Tech center offers myriad of services to campus

Pacific’s Technology Information Center is a well-known resource. Students in need visit if their computer isn’t running smoothly or if they can’t connect to wi-fi on their smart-phone. But many students don’t know about the myriad of services offered by the TIC. Manager of the TIC, Brian King, said there’s a list of the many services that the TIC offers.

King said he was most proud of the level of computer support, which is higher than ever at Pacific. The TIC is constantly making computers faster or better connected and they deal with “other random bugs and crashes” every day. King said the TIC also gets a lot of calls from professors about technology that enhances the campus learning experience.

The TIC offers help with everything from laptops to handheld gaming systems. For example, the pharos printing system is another service that King is proud of. It is a network printing system that allows you to print from your laptop to any printer on campus while connected to the network.

King said most people might not know that computers, projectors, digital cameras, digital video cameras, digital voice recorders, tripods, memory cards, memory card readers, headphones, headsets and microphones can be checked out by any student who needs one.

Through the TIC, the university also pays for all students to have access to Symantec Endpoint protection, an antivirus program any student can download.

There are also Ethernet cables available to students who might think BoxerSecure is a little slow.

But computer problems aren’t the only thing the TIC can help with.

Boxer Alerts is a service that sends out a mass-text message about snow cancellations, heavy winds that might make branches on students walking to class, or anything else the campus needs to be warned of.

“A year ago there was a swarm of bees in one of the parking lots,” said King of a particularly memorable Boxer Alert.

The last misconception concerning the TIC is that they close at 5 p.m. said King.  The office is open with the window open and the phones being answered until 8 p.m. so the people there can assist walk-ins after later classes.