myMMU-Mobile is an exciting new product produced by Manchester Metropolitan University’s Department of Learning and Research Technologies in association with Ombiel. myMMU-Mobile is an iPhone App and a mobile web site) that allows you to get personalised MMU information on the move.
A Quick look at the Features:
- Staff Directory
- Locations
- Library
- News / Events
- Pocket Guide
- My Course
- PC Availability
Read on for more information on the features and how to install on an iPhone or access via a mobile web browser
Features in Depth:
At the moment myMMU-Mobile contains the following features
Staff Directory
The staff directory allows you to search the main MMU Staff online directory through an easy-to-use mobile interface.
You can search for Lecturers and other members of staff, and where appropriate find their phone numbers and the building location that they work in.
Locations
The locations facility allows you to check up on facilities nearby or at other MMU campuses; find out the nearest Student Information Point, Library, PC drop-in centre and so on. You can see on an on-board map where the facility is, how far away, what the address is for that utility or place and even Google directions from where you are to the facility. You can also maintain your own list of favourite locations for speedy access.
Better yet, you can also see maps of MMU buildings and places and the App will even connect through to Google maps to show you where you are in relation to the place you need to get to. For the PC drop-in centres you can even see a live feed of the number of available machines before you go there!
Library
The library is a powerful feature that actually shows you live information about your library account. You can see if you owe any money in fines (we hope not!), and the status of loans and reservations and any other requests you might have.
News / Events
This function allows you to subscribe to a (growing) number of MMU-based news feeds (RSS) so you can get up to speed quickly with news and developments from around the university. You can just browse the feeds, and if you find one that is important to you or interesting, hit the subscribe button to add a quick link to it for next time.
Pocket Guide
The pocket guide contains links to MMU web sites with lots of information about the MMU and useful knowledge for student life.
My Course
My Course allows you to confirm the course and units that you are enrolled on and see information about them.
PC Availability
The PC availability tab is a useful tool that can tell you how many machines are free in drop-ins near to where you are. When exam and coursework deadlines draw near the drop-ins get full quickly. Get ahead of the game and find a free machine without having to wander through all the nearby buildings!
Installing for iPhone:
Installation only takes a few moments, and can be done over the air from the Apple Apps Store. There are some things you need to have to hand before you go ahead:
- Firstly, make sure your Apple is online
- Then make sure you have your MMU credentials to hand
- To get the most out of the experience turn on locations in your Apple, if you haven’t already the App will offer you the chance to do so with a couple of clicks, so don’t worry
You should be able to select the App store applet on your iPhone, and enter ‘myMMU’ in the search field. The Apple Store should return a list of Apps that match or approximate mymmu. Hopefully, you should see our App right at the top of the search.
Press the link to get more information and the normal Install button, press this button. As it usually does, the App Store will minimise and you should see a new ‘myMMU’ icon appear in the next available page and space in your Apps. Watch the loading bar – if all is going well it should slowly (or quickly – depends on your connection) fill up as the App downloads.
Once the App is ready, the loading bar will disappear and you should be able to press it to get it going. The first time you run the App it will probably prompt you for some services to be added; Locations allows the iPhone to feed information about your approximate location (by either Geo fix from satellite or your location within the nearest GPRS cell). The App uses the location information to tell you about MMU services that are nearest to your present position. Don’t worry if you don’t have this facility, you can still use other facilities of the App.
You will then need to register an account, a screen is presented requesting your name, email and a password for you to use if you ever need to re-login to the App. You must register with your mmu email address. You can chose any password you wish. [The email address will be used if you ever forget this password].
Then, you should drop right into the App, momentarily a blue splash screen will appear, and then the main screen of the App. You will be expected to enter your MMU credentials to connect to personalized services (like your Library Account) the first time the App delivers to you (or after you’ve changed your network password), this is normal behaviour!
We plan to release new versions of the App during the year, adding new features for you. Please check back with this page from time to time to find out more.
Accessing from other mobiles
The features described above are also available on any phone with a mobile web browser at https://mymmu.ombiel.co.uk/menu. We also plan to develop App versions for other smartphones, like Android and Blackberry. You can read more about getting going with the Web based version of myMMU-mobile here
We hope find myMMU-mobile useful !