Preston College

Technical Services

Technical Services is responsible for all IT related infrastructure, services, security, advice, procurement, implementation and support across the College. We strive to deliver and support high quality IT services to meet the College's needs. Support is provided for both staff and students at two main sites - St. Vincent's Road and Park School - plus a number of outreach and community locations including PNE Adult Learning Centre, City Business Centre and various other locations throughout the North West.

A helpdesk is available as a point of contact for IT related matters. The Helpdesk is available between 8am and 9pm Monday to Thursday, and from 8am to 5pm on Friday. Support outside these hours, including Bank Holidays, can be organised by prior arrangement. You can telephone the team on 01772 22 51 15 or email us.

The scope of responsibility for Technical Services can be separated into 3 layers, including, but not limited to:

INFRASTRUCTURE

• Servers
• Virtualization; server and desktop
• Network cabling & fibre optic backbones
• Storage Area Network system
• Audio/visual equipment
• Resilient switching/routing core and edge equipment
• Local/wide area network links
• Desktop equipment

SERVICES

• Desktop application delivery
• Software licensing
• Internet/Intranet access
• User accounts
• File storage
• Printing services
• E-mail, Exchange and Outlook
• College phone system, VoIP telephony
• Remote access, VPN, the Extranet
• Microsoft Windows Server and Apple Mac OS X Server services
• Purchasing and procurement of all IT equipment
• I.T. Helpdesk
• Digital signage and electronic displays across College
• IEEE 802.11 wireless network access for staff and students

SECURITY

• User account management
• Web content filtering
• Anti-virus/malware protection
• Security patching
• Backups of all data
• Service continuity and disaster recovery plans
• Auditing, tracking and access control
• Acceptable Use Policy
• External firewall security
• Environmental monitoring, control and maintenance
• Maintenance contracts
• College CCTV system