Employees are required to abide by all ATSU employment policies including normal business hours, professionalism, and employment benefit usage including vacation days.

Q - What if I do not have a computer or laptop to work from home? A - Work with your supervisor and IT to determine if an ATSU laptop may be checked out. Submit a ticket to IT Services or call IT at 660-626-2200.

Q - What if I do not have internet access at my home? A - Work with your supervisor and IT to determine what options are available for you. Submit a ticket to IT Services or call IT at 660-626-2200.

Q - How do I access my ATSU telephone from home? A - Avaya/Lucent phone with local numbers may be able to have their work phone forwarded to a cell phone or a home phone by entering *29 and then 9+ local phone number (area code is not needed). A- Cisco phone hit the CFwdALL button on your phone to enter your cell phone or home phone by entering 3 and then the local phone number and if it is a long-distance number enter 31 then the phone number.

Q - What voice mail message should I leave on my ATSU phone? A - Thank you for calling ATSU. You have reached the voice mail for your name. I am temporarily working from home but am responding to all voicemail messages. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message at the tone.

Q - How do I retrieve my ATSU voicemail messages from home? A - Avaya/Lucent phone - Dial your full number, when you hear the greeting, press *, enter your extension(ID), enter your password (pin), press 1 to listen to a voicemail message. A - Cisco phone - Dial your full number when you hear the greeting, press *, enter your extension(ID), enter your password (pin).

Q - May I have my ATSU voicemail messages sent to my email? A - Yes, submit a ticket to IT Services or call IT at 660-626-2200 to request and set up this functionality. Q - How may I access my ATSU files remotely? A - There are a variety of services to help you work remotely, please check this link.

Q - What if I do not have a personal phone to return ATSU related messages from voicemail? A - While in Gmail, click the + sign in the google chat and enter the phone number you need to call.

Q - If asked to work from home do I have to keep regular office hours? A - It is best practice to maintain your regular office hours when working from home. If there is a challenge maintaining regular hours, please work with your supervisor to determine the expected work hours.

Q. How do I clock in and out of work from home? A - Please use UltiPro to clock in and out from home. Follow these directions.

Q - Is attending meetings required while working from home? A - Yes meetings during the temporary work at home assignment will be conducted via Zoom, teleconference, or other web conferencing tools. Please familiarize yourself with these products. Information regarding Zoom can be found on the ATSU portal.

Q - What if I become sick and unable to work from home? A - Employees should utilize available paid medical leave as normal. Enter this time into Ultipro as a paid medical leave request.

Q- What if I become sick while working from home and do not have enough paid time off available? A - You may use vacation time instead of sick time. If you do not have any paid medical leave or vacation time, please contact human resources.

Q - What if I already have vacation and or medical time off? A - You may use the paid time off as requested.

Q - What if all or part of my job requires physically coming to the office? A - Certain employees, unless sick, may be required to physically report to work. These include maintenance, security, environmental services, and boiler plant employees, mailroom, purchasing, patient care centers personnel, etc.. Please work with your supervisor if you have questions regarding your duties. Supervisors may reassign work as needed.

Q - What if I am sponsoring or I am in charge of an event on campus? A - All non-essential events will be cancelled or rescheduled. Please visit with your supervisor for additional guidance.

Q - What if my normal scheduled hours are after the revised campus closure of 6:00 p.m.? A - If you work in a position considered an essential function, you should continue to report to work during the revised closure time. A. If you work in a position that has not been defined by your supervisor as essential to report to campus after the revised schedule, you should not report to campus and if possible you should complete your work from home. Work with your supervisor to determine the best way to complete your work from home or how your pay may be affected.

Q. What if I am directed to work from home? How should I plan? A. Work with your supervisor to make sure you have all of the necessary files/supplies to effectively work off campus. It is best to keep all information electronically in the secure ATSU online environment but if paper files are needed, please make sure confidentiality is maintained. Please do not take home original files or paperwork.

1. Be Aware of Your Surroundings
If you need to appear on camera during your call, make sure you know what's going on around you. Close that window if you're on a noisy street and flip on a light. Use Soft fill light on your face is all that matters. Using a desk lamp with a shade should work, as long as you can avoid harsh, direct light. If you’ve got big windows, face the windows so they light you up; otherwise, the camera is going to struggle with exposure.

2. Get Creative With How You Connect
Most organizations have a favorite service they use, like Skype, Google Hangouts, or Zoom. Here at ATSU, we use Zoom, but use what you and your students are the most comfortable with. If you’re working on a personal computer, all you have to do is download the appropriate desktop app or click a link and log into your account.

However, if you have to think fast and find the right video call service that fits your needs, remember that most mobile messaging apps have video capabilities. Apps like Facebook Messenger, Signal, Android Messages, and Google Hangouts, among others, allow for limited video calling. Many of these services also have web and desktop apps. FaceTime also allows group chats and supports receiving phone calls on your computer.

3. Clear Out the Bandwidth Hogs
One of the downsides of video chats are the pixilated screens and choppy audio that comes with lackluster bandwidth. If you’re expecting a video call or three, make sure the smart devices in your home aren't hogging the connection.

If the kids are streaming video games or Disney+, the robot vacuum is mapping your home, or hefty software programs are running on your PC, all that activity could disrupt your video call at an inopportune time. 

To start, check your internet speed to know what you're working with and whether you’re getting what you pay for. If you’re worried about someone else using up your connection’s resources, here's how to see if someone is stealing your WiFi. 

4. Log In Early
Don’t wait for the meeting to start to find out your connection is bad or your software doesn’t work properly; test it before the conference starts. You can do this in Zoom by using the program’s test feature. Most video conferencing tools offer a Personal Room that can be used for testing.   

In Zoom, select Settings > Audio & Video Settings, and there should be a camera preview under the Video section. You can also look for Sound Test Service to test audio quality.

5. Go With a Wired Connection

If Wi-Fi is still giving you trouble, fish out that dusty Ethernet cable for a direct connection, which should hopefully cut down on any potential speed issues or sudden dropouts while video conferencing. If your laptop doesn't have an Ethernet port, pick up a cheap USB to Ethernet or Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter.

6. Avoid Feedback
Don't rely on your computer’s iffy built-in microphone and speakers. Find yourself a nice Bluetooth headset or even gaming headphones to use when you’re on a call. They connect easily to your computer while also offering comfortable over-ear fits with a strong microphone.

7. Don’t Forget a Charger
Long conference calls can drain a laptop battery pretty quickly. And you don't want to have to step away from the meeting to find your charger as battery warnings blink on your screen. Make sure your laptop is plugged in and powering up. There are also some portable chargers powerful enough to recharge your laptop in a pinch. PC Mag recommends the iMuto Portable Charger X6 Pro, which has a 30,000mAh capacity in a 1.5-pound body.

8. Have a Backup Plan
No matter what program you use, have a backup plan in case something goes awry, whether that's switching to an audio-only call or throwing in the towel and realizing you're in a meeting that could've been an email.

This article was adapted from:

Cohen, J. (2020). 8 tips for better video conference calls. PC Mag. Retrieved from: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/8-tips-for-better-video-conference-calls

Watch this quick video to learn from the famous photographer, Matthew Rolston on How to Look Good on a Webcam.