Mobile Computing
Loughborough University Policy on the use of PDAs (Personal digital assistants) and Smart Phones
The use of a PDA or smart phone, in conjunction with the University's e-mail and calendar system (Outlook / Communigate), can prove to be very beneficial to staff, providing access to e-mail and diary / calendars whilst they are away from the office.
IT Services endeavours to support handheld computing devices for centrally managed services like e-mail and wireless network access. However due to the diverse functionality of devices and Operating Systems, comprehensive support and documentation will only be provided for four devices. These are:
* By default these devices offer less functionality when used with the Staff Desktop Service. Additional software may be required. These devices offer limited functionality with Central IT Services.
As the University's e-mail system is standards based, it will work with the vast majority of PDAs and smartphones. IT Services advice is that staff should follow the instructions that came with their device for synchronising with Outlook, however some devices do not offer enterprise functionality. This may inhibit their use on campus. We will endeavour to provide guidance for basic functionality, however it is strongly recommended that only fully supported devices are purchased for use on campus.
A self help group has been set up for users of these devices. The instructions for joining the mailing list are as follows:
Send an e-mail message to majordomo@lboro.ac.uk with "subscribe handheld-support" in the body.
This list is archived, so staff can refer back to previous discussion threads at https://internal.lboro.ac.uk/mail/local/handheld-support/ (restricted).
As the University has not provided any additional resources for formal support of these devices, IT Services support is necessarily restricted. Limited assistance with setup is provided to customers receiving IT support direct from Staff PC Services (SPCS). Anyone not receiving support from Staff PC Services should, in the first instance, contact their local IT staff who may be able to offer assistance.