IT News

A tech talk series dedicated to teaching you how to use the productivity tools available to you at the University of Miami. Questions? Contact: techtalk@miami.edu.

UPCOMING TECH TALKS

Microsoft Office 365 Accessibility Tools for More Effective and Inclusive Communications

Thursday, October 5 from 2-3:30 p.m.

At the University of Miami, we are fortunate to be part of an incredibly diverse community. Collectively we strive to create a supportive environment where our unique abilities come together to transform lives and create an inclusive culture of belonging. October is Disabilities in the Workplace Awareness Month at UM. Join your colleagues at a variety of live events sponsored by University of Miami Human Resources Office of Workplace Equity and Inclusion to learn more about the resources available at UM and how you can support an inclusive environment for people with disabilities.

During this tech talk session, we will explore Office 365 Accessibility Tools, with a focus on Microsoft Teams, designed to meet the needs of people around the globe with different abilities. Representatives from Microsoft Corporation, along with UM Microsoft experts, will show us how to utilize Microsoft Office's built-in accessibility tools to create inclusive and accessible content for people with vision, hearing, cognition, and mobility impairments.

You'll leave this experience with:

A better understanding of the variety of accessibility features available within Microsoft Office.
How to utilize the accessibility features to make documents, presentations, and meetings more effective and inclusive.

Learn about Disabilities in the Workplace Awareness Month events at hr.miami.edu/disability-awareness.

Interested in attending?

Update to Tech Talks Schedule in 2023

In 2023, tech talks will be presented to the University community on a quarterly basis. Please check back regularly for upcoming tech talks, as they are scheduled throughout the year. We also encourage you to review our previous tech talk topics, recordings, and resources—listed below.

PREVIOUS TECH TALKS

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Integrated Solutions Support Topics and Tips
About this Tech Talk:

A group of in-house experts expanded on the following topics, provide tips, and answer questions:
- ServiceNow Forms for Products and Services Supported by IT
- A-Z Listing Page of Services and Products Supported by IT
- Departmental Mailbox Management Page
- Mailbox Permission Requests
- Email Delivery and Retention
- Distribution Lists
- Electronic Data Request Form and Process
- Mobile Device Access
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Adobe Sign
Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Microsoft Power BI - Data Visualization at Your Fingertips
About this Tech Talk

Microsoft Power BI is a cloud-based business analytics service that enables anyone to visualize, analyze, and share data with greater speed, efficiency, and understanding. It provides the ability to create dashboards with the most important metrics all in one place, updated in real time, and available on all of devices. During this tech talk, in-house experts discussed its many features.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Livestream
Resources
Microsoft OneNote - Your Digital Notebook
About this Tech Talk

Never run out of paper again with Microsoft OneNote, a digital note-taking app that provides a single place for keeping all of your notes, research, plans, and information—everything you need to remember and manage in your life at home, at work, or at school. During this tech talk, Microsoft experts discussed several features of this application.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
MS Office 365 Accessibility Tools for More Effective and Inclusive Communications
About this Tech Talk

During this tech talk, Microsoft experts explored Office 365 Accessibility Tools, with a focus on Microsoft Teams, designed to meet the needs of people around the globe with different abilities. They demonstrated how to utilize Microsoft Office's built-in accessibility tools to create inclusive and accessible content for people with vision, hearing, cognitive, and mobility impairments.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recording
Resources
Zoom Like a Pro - Explore Advanced Features
About this Tech Talk

Audio and video conferencing applications like Zoom have become essential for connecting with our colleagues daily. As we continue to learn, teach, and work remotely, we have become comfortable with the basic functions of these applications. During this tech talk, we explored advanced Zoom features such as breakout rooms, screen sharing tips, and more.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Cloud Storage Solutions with Microsoft - OneDrive and SharePoint
About this Tech Talk

Access, share, and collaborate on all your files from anywhere with cloud storage solutions offered by Microsoft. During this tech talk, Microsoft experts demonstarted how to use OneDrive and SharePoint, expanded on key differences between the two, navigating the platforms, sharing and recovering files, and answered frequently asked questions.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Introduction to Microsoft Bookings
About this Tech Talk

Stay organized by scheduling and managing your appointments with Microsoft Bookings, a web-based booking calendar that integrates with Outlook to provide customization options to fit a variety of scheduling needs. During this tech talk, Microsoft experts demonstrated how to use Microsoft Bookings, and answered frequently asked questions.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Box 101
About this Tech Talk

Box, one of the University's collaboration and cloud storage solutions, empowers you by making it easy to work with teams and peers inside and outside your organization while protecting your valuable content. During this tech talk, in-house experts discussed topics, including, but not limited to: navigating Box; creating new content and uploading existing files and folders; editing files in Box; sharing content with collaborators; collaborating with others in Box with comments, discussions, and tasks; and using Box Drive.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Listserv 101
About this Tech Talk

We're taking a deep dive into the University's messaging application Listserv. During this tech talk, in-house Listserv experts discussed how to get the most out of the platform for all levels of experience, including best practices and answers to frequently asked questions.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Email Security 101
About this Tech Talk

While the University has implemented a series of advanced email protections to keep you safe from spam and phishing in your inbox, it is still important to learn how to protect yourself from these types of attacks. During this tech talk, in-house security experts discussed: Phishing vs. Spam; organizational-level vs. Microsoft-level blocked emails; using email quarantine, spam digest, and safe senders; accessing and taking action within your email quarantine; and safely sharing files via Box and OneDrive.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Best Practices for Running Successful Meetings on Microsoft Teams
About this Tech Talk

Microsoft Teams offers a complete virtual solution to keep you connected with others. With Teams, you can chat, conduct audio and video calls, share files, and much more. During this tech talk, in-house Teams experts discussed tips for making meetings more engaging, productive, and meaningful via Teams for all levels of experience, including basic tips for beginners and advanced tips for experienced users.

Livestream
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
New Year, New Tech Tips
About this Tech Talk

During our first tech talk of 2022, in-house experts discussed tips regarding working in a hybrid environment, maximizing your Outlook calendar, and using Microsoft Office mobile apps as well as the University's cloud storage options OneDrive, Box, and Google Drive to store files and easily collaborate.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Outlook Varieties – Which Version is Right for You?
About this Tech Talk

Though primarily an email client, Microsoft Outlook also includes functions such as calendaring, task and contact management, note-taking, journal logging, and web browsing. During this tech talk, in-house experts discussed the differences in Outlook for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and on the web.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Microsoft Power BI – Data Visualization at Your Fingertips
About this Tech Talk

Microsoft Power BI is a cloud-based business analytics service that enables anyone to visualize, analyze, and share data with greater speed, efficiency, and understanding. It provides you the ability to create dashboards with the most important metrics all in one place, updated in real time, and available on all of devices. During this tech talk, a Microsoft expert discussed how to create easy-to-use dashboards that connect you to a broad range of data, interactive reports and visualizations, and more.

Livestream
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Microsoft Office Accessibility Tools in Honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month
About this Tech Talk

In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, we explored tools that have been designed to meet the needs of people around the globe with different abilities. During this tech talk, Microsoft and in-house Microsoft experts showed us how to utilize Microsoft Office’s built-in accessibility tools to create inclusive and accessible content.

Presentation
- Presentation Slides
Resources
Microsoft Power Apps – Build Professional-Grade Apps the Easy Way
About this Tech Talk

Microsoft Power Apps is a service for building and using custom business applications that connect to your data and work across the web and mobile—without the time and expense of custom software development. During this tech talk, a Microsoft expert discussed how to rapidly build apps that modernize processes and solve tough challenges, as well as best practices and answers to frequently asked questions.

Livestream
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Microsoft Power Automate – Streamline Tasks and Processes
About this Tech Talk

Microsoft Power Automate (previously Microsoft Flow) allows you to easily create automated workflows to improve productivity with business process automation. During this tech talk, a Microsoft expert discussed how connections work, using templates vs. creating your own, commonly used flows, and more.

Livestream
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Zoom Like a Pro – Explore Advanced Features
About this Tech Talk

Audio and video conferencing applications like Zoom have become essential for connecting with our colleagues and peers daily. To successfully learn, teach, and work remotely, we have become comfortable with the basic functions of this application. During this tech talk, our in-house experts discussed advanced Zoom features, including:
- Breakout rooms
- Screen sharing, e.g., how to swap screen share applications smoothly during a meeting
- Scheduling (via web, desktop, Outlook add-ins) and assigning scheduling privileges
Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Get to Know Zoom
About this Tech Talk

Zoom is a video/audio conferencing tool that combines an easy-to-use interface with exceptional video quality, offering a seamless experience for collaboration across mobile devices, desktops, and conference rooms. Zoom features include screen sharing, recording, breakout rooms, chat, adaptive streaming, and more.

Presentation and Livestream
- July 7, 2021 Session
  - Presentation Slides
  - Recorded Livestream
- July 14, 2021 Session
  - Presentation Slides
  - Recorded Livestream
Resources
- Getting Started
- Meetings
- Chat
Get to Know Microsoft Teams
About this Tech Talk

By combining chat, video/audio conferencing, document collaboration, and application integration into a single experience, Microsoft Teams brings people, conversations, files, and tools into one place so everyone has instant access to everything they need.

Presentation and Livestream
- July 6, 2021 Session
  - Presentation Slides
  - Recorded Livestream
- July 13, 2021 Session
  - Presentation Slides
  - Recorded Livestream
Resources
Project Management Tools
About this Tech Talk

Using project management skills, you can lead your peers and teams to successfully achieve goals within a specified timeframe. One of the challenges of project management is knowing which tools to use. During this tech talk, Microsoft experts will be discussing project management tools available to students, faculty, and staff at the University, including Planner, Teams, and To Do.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Maximize Your Outlook Calendar
About this Tech Talk

Many of us use Microsoft's Outlook calendar to help us map out our days effectively, including scheduling meetings and adding important reminders for ourselves or others. With Outlook calendars available in an array of digital styles—including Outlook on the web (OWA), Outlook mobile, and the Outlook desktop application—there are many ways to get the most out of these platforms. During this tech talk, learn about recommended best practices when calendaring, including but not limited to:
- Time management
- Scheduling meetings
- Resource calendars
- Delegates
- Sharing sub-calendars
Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Collaborating via Microsoft Teams
About this Tech Talk

In an era where physical collaboration isn't always possible, Microsoft Teams offers a complete virtual solution to keep you connected with others. With Teams, you can chat, conduct audio and video calls, share files, and much more. During this tech talk, in-house Teams experts will cover tips for collaborating via Teams for all levels of experience, including basic tips for beginners and advanced tips for experienced users.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Zoom 101
About this Tech Talk

As we continue to learn, teach, and work remotely, audio and video conferencing applications like Zoom have become essential for connecting on a daily basis. During this tech talk, in-house Zoom experts will take you on a deep-dive into the application. Learn how to get the most out of the Zoom platform, including suggested settings, best practices, and much more!

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Email Security 101
About this Tech Talk

While the University has implemented a series of advanced email protections to keep you safe from spam and phishing in your inbox, it is still important to learn how to protect yourself from these types of attacks. During this tech talk, we discuss: phishing vs. spam; organizational-level vs. Microsoft-level blocked emails; accessing and taking action within your email quarantine; and safely sharing files via Box and OneDrive

Presentation
- Presentation Slides
Resources
Best Practices for Using the U's Tech Tools from Home
About this Tech Talk

Platforms, such as Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Teams, have made it possible for us to successfully work remotely. During this tech talk, we discuss recommended best practices and how to get the most out of these platforms while working remotely, including but not limited to:
- Calendaring on a mobile device
- Distribution lists
- Email management
- Team management
- Virtual collaboration
Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Collaborating at the U? There's an App for That!
About this Tech Talk

Stay productive and focused while on-the-go by using mobile apps for UM's collaboration tools! Using your smart phone or tablet, you can easily access and share files, collaborate with peers, and stay organized from anywhere in the world. During this tech talk, we discuss:
- Office 365's various mobile apps, e.g., Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
- Web meetings and chat apps, e.g., Microsoft Teams and Zoom
- Online file-sharing apps, e.g., Box, OneDrive, and Google Drive
- Note organization tools, e.g., OneNote and Office Lens
- Best mobile practices presented by UMIT's Information Security Office
Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Office 365 Accessibility Tools in Honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month
About this Tech Talk

In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, we'll explore tools that have been designed to meet the needs of people around the globe with different abilities. To that end, we brought back a past tech talk surrounding Office 365 Accessibility Tools—such as screen reader, captions, and accessibility checker—which allow your content to be consumed by people with vision, hearing, cognition, and mobility impairments. These features within Office 365 ensure everyone can successfully create, communicate, and collaborate on any device!

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Get to Know the U's Online Survey Tools
About this Tech Talk

Survey results provide us with important details to make informed and powerful data-driven decisions! University of Miami students, faculty, and staff have access to two web-based survey tools, Microsoft Forms and Qualtrics, at no additional cost to you. During this tech talk, we discuss features these tools provide, how to get the most out of these platforms, as well as when you should use each application to best suit your surveying needs.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Using the U's Audio and Video Conferencing Tools: Microsoft Teams and Zoom
About this Tech Talk

As many of us continue to transform lives through remote work and collaboration, we are constantly using audio and video conferencing applications like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. During this tech talk, UMIT in-house Teams and Zoom experts discuss how to get the most out of these platforms, as well as how to use each of these applications in an effective manner.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Phishing Emails – How to Stay Off the Hook
About this Tech Talk

As stated by the Federal Trade Commission, "Phishing is when someone uses fake emails or texts—even phone calls—to get you to share valuable personal information, like account numbers, Social Security numbers, or your login IDs and passwords. Scammers use this information to steal your money, your identity, or both."

During this tech talk, UMIT in-house security and email experts discuss how to:
- Identify phishing attacks in real-life examples
- Easily spot fake senders and link spoofing
- Learn to mark senders safe/blocked
- Review quarantine messages and junk mail
- Report and help stop phishing attacks
- And much more!
Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Office On-the-Go!
About this Tech Talk

Stay productive and focused while on the go with Office 365's mobile tools! Using your smart phone or tablet, you can easily access and share files, collaborate with peers, and stay organized from anywhere in the world. During this tech talk, we discuss the following on-the-go tools:
- Office 365's various mobile applications
- Microsoft Teams mobile application
- Online file-sharing (OneDrive) and note organization (OneNote and Office Lens) tools
- Task management (Planner and To-Do)
- Best mobile practices presented by UMIT's Information Security Office
Presentation
- Presentation Slides
Resources
Six Office 365 Apps You May Not Know About (But Should!)
About this Tech Talk

Most of us use Microsoft Office 365's main productivity tools, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but there are so many more great tools within Office 365 available to all faculty, staff, and students that we want to share with you:
- To-Do – A digital to-do list app that easily integrates with Outlook
- Whiteboard – A digital whiteboard, used as a canvas to visualize plans and ideas
- Delve – An organized and personal cloud document dashboard
- Sway – A modern media and presentation tool, where you build your presentations online
- Stream – This is similar to YouTube for the U; you can host a video library and stream videos
- Forms – Easily create forms and surveys online that can automatically capture the name and UM email of the person submitting the form
Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Office 365 Accessibility Tools
About this Tech Talk

Together, we explored tools that have been designed to meet the needs of people around the globe with different abilities. With various tools—such as screen reader, captions, and accessibility checker—your content can be consumed by people with vision, hearing, cognition, and mobility impairments. These features within Office 365 ensure everyone can successfully create, communicate, and collaborate on any device!

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Scheduling and Resource Management
About this Tech Talk

Learn how to utilize UM's Scheduling and Resource Management tools! During this tech talk, we discuss the different tools available—including Microsoft Bookings, Microsoft FindTime, and Resource Calendars in Office 365—for booking conference rooms, managing shift schedules, and much more.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Getting to Know OneNote
About this Tech Talk

This live, online session introduces you to Microsoft's digital note-taking application, OneNote. Find out how to organize, record, and collaborate your day-to-day work notes across all of your devices.

Livestream
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
All About Email: Managing Your UM Email in a Modern Workplace
About this Tech Talk

During this tech talk, we discuss topics around sending and receiving mail, setting up rules and blocking spam, accessing shared accounts, and improving overall efficiency in your UM email mailbox.

Livestream
- Recorded Livestream
Resources
Dashboard-in-a-Day: Power BI Workshop
About this Tech Talk

Dashboard-in-a-Day is a one-day Microsoft Power BI workshop where you can learn how to monitor data on live dashboards, create rich interactive reports, and access data on-the-go via your mobile device.

The goal of this workshop is to help you understand how to analyze your data in a rich and compelling way. Whether you are evaluating its ability to meet organizational requirements around data visualization and analysis, or you are looking to learn how Power BI can help you be more efficient and make a greater impact on the work you do every day—this is the workshop for you!

Presentation
- Presentation Slides
Resources
Collaboration Tools at the U
About this Tech Talk

During this tech talk, we focus on demonstrating and discussing various collaboration tools available to all UM faculty, staff, and students. These tools—including Box, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive—enable you to connect with others, no matter where you are located in the world. Collaboration with colleagues is easy with these ready-to-use, online solutions!

Benefits of Collaboration:
- Documents are all stored in a single place, accessible online.
- Team members can be anywhere.
- Keep track of projects easily.
- Complete actions quickly.
Presentation
- Presentation Slides
Introducing Microsoft Teams
About this Tech Talk

Microsoft Teams, a chat-centered workspace in Office 365, brings people, conversations, files, and tools into one place, so everyone has instant access to everything they need. Teams is available to all faculty, staff, and students through Microsoft Office 365.

Microsoft Teams makes communicating one-on-one and with groups easy! Enjoy seamless real-time collaboration, schedule small group or team meetings, post an email in a thread to keep everyone in the loop, search for public teams to collaborate on shared projects, and see past content and chat history anytime.

Presentation
- Presentation Slides
Resources
MS Office 365 Accessibility Tools for More Effective and Inclusive Communications
About this Tech Talk

We explored Office 365 Accessibility Tools, with a focus on Microsoft Teams, designed to meet the needs of people around the globe with different abilities. Representatives from Microsoft Corporation, along with UM Microsoft experts, showed us how to utilize Microsoft Office’s built-in accessibility tools to create inclusive and accessible content for people with vision, hearing, cognition, and mobility impairments.

Presentation
- Presentation Slides
Resources
Collect the Right Feedback for Your Goals with Microsoft Forms
Microsoft Forms allows you to easily create and share basic surveys and questionnaires, as well as export and analyze collected data. During this tech talk, Microsoft experts discussed how to create forms, invite others to respond, evaluate, and export responses.

Presentation and Livestream
- Presentation Slides
- Recorded Livestream
Resources

Want to increase your department's efficiency using productivity tools?

Meet with SWAT for suggested solutions!

Improve your department's workflows by meeting with our Solutions Workflow Analysis Team (SWAT) for an engagement exercise! During a SWAT engagement, your departmental processes and work tasks are analyzed for an opportunity to increase efficiency. Once the analysis is complete, the SWAT will provide a combination of productivity tools and alternative processes as solution(s).

Ready to start? Contact us at: swat.it@miami.edu.

IT News

UPCOMING TECH TALKS

Microsoft Office 365 Accessibility Tools for More Effective and Inclusive Communications

Thursday, October 5 from 2-3:30 p.m.

Update to Tech Talks Schedule in 2023

PREVIOUS TECH TALKS

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