Administration Office basic functions:
Attendence scanner, Network, Printing, PC application, NDPS Printers   

The Attendance Scanner at Janice Arnold's station is rather troublesome. Sometimes the sheets won't feed etc. To service this machine, first UNPLUG it AT the POWER STRIP/SURGE PROTECTOR, not where the power cable plugs in to the scanner.
The cable has a label that clearly says to unplug from the power source first, do it that way only!

Then after that you can use a damp rag and window cleaner stuff to spruce it up. The rollers often get out of whack because the hinged gates are not properly seated. Check that they are snugly in place after cleaning the scanner. While cleaning , pay attention the rollers themselves, as they can cause feeding problems if they are dirty or pulled off of their drive axles.

This scanner only works from a command issued first at Janice's PC. The conditions are this:
1. Novell Login ...PC must be logged in to jarnold in the admin context.
2. SASI must be logged into jarnold and functioning normally.
3. Use the proper Atom for issuing the scan commad, then press the start button on the scanner itself.

And if all that fails to produce the desired result , call Richard. You most likely are dealing with an account permissions issue.

The Phone Dialer
This runs on a 486 and is located next to Janice’s desk. It sometimes has a mind of it’s own. If you are handy with DOS then you will get along well with this machine.

If it is overbooked with .lst files, it can get cranky. So CD into the PNS directory and type “del *.lst” and it will perk right up. You may also have to debug the PNS application. It is a menu driven interface and most tasks are self explantory.

NDPS Printers

There are two of these in the administrative office, users must have the right group permissions to map to these. If you are installing a printer on a PC , it is almost mandatory to have the machine logged to THAT users Novell account, as well as to their local Windows account.
The first one is in J Harui office. It's name is CHS_ADMIN_LJ4000 . It has two driver profiles, try both if the first one you map to doesn't work.
The other printer is CHS_Counseling, it is near Sandra Ginty's desk. If you install Networked Printers, I strongly suggest that you always include a description of where it is in the installation description. This helps the user to know where they are printing if they are using more than one printer.

Troubleshooting these is easy, usually.

Commom problems:
1. User not logged in, or the NIC card never got an IP address.
2. User does not have credentials for THAT printer.
3. Printer not properly installed locally. (driver)
4. Printer in "Pause" condition, otherwise not "online"
5. Printer is in Powersave mode or in Offline state.
6. As always check the obvious, cables, connectors, power state before getting too involved.
7. As always , restarting the client computer may clear up the issue.

The common requests in Admin are helping Paula Stokes use her email, Terri Wilson running out of hard drive space, Tess's automatic vacation message is not working/or won't turn off, moving Mr. Pepin's computer equipment around for him, Janice Arnold worrying about the Dialer program's list files, Judy Puccini's PC dropping off network, Mr. Thomas mouse failing to initiialize. All lof these are repeating issues so you can guess on how to address them. Try being friendly, even if you are feeling annoyed, then restart the PC, move some cables around under the desk, and all will be OK. 99.99% of all issues can be resolved with a reboot, so if you field a phone call from a user, ask them to get a pencil and paper because you need to tell them important information. When they return with the pencil and paper, describe how to reboot, then ask them to hang up, and follow the restart instructions. Then to call you back after it reboots to to report on the issue again. Normally this fixes the problem! If not request permission from Kyle to investigate at the users desk.

Occasionally you may be called on to assist users with applications, just do what you can to be of service, if it's over your head or "not your job", then make a note that I will address it when I get back.

I have made it a daily routine to visit the Adminstration Office first thing in the AM. It makes their day if you can head off any trouble before it becomes a critical issue. Introduce yourself around the office and offer to assist with any problems or technical questions they may have.

Note: Try to make every visit an opportunity to educate the user so that next time they can feel confident and fix the problem without you. If you allow users to take charge of their own PC, they may not need us as often.
My favorite: Instruct the user in the use of Right Clicking. Tell them about how it can be used and how powerful a tool it can be. Most users will become 50% more effective almost immediately.:)