Information Technology Services is excited to announce the arrival of Microsoft Teams Voice, a powerful addition to our communication toolkit! Starting on Monday, July 8, 2024, you’ll be able to leverage Teams not only for instant messaging and online meetings but also for making and receiving phone calls. This upgrade streamlines your communication experience, making it more efficient and flexible.

Here’s what you need to know about Teams Voice:

Flexibility Everywhere:

• With Teams Voice, you can make and receive calls from anywhere, at any time, across devices. Whether you’re at your desk, working remotely, or on the go, Teams has you covered.
• Say goodbye to being tethered to your office phone. Now you can seamlessly switch between your headset, mobile device, and other endpoints.

Easy Transfers and Productivity Boost:

• Transfer calls effortlessly to internal contacts, external numbers, or even your voicemail.
• Dial your contacts with a single click—no need to remember phone numbers anymore.

Getting Started:

• Teams Voice capabilities will be enabled on Monday, July 8, 2024.
• If you’re not already using Teams for instant messaging and meetings, now is the perfect time to explore its full potential.

How to Prepare:

1. Learn Teams Basics:
   • Visit our Teams Voice webpage for helpful resources.
   • Training on the use of Teams Voice will be provided. Dates will be determined. 
2. Update Your Contacts:
   • Make sure your important contacts are saved in Teams. You’ll love the convenience of one-click calling.
3. Test It Out:
   • Once Teams Voice is live, give it a try! Make a test call to ensure everything is working smoothly.
4. Visit our FAQ
   • If you still have questions, check out our frequently asked questions page.

Thank you for embracing innovation and making our workplace even more connected.

This year, as part of the Pride Month celebration, Humber is collecting donations for Friends of Ruby, a youth centre dedicated to the well-being of 2SLGBQTIA+ youth (aged 16-29). They provide mental health services, social services and housing through a comprehensive approach that involves mind, body, and community.

The collection has been extended to July 10!

Items accepted for donation:

• Unscented hygiene products (shampoo, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, etc)
• Presto cards
• Gift cards (preferably for grocery stores)
• Non-perishable food
• Nut-free snacks
• Stationary supplies

Drop off locations:

If you have any questions, please email sustainability@humber.ca.

Here are the highlights of faculty questions from June. These are not necessarily the most frequently asked questions, but helpful for all faculty members.

Question (Microsoft Teams): Where can I find recorded files of MS Teams meetings?

Answer: You should be able to find them inside the folder called “Recordings” on your One Drive. Here’s the step-by-step instructions: How to locate MS Teams Video Recording

For more tips, please visit MSTeams Tips for Teaching.

Question (Respondus Lockdown Browser Dashboard): I tried to use Respondus Lockdown Browser, but the dashboard gets an error message, and I can’t use it. How can I resolve this?

Answer: Do any of your test names include special characters such as icons or emoticons? Currently, the Respondus Lockdown Browser dashboard has a limitation and cannot process test names with special characters. Please review your test names and remove any special characters. It may have worked in the past, however, software has ongoing updates and behaviour may change at any time.

Question (Respondus Lockdown Browser, student_preview mode): I am planning to use the Respondus Lockdown Browser for a Test in my course. When trying this in the student_preview mode, I receive an error message stating, "You don’t have permission to access this content." As a result, I am unable to load the test into the Lockdown Browser. Is there anything wrong with my test?

Answer: After investigating, we found that your course hasn't started yet. You should be able to use student_preview once your course begins. We recommend trying again after the course's start date.

Question (Suggestions for Blackboard): I have some suggestions for Blackboard, can you pass my suggestions to Anthology?

Answer: Anthology provides an Idea Exchange forum where instructors can share their ideas. To participate, please register and visit the forum. You may find ideas that are similar or identical to yours already posted. If so, you can vote for those ideas. If your idea is unique, feel free to post it. For any ideas you've voted for, commented on, or posted yourself, you'll receive notifications when someone (including Anthology staff) comments or when the status changes.

Another useful platform is the Anthology Community Discussion forum. Here you can ask questions and assist each other in the broader community of Blackboard users. Note that a separate login is required to participate in this forum.

Question (Automatic Zeros): I created an assignment on Blackboard, and enabled it for students. However, Blackboard is assigning a score of 0 to everyone. Now students see a 0 for their grade as if they missed an assignment. What could be the cause of this issue?

Answer: When you create a new assignment, Blackboard automatically sets the due date to the next day. Unless you change this, any submissions past this date will be considered overdue, even if the assignment was just released to students. In the gradebook, automatic zeros are enabled by default, and overdue assignments will automatically receive a zero grade. To prevent this, please set an appropriate due date using this step-by-step guide. Another resource is available online. If you would rather not have automatic zeros, you can turn off this feature.

Question (Copied Test with Pooled Questions): I have copied a test from another course that references a set of questions in a test bank. However, students are complaining that they are unable to save their answers to questions retrieved from the bank. What should I do?

Answer: In your case, the test was not copied successfully. Your test has a corrupted test bank reference. During the process of copying, unforeseen issues may have occurred. It's always recommended to use the student_preview to try the test before allowing actual students to take it.

The full article is also posted on BB Hub: Questions of the Month at the ILSC (June 2024)

Need additional support? The IL Support Centre is here to help!