U Sheffield Enhances Access to Services for Mobile Users
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 09/28/09
The University of Sheffield will be the first campus to deploy campusM, a new suite of applications for mobile devices from oMbiel. Starting in October 2009 students will be able to download the application free from the university's online portal.
"With over 24,000 students and almost 6,000 staff, students are living increasingly mobile lives, needing information and services on the move at anytime," said Christine Sexton, director of the university's Corporate Information and Computing Services. "We had to find a way to make our services more accessible to meet the need of our students. campusM will ultimately save students time, keep them better informed and make communicating with staff and other students a lot easier."
The application features campus maps where users can identify exact campus locations using GPS to search for buildings by name or address and a friend locator to help them meet up with other students. Users will be able to look up faculty, staff members, or student contacts from the university directory and to add them directly to the phone's address book, view a pocket guide, and receive news and event information.
"Our integrated mobile application available on the iPhone, iPod touch, and other leading mobile devices provides users with one-click access to perform a variety of functions when on the move," said Hugh Griffiths, CEO of oMbiel, "campusM integrates with university systems, which enables personal information such as [users'] timetables, library records, and financial accounts to become accessible on their mobile device."
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.