoming calls from off-campus numbers. Callers with unpublished or unlisted phone numbers also are blocked by this feature. Dial *77 to activate anonymous call rejection, and dial *87 to deactivate anonymous call rejection.

Automatic recall stores the number of the last incoming call and will automatically dial that number for you. To activate the service, dial *69 and follow the voice prompts.

Caller-ID block temporarily blocks your caller ID information from being sent when dialing off-campus numbers. The feature, which works on a per-call basis, will not block your information when you dial a 5-digit extension on campus. Dial *67 to activate Caller-ID block.

Microsoft Office 2007 now available
Office Enterprise 2007, the latest release of Microsoft Office for Windows, is now available for use on University of Minnesota-owned computers. Microsoft expects to have Office 2007 available for computers owned by individual—including faculty, staff and students—by approximately April 2007.

If you perform a custom installation, you may elect to keep Office 2003 on your machine, as well. The software is available for download at http://download.software.umn.edu.

Wireless headsets available from NTS
Networking and Telecommunications Services now offers a Plantronics wireless headset system. The headset offers the latest in digital spread spectrum technology and is compatible with University telephones. For details, visit http://www.umn.edu/nts.

Digital Media Center faculty fellowships, grants available
Instructors may apply to receive up to $20,000 for release time to explore technology/learning/teaching issues, share project outcomes/research findings, and develop leadership/scholarship skills at events and biweekly meetings. The call for proposals will be online Monday, January 8, and proposals are due Monday, February 19. For more information, visit http://dmc.umn.edu/fellowship.

Instructors also may receive up to $10,000 to develop, implement, and evaluate a substantial educational technology project and attend several meetings and events in 2007. The call for proposals will be online Tuesday, Jan. 16, and proposals are due Tuesday, Feb. 13. For more information, go to http://dmc.umn.edu/grants.

Live online help now available from NTS
Networking and Telecommunications Services now offers live online help via a Web chat session with NTS technical assistance staff, available 7 a.m.–9:30 p.m. Monday—Friday. You can use the live chat help to ask questions about telecommunications services such as Gopher Messaging and phone jacks, as well as network issues. Talk to an NTS technical assistant at http://go4service.umn.edu/liveHelp.

New technology training offerings available
Is your department moving to Active Directory? Wondering how you'll access your personal file space on the Active Directory servers? A self-paced, online orientation is now available offering an overview of why your department may be joining Active Directory.

If you're interested in taking your Photoshop skills to the next level, an advanced hands-on Photoshop CS2 course has been developed. Learn to design unique graphics by creating a brochure using textures, vector shapes, and silhouettes. For more information on technology training options, visit http://1help.umn.edu, click on "Computers," then on "Training." The spring training schedule is available online now.