Instructions for remote working

The purpose of this page is to describe remote access to IT services offered by the University of Helsinki and provide guidance in their use. You can find more help from this instructions site by using, for example, the search. If you cannot solve the problem with the instructions, don’t hesitate to contact the IT Helpdesk.

The university has online services which are only available inside the university network for licensing reasons. These include e.g. the databases offered by the library and electronic newspapers. The services can be used on computers outside of the university’s network by establishing a secure connection (= VPN) between the home computer and the university server. 

• OpenVPN – the recommended way to securely connect your computer to the University network
   
• Virtual desktops, VDI
  The University of Helsinki uses a virtual desktop environment (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure; VDI environment) used with the VMware Horizon Client software. All other programs can also be used in a virtual desktop in the same way as in conventional university workstations.

  You can access a Windows 10 university desktop computer on your home computer using a remote connection.

• If the network connections are unavailable, you can use your phone to share your mobile data connection (hotspot). Get acquainted with the instructions for your phone and take your time to test the connection sharing function so that you know how to use it if necessary.
  For example, these are Google’s instructions for Android devices.

• See instructions in Flamma: How to purchase a computer
• See instructions in Flamma: How to order IT supplies

The VMware Horizon Client is installed on all university computers. You can also install it on your home computer or use the virtual desktop through the browser.

• Windows (staff)
• Cubbli (Cubbli-wiki, available only in English)
• Browser use (see subheading)

You can establish a remote connection from your home computer to your home directory. This allows you to access and use the files and folders in the directory as if you were using a university computer. All changes made through the remote connection will be saved.

• Remote access to home directory (Windows 10)
• Remote access to home directory (Mac)
• Using your home directory on your home computer (Linux, Cubbli-wiki in English)

You can also establish a connection to a group directory.

• Remote access to group directory (Windows 10)
• Remote access to group directory (Mac)
• Remote access to group directory (Cubbli)

You do not need a VPN connection to use e-materials obtained by the University of Helsinki library if you search for the databases and electronic journals through the library search service Helka or the research guides. The material links in Helka and the research guides enable remote use.

• Link to Helka
• Link to the research guides

Students and staff members using Office 365 also get the Microsoft 365 ProPlus package free of charge, including the right to install the Microsoft Office suite on their own devices. 

• If required, use the Office 365 service to share files with your group.
  • Teams
  • OneDrive for Business
• In addition to e-mail, you can use ordinary Office applications such as text processing (Word Online), spreadsheets (Excel Online) and PowerPoint (PowerPoint Online) through a browser. Please note that documents will be saved online, in the Microsoft Office 365 cloud service. However, you can also download them to your computer and edit them locally.
  • Office applications in the browser
• Keep data protection in mind – check the instructions on what you can handle in cloud services (Data security in cloud services – link to Flamma)

We recommend that you install software when directly connected to the University network. Errors may occur over remote connections. 

Some of the licences acquired by the University include the right to install software on the home computer. Further information about University licences is available on Flamma.

• Teams 
  Microsoft Teams is a versatile hub for teamwork that can be adapted to your needs. It provides both instant messaging and video call features between two parties as well as permanent discussion channels for different groups. You can use Teams either over a browser or with client software installed on the workstation.
  See also Teams tutorials from Suffeli (NB! requires logging in)
   
• Zoom 
  Zoom is a video communication service that allows all university staff and students to create meeting rooms and participate in meetings, seminars and conferences in real time through video and sound. Zoom is also suitable for remote teaching.

For the facilitation network's instructions on remote facilitation, see the workgroup page of the facilitation network (in Finnish).

See also Remote facilitation guide video series (in Finnish only) in Suffeli

In addition to video and screen sharing, are you in need of a whiteboard?  
You can use a simple Whiteboard view available in Teams and Zoom. These views are especially suited for ad hoc drawing but have quite limited functions.
If you need a more diverse whiteboard tool, we recommend Flinga.

Flinga

• Log in to Flinga in address: hy.flinga.fi. Use your university credentials.
• Find Flinga user instructions on the Instructions for Teaching site (in Finnish).

Miro

Miro is an online collaborative whiteboarding platform that enables distributed teams to work effectively together.

• Miro Help Center
• Miro Academy

Presemo

Presemo is an easy tool for activating the audience in various events. Presemo helps you create questionnaires, collect feedback, test skill levels, create polls or, for example, organise group chats.
Presemo can be used with a browser or a mobile device.

• Presemo support page in the Instructions for Teaching (in Finnish)
• Presemo quick guide in the Instructions for Teaching (in Finnish)

There are many ways to encrypt e-mail and attachments at the University. Separate instructions for each of these are available on the Helpdesk site. 

These instructions explain the differences between the methods and provide tips for choosing a suitable method (NB! Only available in Finnish). 

Pay attention to spam and phishing when working remotely. Report any phishing messages that arrive in your Inbox to Microsoft, as described in the following instructions:

• Watch out for scammers
• Reporting junk mail (OWA)
• Reporting junk mail (Outlook)

The university’s laptops are updated outside the university network using OpenVPN. An internet connection alone is not enough because the computer does not receive the software and information security updates in this case. Even if your work does not require a VPN connection, launch the VPN connection at regular intervals in order to ensure the necessary updates.

• On a Windows computer, you can launch each work object in a separate window and navigate between the windows using shortcuts.
  Also see Microsoft’s further tips. Try it and love it!

• Mac users can also create workspaces that make it easier to navigate between windows. Read Tips for Mac users.
• Does your laptop’s display feel too small? Try to connect your laptop to your TV; at least the newest TVs have an HDMI connection. Try it!

• Connections from outside the University
• Saving and sharing information, including the use of home and group directories, cloud storage in the OneDrive for Business service, OneNote notebooks in the cloud service.