Work-from-home is a solution to keep working when we cannot back to office during the outbreak of SARS/Avian/Swine Flu. This document summarizes the issues to consider when working from home. As setting up a work-from-home environment needs extra attention to Internet security, please consult your LAN administrator before you start.

1. Prepare hardware, software and other accessories required at Home
2. Follow the remote working policy and guidelines
3. Continue your teaching through e-Learning Platform
4. Conduct meetings, interviews, classes or training sessions through Web-conferencing tool
5. Other issues on Planning for Work-from-Home
6. References

I. Prepare hardware, software and other accessories required at Home

You may need to prepare all/some of the following equipments at your home first.

1. A fast PC
2. Network Connection
   - Broadband is preferred; - Setup the University's Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection over your ISP network to authenticate yourself as a University staff member in order to access University restricted information such as the library resources, computer price information, etc.
3. Printer
4. Fax machine or fax modem for PC
5. Scanner
6. WebCam
7. Required software such as Office Suit, Web browser, e-mail client, remote desktop client, etc. “The University Software Standards” may serve as a good reference.
8. Observe and follow the guidelines for securely configuring your computers (home and office).

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II. Observe and follow the remote working policy and guidelines

If departments need their staff to process sensitive information remotely, the staff and the department should observe and follow the “Remote working policy and guidelines” to minimize the potential risk of information leakage, and unauthorized use of computing resources in protecting the reputation and legal position of the University.

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III. Continue Teaching through e-Learning Platform

1. Available solutions to continue teaching
2. Checklist for your preparation

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IV. Conduct Meetings, Interviews, Classes or Training sessions through Web-conferencing tool

Web conferencing is a convenient and economical way to organize meetings, interviews or training sessions wherever the attendees may be.

This could be done through a software tool, Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, which is hosted on a server. No software installation is required on the user side except Flash Player plug-in which is already available on most computers. Attendees just need to have a web camera ready and log into a restricted website to take part in the online session. Visit http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/itsc/mcas/webconf for details.

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V. Other issues on Planning for Work-from-Home

In planning this working model for your department, you should also
- consider who needs to work-from-home
- consider who can work-from-home
- plan for the division of resources

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VI. References

• Guidelines for securely configuring your computers (home and office), ITSC, CUHK
• Remote Working Policy, ITSC, CUHK

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