Guidance and Support
Digital Services provide guidance and support on tools and applications that staff can use for working from home.
This will include support for:
- Office 365
- LinkedIn Learning
- SharePoint
- Skype for Business
- OneDrive
In addition, the LinkedIn Learning platform is available to all staff via the portal, and Digital Services have produced a collection of courses to support staff.
For more information contact digitalskills@ulster.ac.uk.
Guidance to staff for home working
The following information provides guidance to staff for home working whilst maintaining high levels of IT security similar to working on site.
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Keeping your laptops and mobile devices safe
Ensure you have up to date security protection installed on your computer or mobile device. The University does not permit work desktops to be taken home but if appropriate, headsets may be removed temporarily for home use.
Staff should ideally use devices supplied by the University with the protection pre-installed. Where this is not the case, they should ensure that any personal laptop or personal desktop used to work on University data is:
- Protected by Anti-virus software and ensure it is up to date and working correctly. This will help protect your device and data from viruses, malware and ransomware.
- Running an up to date operating system with security updates applied to ensure it is less vulnerable to attacks.
Be vigilant for scams and phishing
as always treat any email with caution that asks for personal details, especially those from an unknown sender or any containing links to external websites.
Look after passwords and PINs
Digital Services will never ask for this information, it should never be disclosed. Guard your passwords and always change if you suspect they have become known to others.
Stay Safe Online
Further useful information is also available via staysafeonline.org
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Office 365 – Staff Email and Calendar Service
Office 365 is the most common piece of software used by staff, this is cloud based which means colleagues can access from home using personal or university portable equipment.
- All Ulster staff are provided with an official email account with Microsoft Office365. This can be accessed at https://portal.office.com using your university email address and password. Once logged in, click on Outlook to view your mail and calendar.
- Office 365 is available to download on your personal device.
- Continue to use Office 365 for your day to day communications.
Please Note
You do not require the Secure Remote Access Service (SRAS) to use your Office 365 account -
Skype for Business
Skype for Business is a unified communications platform available to all staff that enables instant messaging, audio/video calls and online meetings.
Personal Laptops
To install on personal devices, follow the Office 365 download.
University Laptops
The software should be installed.
Mobile devices
To replicate Skype for Business features on mobile devices, go to the App store on your device, download the free Skype for Business App entering your university credentials to log in. Please note, there is no need to divert calls.
Please Note
You do not require the Secure Remote Access Service to use access your Skype for Business account. -
Did you know you don’t need Remote access to work on most systems?
There are a number of Ulster online cloud services that work without a Remote connection and can be accessed by logging in with your Ulster credentials using a web browser. Some of these are listed below:
- Ulster Office 365 email, Calendar, OneDrive
- Skype for Business
- Banner Self Service
- MyDay – Portal
- UniDesk
- VLE Blackboard
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Secure Remote Access Service (SRAS)
Other Corporate Systems that are not cloud based are known as “on premises software”, some examples are listed below:
- Talis
- Liberty
- Room Service
- Raisers Edge
If you use any of the above systems or believe you need SRAS, further details can be found online
How to contact the Service Desk
You can also Live Chat with a Service Desk team member. When a team member is available you will see a button on the bottom right of this screen. If the button is not visible, you can still contact us via the methods above.
Service Desk Hours
Opening Hours
Monday - Friday 8am - 8pm
Saturday – Sunday 1.30pm – 5pm
Extended Closure - Easter and Christmas Holidays
Data Protection and Working From Home
In these difficult times, remote working presents both significant benefits but also potential risks.
Whilst staff may have remote access to information held on our secure data centres and approved cloud services, this may now be without the protection typically available on site.
This is even more significant if staff are using non-corporate personal computing devices.
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Does the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) apply if I am working from home?
Yes.
if you are processing any personally identifiable information (PII) of any living individual as part of your directed duties then this must be done is accordance with GDPR, this includes paper-based data.
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What should I do when I am working from home?
When working from home you must ensure that your computer is properly protected with the latest anti-virus and anti-malware software installed. Do not write down your Username and Password.
Do not to leave the screen unlocked when you are no longer using the computer as this could allow sensitive data to be inadvertently seen by others. Where possible you should use a secure connection (if appropriate to your application need) or cloud services as provided by Digital Services to access and save files.
When you have finished working make sure that you fully close down all applications that you have been using, especially any secure connection.
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Where should I work from when I am working from home?
You should ensure that you maintain a similar level of privacy whilst working from home to that which you would when working in your own work space. You should ensure that your screen is not visible to anyone else at all times where possible.
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I need to send a file which contains personal data to another member of staff, what should I do?
Rather than sending the data file via email you should use an application such as Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint to provide access to the file in-situ by sending a link to a OneDrive / SharePoint location.
If you cannot do this, do not send the data file from/to a personal email address as this would be considered a data breach and should be reported to the GDPR office.
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What should I do if I receive an email that includes an attachment which includes Personal Data?
Before opening any file you must be certain that it has been sent from a genuine source.
Special care should be taken to ensure that when the data is no longer required it is deleted from your local device.
This includes any files that have been saved automatically as part of the download process.
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I suspect a Data Breach has occurred whilst I have been working from home, what should I do?
If you suspect a data breach has occurred whilst you are working from home, you should report the suspected data breach to your Data Protection Officer. Ulster’s GDPR policy can be found at on our GDPR section of the website.