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What is SupportNet?
SupportNet is a support consortium initiated in July 2005 by REMC 1 to support schools and other non-profit agencies in the Western five counties of Michigan's Upper Peninsula (Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keewenaw, and Ontonagon).
SupportNet was a natural fit for those entities that REMC was already providing Internet services to, integrating another layer of service.
SupportNet was conceived in a joint effort to improve technical support services in our small, rural schools.
SupportNet is intended to meet a number of needs, including more extensive coverage, depth of knowledge, increased documentation, improved reliability and usability of technical systems, support continuity, and real-time on-demand support through a centralized full-time help desk.
Of course one of the key underlying premises is more efficient use of limited district tech support funding through standardization and economies of scale.
REMC 1 is a service agency of the Copper Country & Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School Districts.
Schools and libraries fully participating in SupportNet include the following:
Several other schools also take advantage of occasional 'ala carte' services from the SupportNet staff, when available.
SupportNet staff consists of Onsite support staff (Doug, Jim, Leo and Roger), Central support staff (Eric, Leo, and Scott), and a number of interns from Michigan Tech's Computer Networking & System Administration program manning the helpdesk.
SupportNet is working toward doing more centrally, as the Support staff can remotely take control of computers, and are able to share the keyboard, mouse, and screen with the end user in need without any wasted travel time.
Support requests can be opened on the web, through email, or over the phone, all of which result in a support ticket being generated (an RT ticket). All support requests should go through this system for accountability, documentation, and reliability.
Additional questions can be directed to the REMC #1 Director, Michael Richardson. |