It is our hope that most IT support functions in SHASS can be conducted remotely via Zoom, Bomgar, Skype, etc. in compliance with the MIT Covid-19 response with regard to meetings.
https://covid19.mit.edu/meetings
How to Contact Us for IT Help
Clients who need assistance should contact myself and Dan at shass-tech-remote at mit dot edu M-F 8am-3pm with requests for SHASS IT help. If possible please include a screenshot of any error messages or behaviors you see.
How to take a screenshot on the Mac: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201361
The ATLAS Walk-in Service Center has been shut down to comply with the social distancing requirement imposed by the Institute for health and safety of employees from COVID19 which means there is no in-person IT assistance or hardware repair services available on campus until further notice. The Apple Store has also closed nationwide until further notice.
The IS&T Computing Help Call Center is still available 24 hours/day 7 days/week at 3-1101 (on campus) or 617-253-1101 (off campus). You can also send them email at computing-help at mit dot edu or servicedesk at mit dot edu . If you need assistance with MIT financial or student systems, please ask for "Business Help."
Limited In Person Help
There are some tasks that will require physical access to the machines at MIT. These include but are not limited to:
1) Rebooting/troubleshooting servers we control if they hang or go down and/or don’t automatically restart with available power.
2) Performing updates on secure file sharing servers (that cannot be managed remotely for security reasons) so they don’t stop serving files or to manually restart its ability to serve files.
3) Proper diagnosis or attempted repair of malfunctioning machines that either have no internet capability, do not behave in expected or predictable ways, or won't power up.
4) Set up of new machines with basic installations and updates and/or data migration from Time Machine backup.
5) Performing Mac OS upGRADES of older hardware Macs to versions still supported by Apple.
To fulfill these functions, we have established the following safety protocols.
The Safety Protocols
• Full PPE upon entrance + planning ahead (shared calendar) of time for use of the office. Full PPE is defined as N95 respiratory mask, eye protection or face shield, and hand protection.
• Only one of us can be in any office at a time.
• It is probably safest if only one of us was on campus at any given time to minimize interaction.
• The office in 14 with its 2 HEPA air filters and 2 UV-C air filters is a virus free safe zone. The office in E51 has just the 1 HEPA filter. PPE should be worn in the E51 office at all times.
• No use of public transportation (drive in only)
• No team or group meetings in person: try to resolve issues via email, zoom/skype/etc first.
• No in person interaction between any of us without PPE or significant distance between us (in open space).
• To turn on servers in unit controlled spaces in case of power outages, someone within the unit with key access will need to turn it back on.
Fortunately this doesn’t have to be one of us. A representative from the unit just needs to hit the bottom blue light power button on the front right. Once it’s on, we should be able to administer it remotely. If it doesn’t power on we’ll probably need to examine it in person. So far a Synology never turning back on if it has power hasn’t happened that I recall but if it does, we’ll have to be there with the unit representative while also social distancing and wearing PPE.
• Unless the keyboard of a laptop has been sterilized with UV-C, Everyone working on a client laptop should wear gloves.
• Sanitizing spray should only be used on the external sides of a laptop when it’s closed. The LED displays may have a UV block coating that reacts badly to anything alcohol based hitting it. In general, a damp cloth with water is the safest thing to use to clean a screen but it won’t disinfect it.
• Equipment Handoff Protocol will be used to protect clients and ourselves.
Equipment Handoff Protocol
• Dan or Albert will bring an isolation box or receptacle for the client to drop equipment into while social distancing.
• The contact will place their device into the box and then socially distance.
• Dan or Albert will then retrieve the box and sanitize the inside of the box and piece of equipment back at the office.
• Return of the piece of equipment will be conducted with the isolation box in reverse order. We leave the isolation box in the middle of the room with equipment. We socially distance. Client retrieves equipment and socially distances, we retrieve isolation box.