Technology for Your Office (Campus or Remote)

This is an overview of the basic technology that is available to you --- at your campus office and/or at a remote work location.

Phones

Faculty and staff have several choices regarding their office phone or virtual phone options.

VOIP Office Phone

This is the physical desktop phone in your office.  Instructions on how to use your desktop office phone are located inside the front pages of Behrend’s Faculty/Staff Phone Directory.  You can also choose not to have a desktop phone and instead use the Jabber SoftPhone (explained below).

Jabber SoftPhone

The Jabber SoftPhone uses your PC, Jabber software, and a headset/ear buds to make and receive phone calls.  It does not rely on your office desk phone.  In fact, you can request to have the desk phone removed from your office.  One major advantage to using Jabber is that you can set up another phone (e.g. a smartphone) to make and receive calls and it will appear as if your calls are coming from your work phone.  That way, your personal phone number is not revealed when conducting work on your personal phone.  To request Jabber, please submit an IT Request Ticket.

Teams Call

An Office 365 Teams call may be used to communicate with others within the University.  All you need is Office 365 and one of the following:  a computer which has an integrated speaker and microphone or a headset/ear buds with a microphone.  The calls may be initiated from a chat or within a Team.  (Please note that there are several features that are not available at Penn State at this time, such as dialing external numbers.)

Software:  General Productivity

There is a wide range of software that can be used to support faculty, staff, and students.  A few of those software applications are featured below.

Office 365

  • Access via https://office365.psu.edu; it's available anywhere with an Internet connection and web browser.
  • Includes Word, Excel, PPT, Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, OneNote, Sway, Planner, Stream, Forms, and more.
  • Several of these products can also be accessed using the desktop and/or mobile app versions.
  • To learn more about the applications in Office 365 and how to use them, visit Resources for Learning Office 365.

Outlook

  • Access your email and calendars (including shared and group/Team calendars).

OneDrive

  • Files are saved to the Microsoft cloud.
  • Files may be synced for easy access via Windows File Explorer.
  • If you haven't done so already, please follow the instructions to set up OneDrive (PDF or Word). <GET LINK>

Teams

  • Collaborate with others using chat, sharing files, conducting/participating in meetings, etc.
  • Files may be synced for easy access via Windows File Explorer.

Google G-Suite

  • Access via https://gsuite.psu.edu; it's available anywhere with an Internet connection and web browser.
  • Similar to Office 365, it includes Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Hangouts Meet and Chat, Forms, Sites, and more.
  • To learn more about the applications in G-Suite and how to use them, visit Applications and Training.

Software:  Office

Faculty and staff PCs/laptops are pre-loaded with the following software:  Adobe Reader, Cisco Jabber, Chrome, Firefox, and Office 365.

Additional software, such as Adobe Creative Cloud, is available through the Software Center.  To access the Software Center on a PC:

  1. Click in the Search box (bottom, left corner next to the Start button) and type:  Software Center. 
  2. From the search results, click:  Software Center. 
  3. Click on the software title that you wish to install.

Software:  Video Conferencing

Video conferencing may be used to host and participate in virtual meetings, conduct classes, etc. using audio and/or video.  There are several video conferencing options available at PSU:

Conferencing sessions may also be recorded with a few exceptions due to privacy concerns.  For more information, refer to Zoom: FAQs & Troubleshooting.  A general statement about privacy is located in the “Features” section” of that site.  More details regarding class recordings are found in the “Teaching with Zoom” section.

Quick guides and training resources are available for Zoom.  See the “Resources” section at the Zoom web site.

For more information about using Zoom at Behrend, along with helpful tips, visit Video Conferencing with Zoom.

Software:  Other

Additional software (free and discounted) is available to faculty, staff, students, and departments.  For more information about these opportunities, visit the Software page.

Other Resources