Tech Alerts

December 4th will mark the official launch of our new IT support team, the SAMI Service Desk. This initiative began as a trial at the start of the fall semester. At that time, the new team began handling all SAMI self-service and public form tickets. In October, the trial expanded to include emails and introduced a new support address: samisupport@fdu.edu, replacing fdutac@fdu.edu. We are now ready to declare the trial a success and hand the new team full control over phone support. At a time when many businesses are outsourcing service centers, FDU will now have our entire support team on-site.

To learn about this change, watch for a brief four-minute SAMI short video or continue reading.

The SAMI Service Desk is staffed with a full-time dedicated supervisor, two full-time agents, and seven student interns rotating shifts throughout the day. Tickets can be submitted through our self-service portal at SAMISupport.fdu.edu. If you are unable to log in to the portal, you can access our public form by clicking the blue support icon at the top right of the FDU IT website.

Submitting tickets through the portal or public form is the quickest and most efficient way to receive support. Since the trial began, tickets submitted this way have had an average first response time of 38 minutes.

The second fastest way to get support is by emailing samisupport@fdu.edu, which now replaces fdutac@fdu.edu.

If neither method works for your situation, you can still call the SAMI support line at (973)-443-8822. Starting December 4th, you will notice the following changes when calling:

• The phone line will be initially answered by a Virtual Agent.
• The Virtual Agent will request your name, contact number, and FDU ID number to identify you in the SAMI ticketing system.
• The agent will then ask a series of questions in an attempt to resolve the issue.
• If successful, a closed SAMI ticket will serve as a record of the call.
• If the issue cannot be resolved, the call and an open ticket will be transferred to the Service Desk.

New hours of operation for the SAMI Service Desk will be 8 AM to 8 PM ET, Monday through Friday. Calls received by the Virtual Agent outside of these hours—including weekends and holidays—will be recorded. Tickets will be opened and added to the queue for follow-up on the next business day.

Automatic escalation to after-hours support personnel will occur for critical concerns, such as system outages and weekend classroom issues.

While our handling of SAMISupport.fdu.edu and samisupport@fdu.edu has exceeded expectations, integrating the new Virtual Agent and contact center systems into the SAMI environment is complex. If your only option is to call, expect some workflow adjustments in the first few weeks. The team has made rapid progress and remains committed to making the SAMI Service Desk a major upgrade over our previous support model.

To improve the security posture of university-issued Apple computers, OIRT is implementing a new patching workflow designed to keep non-FDU provided software on your macOS device up to date.

Once a month, a process will check the version of applications installed on your machine and, when needed, update them. When the process runs, you will see the following window:

You can either install the updates immediately by pressing Install Now or choose to install them later by pressing Defer.

If an open application needs to be patched, you may receive a notification like the one shown below. In that case, select Quit and Update to close the app and update it, or Not Now to continue using it.

Once the patching is complete, click Done to close the window.

While the Defer option allows you to postpone updates to a more convenient time, all updates must be installed promptly. Every employee is responsible for maintaining the security of their FDU-issued devices.

For questions or concerns, visit SAMI Support to request additional information or search the IT knowledge base. Support is also available by phone at (973)-443-8822 or by email at samisupport@fdu.edu.

Emburse (Chrome River) will be sunsetting its legacy mobile apps that allow users to upload receipts and create and submit expense reports.

Users currently using CR Snap or the Chrome River App must transition to the new Emburse Enterprise Mobile App before November 30th. The new app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and allows you to log in with your NetID credentials.

For questions, email misrequests@fdu.edu.

While FDU OIRT regularly unveils new initiatives aimed at improving the IT experience at the University, the Fall 2025 semester has been among our most ambitious. At the start of the semester, FDU OIRT announced the trial of a new support solution that uses a dedicated team of FDU technicians to provide enhanced support when requests are submitted through our SAMI Support Portal. A public form is also available to ensure that individuals unable to authenticate can receive the same level of service. In mid-September, we introduced SAMI Shorts—brief videos that help explain the technology we offer and how our community can best utilize it.

How has the trial gone?

The SAMI Service Desk has handled nearly 1,000 tickets since the beginning of the trial. Over 90% of tickets were responded to within 3 hours, and over half were resolved within 24 hours. Of the 12 tickets rated by users, ten received a 5 out of 5. Initial feedback indicates strong engagement with our SAMI Short videos as well. These are clear signs that we are heading in the right direction.

What’s next?

Starting October 14, we will expand the trial to include support requests initiated via email. While the preferred method for submitting a ticket remains the SAMI Support Portal, community members can now email support requests to samisupport@fdu.edu.

Will the old email address still work?

Yes. While FDUTAC@fdu.edu will still function for now, tickets sent to that address will be routed to the SAMI Service Desk instead of our third-party team.

What else is changing?

With the introduction of our new Student Internship Program, we now have a group of trained students supplementing our staff of dedicated FDU technicians. Once fully launched, the internship program will bring the total number of Service Desk personnel to six during peak hours.

What’s not changing?

Our third-party Technical Assistance Center, UTAC, is still available at (973)-443-8822.

Why are we doing this?

As we become increasingly reliant on technology to teach, learn, and manage the business of higher education, OIRT continues to evolve our services to be better, faster, and more accurate. The new internal Service Desk initiative directly supports this goal and aligns our support model with best practices in higher education.

On October 10th, between 2AM and 6AM, USAN will perform an upgrade of network equipment in the following buildings. During this maintenance, users in these buildings may experience intermittent network outages.

We understand the inconvenience that network downtime can cause for our community. We schedule this work during times that minimize impact. For questions or concerns, visit SAMI Support to request additional information from UTAC or search our IT knowledge base. You can also contact UTAC by phone at (973) 443-8822 or email fdutac@fdu.edu.

FDU OIRT is excited to announce FDU-Guest, a new wireless network (SSID) for guests visiting our New Jersey campuses. FDU-Guest simplifies the guest access process while improving network security. Guests can connect without needing sponsorship from a member of the FDU community, while access to internal FDU resources remains restricted to active Faculty/Staff and Students.

With this addition, the FDU wireless network now has four distinct segments: FDU-Secure, FDU-Wireless, Eduroam, and FDU-Guest.

When to use each network segment:

• FDU-Secure: The primary SSID for most of our community. Requires authentication, grants access to all internal services, and has priority for academic and business traffic.
• FDU-Wireless: For non-computer devices such as gaming consoles or SmartTVs that cannot use WPA2 Enterprise authentication. These devices can be registered on the FDU MyDevices Portal.
• Eduroam: A secure, worldwide roaming service for international research and education. Students, researchers, and staff from participating institutions can connect at FDU using their home institution’s credentials.
• FDU-Guest: A public, non-authenticated network for University guests. Users must agree to the Acceptable Use Policy, and sessions remain active for one day. This network provides internet access only—services requiring SSO access are blocked.

Traditional Guest Wireless and Guest Group Creation forms remain available on SAMI Support for visitors who require advanced services such as on-campus printing, access to Zoom carts, or library resources.

Watch our SAMI Short video about FDU-Guest:

FDU-Guest Wireless

Full directory of SAMI Short videos:

SAMI Shorts Catalog

FDU-Guest is now available on both New Jersey campuses via the Wi-Fi SSID dropdown menu. If you are unsure which solution is best for your situation or have questions, open a SAMI Support ticket to request more information or search the IT knowledge base. You can also contact UTAC at (973)-443-8822 or email fdutac@fdu.edu.

Computing Services invites you to a Technology Orientation covering the many applications and classroom technologies available at the University. This engaging two-hour session provides an overview of the AV technology in classrooms, the SAMI support portal, and University applications that enhance the teaching and learning experience.

The orientation will include:

• An introduction to classroom equipment
• Best practices for utilizing technology
• A demonstration of the SAMI Support Portal
• How to create a support ticket
• How to create a lab reservation
• How to request technology and IT support for events
• An overview of key applications, including:
  • WebCampus/Blackboard
  • Qualtrics
  • Zoom
  • Echo360
  • Kaltura/Mediaspace
  • MyFDU Connect
  • Self-Service

Morning and afternoon sessions will be held both in-person and via Zoom:

• Thursday, September 11 – Metropolitan Campus, Alumni Hall
• Friday, September 12 – Florham Campus, Mansion, Hartman Lounge

With so many great tools on offer, this is a chance to discover your next favorite application.

Technology Orientation Registration Form

After completing the registration form, you will receive an email and Outlook Calendar invitation confirming your registration. We look forward to seeing you at orientation.

We have completed our migration from DocuSign forms to Softdocs forms. Softdocs provides a platform to create customized forms and workflows for digital documents. It offers a secure way to capture data and electronic signatures from faculty, staff, and students.

All links on the FDU website have been updated to point to the new corresponding form. While the presentation of the forms will look different from DocuSign, the process remains straightforward.

If you have any issues or questions, contact misrequests@fdu.edu for assistance.

The Office of Information Resources and Technology (OIRT) has made a focused effort to enhance the level of support provided to the FDU community. We have developed a new approach for delivering important information about the technology available to our users.

SAMI Shorts are brief informational videos designed to provide key insights on a variety of IT-related topics. Most videos range from 45–90 seconds, include closed captioning, and are also available in text format.

To introduce this new format, watch our Welcome Back video here:

Welcome Back – SAMI Short

The University Technical Assistance Center (UTAC) has been integral to FDU’s IT support strategy since 2002. Of the over 20,000 support tickets generated for the FDU community each year, thousands originate with calls or emails to UTAC. As we become increasingly reliant on technology to teach, learn, and manage the business of higher education, OIRT is continually seeking ways to provide better, faster, and more accurate service to our community.

At the start of the Fall Semester, FDU OIRT will trial a new support solution using a dedicated team of FDU technicians to provide enhanced support for tickets submitted through the SAMI Support Portal:

SAMI Support

The portal, which can be accessed via laptop, desktop, and mobile devices, as well as through MyFDUConnect.

My FDU Connect

Which provides an easy way to register an issue or question and communicate directly with the technician assigned to your request. The site also suggests possible solutions without needing to interact with a technician.

If a user cannot authenticate into the SAMI Support Portal, there is a public form available:

Issues submitted through the SAMI Public Form will also be supported by the new team.

While existing UTAC phone and email support will remain available throughout the trial period, we encourage the community to begin using SAMI Support in the coming weeks to interact with the new team.