Swinerton Cisco VPN - Best Practices

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Connecting to the VPN (Windows OS): Windows OS - Connecting to the VPN : BTech Support
Connecting to the VPN (MacOS): MacOS - Connecting to the VPN : BTech Support

Swinerton's VPN service is available to access needed, internal resources that aren't otherwise reachable outside of the network. You can find best practices for its use, application availability, and other useful information about this on SwinNet, here...

How To Work Remote

Swinerton's Business Technology Group supports a variety of collaboration and video conferencing tools/services to ensure employees can work off-site and out-of-office. Please reference this page should you need tools to work remote. Click and jump to information on this page pertaining to:

If you have questions or encounter technical issues, please contact Swinerton Support – Service Desk:

Please reference this Best Practices document for great tips when working remote.

Using Virtual Private Network (VPN)

For security reasons, certain resources like Z:Drive, are only available when you are on Swinerton's network. VPN enables you to access these resources. Please follow these instructions to launch your VPN client. There are, however, two considerations:

VPN impacts performance, so it should only be used when needed.
Use VPN whenever you are on a Wi-Fi network you do not trust. (Hint: Your home Wi-Fi may not be trustworthy). If you have the option to connect via ethernet, please consider that option instead of Wi-Fi.

You should also never connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi network. Read this blog post on how to improve the security of your home WiFi network.

Applications Accessibility When Working Remote

Note: If you have not completed Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) registration, you will need to do so to gain access to Swinerton's network. Please follow these instructions to enable the MFA cyber security protection feature.

Access same as in office? VPN required? MFA required?

Autodesk Desktop (Cad Revit)

N Y

BIM360 Y N N Certify Y N N CMiC Forms N Y N CMiC Field & ADF N N N Cosential Y N N Docusign Y N N ExakTime Connect Y N N FMW N Y N Labor Chart Y N N Network Drives (Z drive etc) N Y N One Drive Y N N OST Quick Bid Y N N Outlook Y N N Power BI Y N N Rental Result Y N N Sage Estimating N Y N Sharefile Y N N Skype Y N N Swinerton Support Y N N SwinNet Y N Y Teams Y N N Textura Y N N Workday N N Y

Available Conferencing/Collaboration Tools & When To Use Them

Conference Types Hardware Skype Teams GoToMeeting Other Individual-User Video Conferencing Laptops use built-in video cameras Works on laptops Works on laptops Works on laptops Unknown Small Office Conferencing (Division Office & Jobsite) Polycom Trio/TV display Works on Polycom/TV N/A Works on Polycom/TV Unknown BTech Support Model Hardware purchased & supported by BTech Skype fully supported by BTech Teams fully supported by BTech GoTo (basic) license management by BTech Possible support by BTech

Division office and jobsite users, please reference these to use the Polycom hardware:

How to use Polycom Trio 8800 (quick start guide)

How to use Polycom Trio 8800 (full guide)

Tools, Use Cases, Details & Guides

Remote User Conferencing Tool Use Case & Details Guides Teams

BTech managed and supported
User initiates calls/meetings
Good for internal & external collaboration
250 participants (maximum)

How to use Microsoft Teams (you may be prompted for credentials)
Including:
Schedule a Teams meeting using Outlook
Installing Microsoft Teams App Skype

BTech managed and supported
User initiates calls/meetings
Good for internal and external collaboration
Limited to 250 participants

All Skype How Tos (you may be prompted for credentials)

Including:

Skype for Business: Quick Start Guide
Skype for Business: Start a Call
Skype for Business: Answer a call
Skype for Business: Check your voice mail
Skype for Business: Start a conference call
Skype for Business: Set up a Business meeting in Outlook
Skype for Business Share your screen in Skype for Business

GoToMeeting/

GoToWebinar

BTech managed and supported
Help ticket procures user license
Good for external collaboration
GoToMeeting: 26 participants maximum
GoToWebinar: 1,000 participants maximum

How to use GoToMeeting (you may be prompted for credentials):

Schedule a meeting

Use GoToMeeting on iPad/ iPhone

Other Solutions There are many other cloud-based solutions. Employees should use company-supported or client-requested solutions before looking to other solutions. If you have questions, please contact Swinerton Support – Service Desk (contact information below). Please use one of the “BTech managed and supported” options above such as Teams, Skype, and GoTo.

General Tips For Attending Online Meetings

Use a headset with noise-cancelling earphones and microphone whenever possible. Even earbuds are preferable to speakers.
Use an external speakerphone when a headset is not workable. Your laptop speaker and microphones are of poor audio quality.
Ensure your webcam is pointed at your face. If you are using your laptop camera, be sure your laptop is open and webcam cover is open.
If you are using external monitors, it is preferable to use an external webcam mounted to one of your monitors.
Check your lighting. It is best to have lighting in front of you and minimal lighting behind you. Check the preview mode of your conferencing tool to verify people will be able to clearly see your face.
If you are not in a private area, use the “blur” function available in most video conferencing tools to blur out your background.

See BTech's Service Catalog for available headsets, speakerphones, and webcams.

Microsoft Teams For Online Meetings

BTech fully supports Microsoft Teams as Swinerton's preferred online meeting application.

Available to all Swinerton employees (no administrative permissions are required to install).
Conference and collaborate with Swinerton users and externals through the application or through Chrome web browser. Note: Desktop application offers a better user experience and more functionality.

Start with this step-by-step guide. More articles on how to use Teams can be found in the Solutions area of the Service Desk.