On this page you will find tips on how to connect the necessary services from home and what programs can be useful in your home office to communicate and interact effectively.

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When should I use VPN?

You can work from home on many of NTNU's online services, without any special applications or devices on your computer. Services such as email (via Outlook or webmail), Innsida, Office 365 and Skype for Business can normally be used on most computers, without the use of a VPN. If you work from a so-called managed machine (installed by the IT department), you also have access to your home area without using VPN.

If you use a private machine, experience slow response time to NTNU's services or want access to internal services such as Paga or literature search, you can connect to NTNU's network with Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Software Farm

By using Software farm, you work on your own machine, while the programs are run by a server on NTNU's network. This way you can access a variety of applications without installing them on your own machine. You can connect to Software farm from any computer with Internet access. Software farm is therefore very suitable for home office use.

Communication and collaboration 

Skype for Business is a collaboration tool for employees which allows you to have audio and video conversations, share screenshots and programs, send and receive instant messages (chat), and conduct digital meetings. You can also make and receive phone calls if enabled (replaces manual telephone). 

Microsoft Teams is a tool for effective communication and interaction in groups. With Teams you can communicate with colleagues using chat, conversations and digital meetings. You can also interact through shared storage and document processing. When working from home and there is a need for reliable digital collaboration, Teams is the recommended tool for collaboration.