New laptops that KCIT distributes are getting smaller, slimmer, and more lightweight. Over the past two years the docking stations have been changing from the old slide-in-and-clamp style. The new USB-C docks use one cable to connect to the side of your laptop. The single cable connection plugs into the side of the laptop and can transmit high speed network data, connect your monitors and peripherals, and provide power to charge your laptop. This is now the laptop docking standard and comes with all new laptops.  

King County Information Technology is installing more smartboards in Department Conference Rooms. These tools allow unprecedented collaboration for departments, employees, external partners and customers. If you aren’t sure how to maximize these new tools, join us for a drop-in training session in Chinook. Smartboard Training Smartboards are in 50+ county conference rooms. To make the best use of the new technology, KCIT is offering three training sessions in May. Drop-in for 10 minutes or stay for 30. No signups required. What: Open house! A Surface Hub Tour and Live Demo: The Future… Read More

Cybercriminals are continuing to target institutions around the world with sophisticated phishing scams, and King County is no exception. Here are 10 tips from KCIT to help you stay ahead of would-be scammers: Tip 1: Don’t trust the display name A favorite phishing tactic among cybercriminals is to spoof the display name of an email.  Here’s how it works: If a fraudster wanted to spoof the hypothetical brand “My Bank,” the email may look something like: Legitimate emails from My Bank would come from xyz@mybank.com, not secure.com. This fraudulent email, once delivered,… Read More

Here’s what to look for when you receive an email you aren’t sure about: King County and KCIT use the King County logo and/or the “Service Alert” visual in all communication. Do not ever click on a link inside a suspicious email. If you need to change your password in any system, go directly to the website or system instead of clicking on a link in an Email. If the email seems odd, look for spelling errors and sentences that just don’t sound right. Hover over a link in your browser to… Read More

To provide safer access to your information, employees need to be inside the King County firewall to access their W-2 tax forms through PeopleSoft. This year King County contracted with ADP to make W-2 forms available on the ADP portal so employees are ensured access from any location. This access to ADP additionally allows W-2 data to be transferred to tax programs such as TurboTax, eliminating the need to actually manually enter your data. To access your W-2 outside of the County firewall, you need to register on the ADP portal: Go… Read More

When KCIT isn’t managing HelpTickets or delivering new products, teams are partnering with both internal and external partners to bring new ideas to King County employees and our community. In January, KCIT and Microsoft partnered to host a Government Hackfest. It was a first for us! Check out our video.

It’s fast and easy to show or hide other people’s calendars that you have to access often. Here’s a screen shot of an example on my own Outlook calendar pane. Right click on My Calendars and select New Calendar Group to create a “folder” so you can organize your calendar shortcuts in a way make sense for you. Then right click the new group/folder and select Add Calendar, then From Address Book… find the person whose calendar you want to add and click OK. Then you can drag and drop the calendar… Read More

Q:  I have my new laptop and noticed that the Window+X feature doesn’t work the way that it used to… I used to use it a lot especially because I present so often.  When I use the Window+X feature, something different shows up.  A:  With Windows 10 there are two main things to consider when connecting to a meeting display or projection system:  Windows+P will get you to display options for duplicating/extending your screen between multiple monitors.    For turning on presentation mode you still use Windows+X, then select Mobility Center, then you’ll see a box for turning Presentation… Read More

KCIT is rolling out new work tools like Microsoft OneNote, OneDrive, and Power BI. These applications help us all work better, smarter and faster. To help employees adapt, the IT Training team has put together a robust training toolbox, to complement the in-person trainings, and it is filled with short, PDF or video explanations. Emphasis on short videos!  If you are a video learner, check out OneDrive this week: 12 videos, none longer than two minutes! The videos can be accessed on SharePoint here.  KCIT also wants to say thank you to employees for… Read More

Whether it’s your county-issued mobile device or your own personal device, KCIT strongly recommends that you update the Operating System when your provider releases OS updates. These updates keep your device free of viruses, make it difficult for hackers to gain access to your information and help your existing apps work better. In the coming months, KCIT will be rolling out Exchange Online throughout the county. This allows employees to access King County email anytime, anywhere and from any device if that device has the most updated software. For our security and your protection,… Read More