1. 02/26/10
IEEE vTools
January, 2012

2. Key Messages Communicate what vTools is Review available tools
Encourage use
11/10/2018

3. vTools is a Mission serving volunteers Brand Team
volunteers, staff, members
Committee
steering, resourcing, advocating
Products
software, processes, information, training
Brand
attititude capability quality
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4. vTools Mission Statement
Providing tools to the
volunteers and staff
who support our members.

5. A Little History: Developed as a result of SC 2005
Organized in 2006 as Ad Hoc Committee
Funded in 2007
Reported in SC 2008
Accepted two items from SC2008
Meetings was first tool
Standing Committee in 2010
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6. Terminology: vTools Team vs Products vs “Brand”
We develop some products
Meetings, WebInABox, Voting, etc.
We buy some products
Web Conferencing tool, Survey Tool
We use Free software, Open-source software, etc. when appropriate
WordPress (GPLv2 (or later) from the Free Software Foundation)
Volunteers have one place to find tools and support for them
11/10/2018

7. How does a project work? Intent of pilots: Receive the idea
Many channels
Refine the idea
Reduce to a “sound bite”
What’s significant for volunteers?
Write requirements
Committee + staff
Build – buy decision
Best lifecycle cost/benefit
Pilot – build and learn!
Student team-built
Volunteer-built
Carefully selected commercial product
Supported by IT staff
Intent of pilots:
Maximize results from limited development $$$
Mature quickly to production
Learn more from QC checks by staff
Focus vTools developers on moving forward.
Maximize IT staff for routine refinement and maintenance
11/10/2018

8. Present Portfolio In Production: Pilot (Beta) Recommended Tool
Production means SLA-based support after an IEEE QA acceptance process
In Production:
Meetings
WebInABox
Voting
Web Conferencing - WebEx
Blog and CMS tool – WordPress (staff, branded)
Survey tool – Chide.it Inc. (branded)
ReviewRoom – Chide.it Inc.
Pilot (Beta)
Officer Reporting
Student Branch Reporting
Recommended Tool
Doodle (just documentation, not branded)
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9. The Documentation Site http://vtools.ieee.org
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10. 02/26/10
vTools.Meetings
Form for entering meeting info: (who/what/when/where/registration)
Displays meeting list online (anywhere)
Handles registrations (start, end, limit)
Credit Card registration payments for R1-R7 with deposits to Concentration Banking (support for R8-R10 is being investigated)
Provides registration list and nametags file
Various feeds: RSS, XML, iCal
L31 report filing and flexible search with export to CSV (MS Excel compatible)
Integrates with myIEEE

11. Example Web Page
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12. What does Meetings mean?
Easy to create a unit calendar
Easy “pull” from multiple channels
myIEEE
RSS
Easy to “push” meeting information
with Link to meeting
Solves registration and many credit card problems
11/10/201811/10/201811/10/2018

13. 02/26/10
WebInABox
Basic web site “WebInABox” with Wizard-like interface for creation
Data driven with auto updates from central IEEE database
Enables a common look and feel compliant with IEEE web presence guidelines
Integrates with Meetings tool
No webmaster involvement required
Supports Sections, Chapters, and Affinity
groups.
Not meant to compete with or replace
complex content management systems such
as WordPress 13

14. What does WebInABox mean?
Web presence is important.
Web usage is declining
More unit web sites are out of date
WebInABox allows a system that can be neglected
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15. Voting Electronic Voting for local units
02/26/10
Voting
Electronic Voting for local units
Piloted in 2007 & 2008 using a commercial tool
In parallel, started internal development to save $$$
IEEE Product Piloted in 2009
In Production Spring of 2010
Currently supports all sections, chapters, and affinity groups
Flexible and full featured
Secured via SSL and web accounts 15

16. Teleconference tool WebEx
02/26/10
Teleconference tool
WebEx
Web Conferencing service to Geographic Organizational Units for online meetings, webinars, training, demos and presentations.
Multiple meetings at the same time via virtual meeting rooms
Contact us to setup a WebEx session: registration/

17. What does Web Conferencing mean?
It supports unit webinars It supports electronic training sessions It allows recording of meetings for reuse It reduces travel costs Allows meeting attendance that distance or time otherwise prohibits

18. Advanced CMS and Blogging
02/26/10
Advanced CMS and Blogging
WordPress - a content management system with blogging features.
This service is intended to meet the needs of IEEE Organizational Units that want to develop, create and maintain their own websites on an IEEE host.
The general philosophy is that posting Organizational Units will be responsible for their contents, their maintenance and their conformance to IEEE policy.
Organizational Units are expected to choose a single webmaster who is skilled in managing web contents. This webmaster will be the Organizational Unit contact.

19. 02/26/10
Surveys
Vendor tool to quickly create online surveys using intuitive interface
Integrated with IEEE web accounts for volunteer login
Available to MGA Board members and MGA Board Committees as well as Region and Section EXCOM officers.
Collected results can be easily analyzed and graphical reports can be shared with others.
Contact us for more information.

20. What do Blogs and Surveys mean?
Tools to allow engagement of member Don’t require deep technical skills Immediate response to member needs and ideas RSS feeds to allow members to pull data Blogs can also pull RSS feeds
11/10/2018

21. 02/26/10
ReviewRoom
Tool to collect, organize, and evaluate online applications and submissions quickly and efficiently.
Use for Awards & Nominations, Competitions, Scholarships & Grants applications. 
Contact vTools team to learn more and get access

22. Officer Reporting Pilot (Beta)
02/26/10
Officer Reporting Pilot (Beta)
Automated tool for officer reporting
Automated eligibility validation and immediate feedback
Instantaneous data updates when submitted by authorized volunteers
Quick review and approval process for submissions by non volunteers 22

23. Student Branch Reporting Pilot (Beta)
02/26/10
Student Branch Reporting Pilot (Beta)
Tool for collecting and searching reports submitted by student branch volunteers such as annual plan and report of activities. Simplified reporting
It is a web based tool
Merged 2 reports (Report of Activities and Plan of Activities) into one
Reduced number of fields that need to be filled out
Introduced electronic signatures by Chair and Counselor

24. Product enhancement process
Individual Product
Prioritized list
of enhancements
for a product
Feedback from
Users and Staff
List of enhancements
Prioritization
vTools Project
Prioritized product
enhancements
Evaluate
Costs,
Benefit
Evaluate
Staff support
Evaluate
budget
Possible new
products
Class or volunteer prototype
Review with
MGA
Committees/
Staff
Produce
Roadmap

25. Contact info
– contains project
status, blog, contact information, FAQ, and
training information
– contact for any
questions related to the project

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