SCHOOL ICT NEWS BULLETIN No 134 - 06/10/2008

Published by Children’s Services

Network Time Service (audience Network Managers)

We recently identified that the network time service served by time.esinet.org.uk was unresponsive to NTP requests, although SNTP (Simple Network Time Protocol) was working still. Windows servers and other devices using this protocol may have drifted slightly from GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), this may be evident in log files. This has now been resolved and the server is now giving out accurate time. Machines configured to use this server as a source of time will automatically correct themselves.

Author: Jay Zelos

National Customer Services Week

ICT Solutions are continuously aiming to improve the level of Service offered to our customers, and as part of National Customer Services Week (week commencing 06/10/2008) we would like Customers to share their thoughts with us on the current level of service they receive.

If you phone in for assistance you may be asked to take part in a short questionnaire which will help us ascertain customer’s perceptions on where we have improved, where further enhancements are required and respond to your future needs.

May I thank you for you cooperation in advance, if you have any areas you wish to bring to my attention please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Andrew White, Customer Services Manager

Author: Mark Carway

Email anti–spam configuration change to the Exchange 2007 system – Wednesday 8/10/2008.

The email anti–spam configuration has been reviewed by the provider as there has been some legitimate emails classified as Spam. This resulted in the emails being either quarantined or not delivered without any notification to the sender that it could not be delivered.

A configuration change has been identified which should allow these types of emails to be delivered to your mailboxes, however, there is a risk that it could also allow an increase in Spam.

The change has been scheduled for Wednesday 8/10/2008 and to assess the success of this change, a baseline of what current volumes of mail are passing through the system has been taken. Throughout Wednesday, we will be monitoring hourly reports of the mail coming through to determine the impact this change has made, and if for any reason the change results in an increase in Spam to users then the change will be reversed to restore your previous service.

Author: Mark Carway