2008 Woodie Awards
OIT AIMs to fix the problem
Kelly Love
Issue date: 2/10/05 Section: News
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If you use AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) to keep in touch with friends and family, chances are that you have been repeatedly disconnected from the service over the past few months. You also may have received an e-mail last week from Harry Miller, Director of the Office of Information Technology, concerning this problem.
During the first semester, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) received a number of complaints from students concerning AIM. According to Harry Miller, calls like these are not uncommon, and usually the issues students are having are caused by viruses or spy ware.
This made it difficult for OIT to recognize the widespread problem with AIM, and so it was not until the middle of the fall semester that it became clear that there were valid IM problems.
Miller explained the difficulty of recognizing the AIM problem by stating, "The number of complaints that OIT initially received did not portent a major problem." He went on to explain that OIT was in need of some in-depth feedback from students concerning this problem, so they turned to Student Council to ask for help in discovering more about what was wrong with AIM.
Efforts to locate the AIM problem extended outside the College as well. OIT contacted AOL first, to see if the company would help provide assistance for the College. According to Miller, AOL has been unhelpful, citing that since AIM is a free service, AOL is not obligated to help. Without support from them, Miller described pinpointing the AIM problem as "shooting in the dark."
So, OIT contacted other colleges to see if they were having similar problems and to work with them to find possible solutions. USLEC, a telecommunications carrier and the Internet service provider for the College, was also contacted, and they offered assistance to OIT in solving the AIM issue.
Miller explained that by receiving support from other colleges and USLEC, the College hopes to escalate the situation with AOL in order to receive assistance from them.
During the first semester, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) received a number of complaints from students concerning AIM. According to Harry Miller, calls like these are not uncommon, and usually the issues students are having are caused by viruses or spy ware.
This made it difficult for OIT to recognize the widespread problem with AIM, and so it was not until the middle of the fall semester that it became clear that there were valid IM problems.
Miller explained the difficulty of recognizing the AIM problem by stating, "The number of complaints that OIT initially received did not portent a major problem." He went on to explain that OIT was in need of some in-depth feedback from students concerning this problem, so they turned to Student Council to ask for help in discovering more about what was wrong with AIM.
Efforts to locate the AIM problem extended outside the College as well. OIT contacted AOL first, to see if the company would help provide assistance for the College. According to Miller, AOL has been unhelpful, citing that since AIM is a free service, AOL is not obligated to help. Without support from them, Miller described pinpointing the AIM problem as "shooting in the dark."
So, OIT contacted other colleges to see if they were having similar problems and to work with them to find possible solutions. USLEC, a telecommunications carrier and the Internet service provider for the College, was also contacted, and they offered assistance to OIT in solving the AIM issue.
Miller explained that by receiving support from other colleges and USLEC, the College hopes to escalate the situation with AOL in order to receive assistance from them.