Tech Alerts

SoftDocs Etrieve Central will have a new look starting January 1, 2026. The new experience will fully replace the legacy version and introduce a modernized interface that offers a refreshed design, improved navigation, and a more intuitive user experience aimed at helping users work faster and more efficiently.

You can explore the new experience now by clicking the “Try New Central” button in the top right-hand corner of Etrieve Central. You can also view this three-minute SAMI Short tutorial video.

If you experience any issues after the upgrade, create a support request through SAMI Support.

Starting on Friday, December 19 at 11:00 PM Eastern and continuing through 2:00 AM the following morning, FDU will be performing network maintenance.

During this maintenance window, on-campus users may experience brief, sporadic internet disruptions, and off-campus users may experience momentary disruptions to the FDU VPN.

The launch day has arrived for our new in-house IT support team, the SAMI Service Desk. While we have kept the university informed of this change over the past few weeks, now is an excellent time to focus on a few key elements of this transition and what it means to our community.

Hours

The SAMI Service Desk is operational between 8 AM and 8 PM, Monday through Friday. You can create a support request at any time, including after hours, on weekends, and on holidays. Your request will enter our queue and our team will respond promptly on the next business day.

To optimize your support experience, it is helpful to understand the four ways to open a support request and when to use each method.

SAMI Support Portal

This is our primary and most feature-rich support method, offering access to the knowledge base and your support history.

SAMI Support

Email Support

Emailing SAMISupport@fdu.edu is a strong alternative when using the portal is not practical. Your request will be immediately added to the queue.

Public Form

As noted in yesterday’s alert, this form supports users who cannot validate their identity (ID issues, locked accounts, etc.) but still need to open a request online.

Phone Support

When calling, you will be greeted by our new virtual agent, which will collect basic information including your seven-digit FDU ID number, located on the back of your Fairleigh 1Card. The virtual agent will provide level-one assistance and, if needed, route your call to a team member during business hours. While helpful for those unable to use online methods, this should not be your first-choice option.

When a ticket is closed, you will be given the opportunity to provide feedback. In this moment, that feedback is essential. We will closely monitor community input and adjust our processes over the coming weeks and months.

We believe deeply in the talented team of staff members and FDU students we have assembled. As with any deployment of this scale, some growing pains are expected. Bear with us as our Service Desk team gains experience and as we improve our processes.

(973)-443-8822

The new SAMI Service Desk, which will be fully operational as of December 4th, will be structured to prioritize requests submitted electronically. This includes tickets entered via our SAMI Support Portal and emails sent to samisupport@fdu.edu.

In addition to these options, there is an online request form, called the Public Form, which is intended to be used when the SAMI Support Portal is unavailable due to any of the following reasons:

• Lack of a valid University-issued NetID
• Inability to authenticate through DUO
• No DUO account
• Vendors without a University-issued NetID
• Newly admitted students
• Newly hired employees and adjuncts
• Locked FDU account
• NetID password resets (after attempting to go through identity.fdu.edu)

You can access the form by clicking the blue support icon at the top of of this website and then selecting “Public Form”

Once you reach the form, complete the requested fields and click “Submit”

While SAMISupport.fdu.edu remains the best option for most use cases, the Public Form is a quick, easy, and invaluable resource when needed.

Phone support via (973)-443-8822 will still be available as a legacy option. Calls will be answered by a virtual agent, who will attempt to assist you before transferring you to the Service Desk.

This update highlights the electronic-first approach of the new SAMI Service Desk.

As previously announced, December 4th will mark the official launch of our new IT support team, the SAMI Service Desk. This journey began as a trial at the start of the fall semester. As our launch date approaches, here are some additional considerations:

In our new Service Desk, most of our agents are dedicated to handling issues submitted through the SAMI Support Self-Service portal and email. This differs from our previous UTAC Helpdesk model. While phone support will remain an option, the portal and email are now the most efficient ways to engage with the Service Desk.

If you choose to call, the virtual agent will first verify your identity by asking for your FDU ID number. This is the 7-digit number located on the back of your Fairleigh 1Card. Have that number ready when calling.

If you missed the original Tech Alerts sent on 11/17 and 11/24, you can watch the SAMI Short below, or continue reading.

The SAMI Service Desk is staffed with a full-time dedicated supervisor, two full-time agents, and seven student interns rotating shifts throughout the day. Tickets can be submitted through our self-service portal at SAMISupport.fdu.edu. If you are unable to log in to the portal, you can use our public form by clicking the blue support icon at on this website.

Submitting tickets through the portal or public form is the quickest and easiest way to get support. Since the trial began, tickets submitted this way have had an average first response time of 38 minutes.

The second quickest method is to email samisupport@fdu.edu, which replaces fdutac@fdu.edu.

If neither of these options works for you, you can call the SAMI Support Line at (973)-443-8822. Below are some changes you’ll notice when calling for support starting December 4th:

1. The phone line will initially be answered by a Virtual Agent. Since the Virtual Agent must identify the user in the SAMI system, have your 7-digit FDU ID number ready when you call. This number is located on your FDU ID card.
2. The Virtual Agent will then ask a series of questions to help resolve your issue.
3. If the issue is resolved by the Virtual Agent, a closed SAMI ticket will serve as a record of the call. If it cannot be resolved, the call and an open SAMI ticket will be transferred to the Service Desk.
4. The new Service Desk hours of operation are 8 AM to 8 PM ET, Monday through Friday. Calls received after hours, on weekends, and during holidays will be recorded by the Virtual Agent. SAMI tickets will be opened and queued for follow-up on the next business day.
5. There will be automatic escalation to after-hours support personnel for urgent issues, such as system outages or weekend classroom incidents.

While the team’s handling of samisupport.fdu.edu and samisupport@fdu.edu requests has exceeded expectations, integrating the virtual agent and new contact center systems with our SAMI environment introduces a level of complexity. If your only option is to call, be aware that we may need to adjust some workflows in the first few weeks. Our team has made tremendous progress and is committed to making the SAMI Service Desk a significant improvement over our previous support model.

December 4th will mark the official launch of our new IT support team, the SAMI Service Desk. This initiative began as a trial at the start of the fall semester. At that time, the new team began handling all SAMI self-service and public form tickets. In October, the trial expanded to include emails and introduced a new support address: samisupport@fdu.edu, replacing fdutac@fdu.edu. We are now ready to declare the trial a success and hand the new team full control over phone support. At a time when many businesses are outsourcing service centers, FDU will now have our entire support team on-site.

To learn about this change, watch for a brief four-minute SAMI short video or continue reading.

The SAMI Service Desk is staffed with a full-time dedicated supervisor, two full-time agents, and seven student interns rotating shifts throughout the day. Tickets can be submitted through our self-service portal at SAMISupport.fdu.edu. If you are unable to log in to the portal, you can access our public form by clicking the blue support icon at the top right of the FDU IT website.

Submitting tickets through the portal or public form is the quickest and most efficient way to receive support. Since the trial began, tickets submitted this way have had an average first response time of 38 minutes.

The second fastest way to get support is by emailing samisupport@fdu.edu, which now replaces fdutac@fdu.edu.

If neither method works for your situation, you can still call the SAMI support line at (973)-443-8822. Starting December 4th, you will notice the following changes when calling:

• The phone line will be initially answered by a Virtual Agent.
• The Virtual Agent will request your name, contact number, and FDU ID number to identify you in the SAMI ticketing system.
• The agent will then ask a series of questions in an attempt to resolve the issue.
• If successful, a closed SAMI ticket will serve as a record of the call.
• If the issue cannot be resolved, the call and an open ticket will be transferred to the Service Desk.

New hours of operation for the SAMI Service Desk will be 8 AM to 8 PM ET, Monday through Friday. Calls received by the Virtual Agent outside of these hours—including weekends and holidays—will be recorded. Tickets will be opened and added to the queue for follow-up on the next business day.

Automatic escalation to after-hours support personnel will occur for critical concerns, such as system outages and weekend classroom issues.

While our handling of SAMISupport.fdu.edu and samisupport@fdu.edu has exceeded expectations, integrating the new Virtual Agent and contact center systems into the SAMI environment is complex. If your only option is to call, expect some workflow adjustments in the first few weeks. The team has made rapid progress and remains committed to making the SAMI Service Desk a major upgrade over our previous support model.

To improve the security posture of university-issued Apple computers, OIRT is implementing a new patching workflow designed to keep non-FDU provided software on your macOS device up to date.

Once a month, a process will check the version of applications installed on your machine and, when needed, update them. When the process runs, you will see the following window:

You can either install the updates immediately by pressing Install Now or choose to install them later by pressing Defer.

If an open application needs to be patched, you may receive a notification like the one shown below. In that case, select Quit and Update to close the app and update it, or Not Now to continue using it.

Once the patching is complete, click Done to close the window.

While the Defer option allows you to postpone updates to a more convenient time, all updates must be installed promptly. Every employee is responsible for maintaining the security of their FDU-issued devices.

For questions or concerns, visit SAMI Support to request additional information or search the IT knowledge base. Support is also available by phone at (973)-443-8822 or by email at samisupport@fdu.edu.

Emburse (Chrome River) will be sunsetting its legacy mobile apps that allow users to upload receipts and create and submit expense reports.

Users currently using CR Snap or the Chrome River App must transition to the new Emburse Enterprise Mobile App before November 30th. The new app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and allows you to log in with your NetID credentials.

For questions, email misrequests@fdu.edu.

While FDU OIRT regularly unveils new initiatives aimed at improving the IT experience at the University, the Fall 2025 semester has been among our most ambitious. At the start of the semester, FDU OIRT announced the trial of a new support solution that uses a dedicated team of FDU technicians to provide enhanced support when requests are submitted through our SAMI Support Portal. A public form is also available to ensure that individuals unable to authenticate can receive the same level of service. In mid-September, we introduced SAMI Shorts—brief videos that help explain the technology we offer and how our community can best utilize it.

How has the trial gone?

The SAMI Service Desk has handled nearly 1,000 tickets since the beginning of the trial. Over 90% of tickets were responded to within 3 hours, and over half were resolved within 24 hours. Of the 12 tickets rated by users, ten received a 5 out of 5. Initial feedback indicates strong engagement with our SAMI Short videos as well. These are clear signs that we are heading in the right direction.

What’s next?

Starting October 14, we will expand the trial to include support requests initiated via email. While the preferred method for submitting a ticket remains the SAMI Support Portal, community members can now email support requests to samisupport@fdu.edu.

Will the old email address still work?

Yes. While FDUTAC@fdu.edu will still function for now, tickets sent to that address will be routed to the SAMI Service Desk instead of our third-party team.

What else is changing?

With the introduction of our new Student Internship Program, we now have a group of trained students supplementing our staff of dedicated FDU technicians. Once fully launched, the internship program will bring the total number of Service Desk personnel to six during peak hours.

What’s not changing?

Our third-party Technical Assistance Center, UTAC, is still available at (973)-443-8822.

Why are we doing this?

As we become increasingly reliant on technology to teach, learn, and manage the business of higher education, OIRT continues to evolve our services to be better, faster, and more accurate. The new internal Service Desk initiative directly supports this goal and aligns our support model with best practices in higher education.

On October 10th, between 2AM and 6AM, USAN will perform an upgrade of network equipment in the following buildings. During this maintenance, users in these buildings may experience intermittent network outages.

We understand the inconvenience that network downtime can cause for our community. We schedule this work during times that minimize impact. For questions or concerns, visit SAMI Support to request additional information from UTAC or search our IT knowledge base. You can also contact UTAC by phone at (973) 443-8822 or email fdutac@fdu.edu.