Tools and Software

Remote and Hybrid Work

Tools and Software

In addition to the options for using Microsoft 365 applications, the university's virtual private network (VPN), or a remote desktop and applications, there are many collaborative productivity tools to allow you to work with colleagues, teachers and fellow students. (Remote work technical resources one-page document is also available for an overview of choices.)

These tools allow you to have virtual meetings, online chats, soft phones, and connect remotely to your files and CU Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus resources. Take a look at some of these options and please contact the OIT Service Desk if you need additional assistance getting started:

Zoom Video Conferencing

Meet and collaborate virtually using Zoom by logging in with your university credentials. All faculty, staff and students are licensed for meetings up to 300 participants.

Get started with Zoom instructional videos and OIT's Zoom training and resources. You can even use Zoom on the go with the Zoom app for mobile devices!

The university's Zoom encryption is configured for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) compliance; however, be sure to use caution with sensitive information.

Best practices to prevent Zoombombing

Uninvited participants harassing students, faculty and staff during classes and meetings has been on the rise recently. It is very important to follow Zoom’s security best practices. One of the most basic rules is to never share Zoom meeting links on social media, the internet, or any public place. More information about Zoombombing is available from the School of Education and Human Development's Learning Design and Technology webpage.

Following are guidelines to protect your meetings and classes. Presented in recommended priority from the CU Learning Design & Technology (LDT) program's bitguides webpage and reprinted with permission:

1.) Don’t post Zoom URLs in public spaces. Not twitter, not forums, not open. Share only with meeting attendees.

2.) Use Advanced Settings to ensure that "Who can share?" is set to Host Only.

3.) Don’t use a Personal Meeting ID for Zoom meetings. These are easy to find and hack. The default Zoom Meeting IDs are randomized, and difficult to find and hack.

4.) Use Require Meeting Password to be doubly careful. Include the password with the Zoom URL when sending invitations.

5.) Use the Waiting Room feature to control who enters your Zoom.

6.) Use Advanced Settings to Disable file transfer. *See new Zoom setting note below.

7.) Lock the meeting after it starts. Look under Participants at the bottom of the Zoom window. You can lock the door here.

8.) When announcing a meeting in Canvas, post authentication details (meeting url and meeting ID) using announcements or Canvas email. For other general meetings, use the Outlook calendar invite or your campus email.

9.) Be sure to familiarize yourself with settings in Zoom that can be used during a live meeting such as muting the participant and stopping their video.

10.) If needed, kick someone out of the meeting by positioning your mouse over the user's name and clicking Remove.

11.) If your meeting is brigaded by a group of people, you will likely need to end the meeting, regroup, create a new meeting id, and share the new meeting info privately with your invited attendees.

* As of Friday, April 3, Zoom has disabled file sharing. Following is their statement:

Our team is currently aware of issues with users sharing files in meetings as well as sending files in Zoom chat through a third party cloud storage service provider. As soon as we have further updates, we will add additional information on status.zoom.us.

Multi-Factor Authentication with Duo

Duo is a multi-factor authentication (MFA) tool required when connecting to campus resources. Using Duo means that an identity thief cannot use a stolen password to access our systems or your personal information without a second proof of your identity. MFA has become one of the best ways to ensure the only person logging into your account is YOU!

Registration and installation of Duo will need to be completed prior to accessing the university network, Microsoft apps, and the employee and student portals. The Duo app will turn your mobile phone, iPad, tablet or landline into a multi-factor authenticator. OIT highly recommends that you install Duo on your mobile phone to authenticate easily and securely with Duo Push.

Get Started

Step #1: Install the Duo app on your preferred device.

OIT highly recommends doing this on your smartphone.
Downloadable pdf instructions for installing and registering for Duo are available here.

Step #2: Register for Duo from your laptop or desktop computer at: https://passport.ucdenver.edu/CUSecure.php.

After you have installed the Duo app on your mobile device, the Duo Authentication “Start setup” message will appear.

More information about installing and registering with Duo is available on the OIT Remote Access webpage. If you need technical assistance installing and registering for Duo Security, please contact the OIT Service Desk.

Microsoft Teams for Collaboration and Meetings

Want to work on a project with your colleagues, instructors or other students? Teams, which is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of applications, is a tool for collaborating, communicating, document sharing, and is also approved for use with partners outside the university.

Install Teams from the Microsoft Office site
Visit the OIT Teams webpage to learn more about getting started
View additional links to Microsoft Teams training material here

OneDrive for Business

OneDrive for Business is an integral part of Microsoft 365 and provides a place in the cloud where you can store, share, and sync your work files. OneDrive can be used to:

Store files in a centralized, secure, easy-to-access online location (our university accounts allow each of us to have 1 TB of online storage)
Update those files from any device
Collaborate with others simultaneously through file sharing

Learn how to use OneDrive with these instructional videos from Microsoft.

Accessing your Office Phone

When you are away from the office, there are a couple options for accessing your calls and voicemail:

Voicemail via email
- Desk phones send voicemail to email to let you know that you have received a call. Please contact the OIT Service Desk to access this feature.
Cisco Jabber
- Cisco Jabber can send calls meant for your office phone directly to your laptop or personal computer
- Please contact the OIT Service Desk to access this feature and provide the following information for one or more users:
  - Current office phone number
  - University username
  - Desk phone current location
  - If more than one phone line must be accessible, please specify in advance
- Once your account has been updated to work with Jabber, install the software on your computer using the installation guide for your device:
  - Cisco Jabber for Windows
  - Cisco Jabber for Mac
- How to use Jabber - one-page resource guide

Additional university resources

The following resources are available from colleges, schools and departments to help you navigate remote work:

OIT Website

The OIT website has additional information about services offered by the department. Be sure to check the software webpage for software and applications available for free or at a discounted rate to faculty, staff and students. CU Denver | Anschutz is now an Adobe Creative Cloud campus. Students have access to the suite of products for free; faculty and staff can receive Adobe Creative Cloud for $45 per year. Visit the OIT Adobe Creative Cloud webpage for more information about licensing.

Cyber Security and COVID-19

There has been a significant increase in cyber scams during the COVID-19 health crisis including fraudulent phone calls and phishing emails. The University of Colorado’s Office of Information Security team has provided some details about what to look for and how to keep our assets secure.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) offers many resources to help protect yourself against phishing scams and other cybersecurity threats.

HIPAA and COVID-19

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a U.S. law designed to provide privacy standards to protect patients’ medical records and other health information provided to health plans, billing/coding companies, doctors, hospitals and other health care providers. University staff working remotely continue to be responsible for protecting and securing all information including HIPAA protected health information (PH) in the same manner as if you were working on-site.
Detailed information about how to protect the privacy and security of HIPAA information and tools approved for telehealth during this public health emergency are available on the Office of Regulatory Compliance HIPAA & Coronavirus FAQ webpage.

More Resources

Quick links to additional campus resources:

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in collaboration with the College of Engineering, Design and Computing https://clas.ucdenver.edu/working-remotely/
School of Education and Human Development: https://guides.cu.studio
CU Denver & Anschutz Medical Campus Equity Office: https://www1.ucdenver.edu/offices/equity/
Anschutz Medical Campus Police Department: https://www.cuanschutz.edu/police
CU Denver and Auraria Campus Police Department: https://www1.ucdenver.edu/police/police

For the most up-to-date information and resources regarding COVID-19 and our campuses, visit:

CU Denver Updates: https://www.ucdenver.edu/coronavirus
CU Anschutz Medical Campus Updates: https://www.cuanschutz.edu/coronavirus

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Remote and Hybrid Work