IT Systems
From AFSWiki
There are several IT Systems/Functions which are available to the AFS-USA volunteers:
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Global Link
Global Link is an information database tool designed and built by AFS International, now in use by almost all the countries in the AFS network. It makes accessible participant and host family applications, volunteer records, and other organization information needed in day to day AFS operations such as records of hosted student contacts, travel information, etc.
Global Link is available to all AFS-USA staff and registered volunteers with read/update ability for particular functions given based on the job requirements of the staff or volunteers job position. As part of the registration process each volunteer signs a user agreement. The user agreement identifies the standards for participating in Global Link. All information contained in Global Link is to be used for AFS business purposes only.
When you are registered you will receive an email with your user ID, password, and instructions for using Global Link. For those who desire, there are periodic and pre-recorded training sessions for using the various aspects of Global Link.
Global Link is located at http://usa.afsglobal.org. See Global Link for FAQs, Help, and training webinar information. For help glhelp@afsusa.org
AFS Wiki
The Wiki is maintained by AFS-USA volunteers and staff and contains the background information and training materials by the volunteers. Another name for the Wiki might be, "How To Be an AFS Volunteer." We believe that much of the best advice for volunteers comes from other volunteers, so almost all of the pages in this Wiki are open for modification by any registered AFS volunteer.
Besides "How To" information, the Wiki also contains host family handbooks, guides and manuals for orientations, best practices, news articles, information from the National Council and committees, etc.
While Wiki's do not have a fixed structure and the search feature is very useful to find the articles you are interested in, we have provided a number of different views which you may find useful.
Most of the content of the AFS Wiki is "open", i.e. can be read by anyone, including volunteers, host families, those interested in hosting/volunteers, etc. However, some sections of the Wiki (e.g. future strategies and statistics on internal operations) are private and require a user ID and password in order to be read. And, of course, modifications are restricted to registered volunteers and staff.
The Wiki is located at http://www.afswiki.org. See About this Wiki for further information. See AFSWiki Request New User Process for instruction on how to request a user ID. For systems help sysadmin@afswiki.org. For content help wikihelp@afsusa.org.
AFS-USA Website
The AFS-USA website is primarily for marketing use, i.e. to present the public face of AFS-USA to our various publics - potential host families, students, etc. It can be found at http://www.afsusa.org. Information about each AFS program including dates, costs, etc. are located here, so volunteers can utilize this website to guide students who are considering going abroad on AFS programs.
In addition to the website itself, there are links to a variety of other social media - facebook, blogs, youtube, twitter, etc. The goal is to make AFS available to our various publics in whatever form they are comfortable with.
The AFS-USA Marketing Department is responsible for the content and use of this website. For those host families/students/volunteers who express an interest in becoming part of AFS-USA, there are links to the host family, student, and volunteer applications which are housed in Global Link.
Salesforce
All data for prospective Sending participants is kept in the Salesforce Customer Relationship Management Data Center. Currently, only staff members have direct access to this data, although downloaded data is sometimes offered to volunteers via spreadsheets. When someone signs up to receive a AFS Programs catalog, their contact information is entered into Salesforce. Each contact with the "lead" is logged, whether it be by phone, email, or live chat via www.afsusa.org.
Preliminary applications and payment are processed in Salesforce, but the pre-app is immediately transferred to Global Link to start the Full Application process.
As of February 2012, volunteers have begun to have access to the Salesforce Sending Leads by using the new Lead Management function in Global Link. This function (in Global Link) allows volunteers to view and update Salesforce Sending Leads.
Volunteer Blog
The volunteer blog was created in order to connect our AFS Volunteer network by sharing ideas and experiences. It is open to any volunteer to post information or pictures about AFS events and activities as well ideas, best practices, etc.
The blog is located at http://www.afsvolunteerblog.org. For help or to submit ideas contact volblog@afsusa.org.
afsusa email
Email addresses in the afsusa.org email domain, i.e. {name}@afsusa.org, are made available for AFS-USA business. Currently such email addresses are given to (1) the National Council, National Council Committees, and Advisory Groups, (2) Area Teams and Chapters. Making such addresses available for individual registered volunteers is being considered. These email addresses are hosted by Google and thus are accessible from any computer with an internet connection.
See AFS-USA Email Addresses for further information. For help emailhelp@afsusa.org.
