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What is SupportNet?
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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.