With just a click, you can now easily install software you need on all IT-managed computers. This quick and convenient feature is a part of the new UNLV Information Technology (IT) self-service tools that help users get IT resources and support.

On July 1, computers managed by IT were automatically upgraded with the Software Center (Windows) or the UNLV IT Support Hub (Mac). Despite these tools having different names, both carry the same self-service functionalities for users.

“Before Software Center and Self Service, it was not uncommon for an installation of common software to take between 30 minutes and an hour,” said IT Support Specialist for Application Support & Training Jacob House. “Since launching the Software Center, we estimate over 250 hours of customer and IT Staff time has been saved.”

Installing software might be necessary for faculty and staff members to carry on with daily activities. With these newly added tools, users can use the UNLV Self Service feature to securely install software without the need to contact the IT Help Desk.

“The install completes automatically in the background and customers are notified once it is complete,” said House. “Additionally, the IT Help Desk is able to remotely send an install request to a customer’s device so even if a customer submits a ticket for an installation, we can remotely push the installation which saves customers time.”

Users can also download software that’s not available within the self-service tools by using MakeMeAdmin, which gives temporary administrative access for tasks such as downloading external software and adding printers. With MakeMeAdmin, the self-service tools include an abundance of additional features to ensure users have the best customer experience.

Easy Access to Helpful Resources 
If users need assistance, they can easily find a range of helpful resources such as IT Help Desk support, knowledge base articles, submitting a ticket, or viewing past ticket requests. All these resources, along with the self-service tools, are located in one single place for user convenience.

Quick Customer Support
If users run into an issue on a computer and need to contact the IT Help Desk, these tools allow the agent to find information about the computer that’s necessary to fix your issue. This means users don’t need to spend as much time looking for important information and can get their problem resolved quickly.

Secures User Data 
With the addition of these new self-service tools, UNLV IT has additionally upgraded IT managed computers with hard-drive encryption in order to enhance the security and protection of the university’s data.