What Should I Focus On?

“Leaders encourage members to engage in God’s work by becoming ‘true followers of … Jesus Christ’ (Moroni 7:48)” (General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4.1, Gospel Library). Your focus is to help the Lord hasten His work through the use of technology in the ward or stake.

In President Russell M. Nelson’s first address as President of the Church, he counseled: “Your commitment to follow the Savior by making covenants with Him and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing and privilege available to men, women, and children everywhere. …

“The end for which each of us strives is to be endowed with power in a house of the Lord, sealed as families, faithful to covenants made in a temple that qualify us for the greatest gift of God—that of eternal life” (“As We Go Forward Together,” Ensign, Apr. 2018, 7).

Understand Stake or Ward Technology Needs and Expectations

As a technology specialist, you will work with many different people and technologies to help spread the gospel. Elder David A. Bednar said: “We are blessed to live, learn, and serve in this most remarkable dispensation. An important aspect of the fulness that is available to us in this special season is a miraculous progression of innovations and inventions that have enabled and accelerated the work of salvation: from trains to telegraphs to radios to automobiles to airplanes to telephones to transistors to televisions to computers to satellite transmissions to the internet—and to an almost endless list of technologies and tools that bless our lives. All of these advancements are part of the Lord hastening His work in the latter days” (“Flood the Earth through Social Media,” Liahona, Aug. 2015, 48–53).

You will want to:

Meet with those who called you to learn about their expectations for your role and their vision for technology use in meetinghouses. Their instruction may include what meetings you attend, how you receive assignments, how you report progress or issues, and how you align your work with the Church’s policies and tools.
If you are a technology specialist for your ward, meet with the technology specialist for your stake and the physical facilities representative (PFR) for your stake to determine their expectations for your role, how frequently you should send updates, and best communication practices.
Tour your meetinghouse(s) to understand what technology is available and in good repair.
When possible, meet with those who have supported these technologies previously. Seek advice about how to best set up and support meetings and broadcasts.

Use Technology to Help Hasten the Lord’s Work

Technology specialists are called to help hasten the work of the Lord in local units. Your work will focus on the following basic responsibilities:

Set up, test, operate, take down, and store equipment for ward or stake conferences, broadcasts, virtual meetings, and other meetings.
The technology specialist for the stake manages Wi-Fi and network connectivity, computers, internet routers, and Church firewalls for all wards in the stake. This includes computers and equipment for stake family history centers (FHCs).
The technology specialist for the ward manages virtual meetings and media setup for ward meetings and other streaming events. They manage microphone setup and usage.
All technology specialists stay up to date on Church technology policies, products, and services.
Help priesthood leaders and members become self-reliant in using technology for classrooms and meetings. Provide support to priesthood leaders, teachers, and stake FHCs.
If needed, request that additional technology specialists be called to support you in meeting the needs in the ward or stake.
As requested, provide quarterly training to priesthood leaders and clerks on technology policies, products, and services.
Troubleshoot equipment problems. For help, contact the Global Service Department (GSD). For FHC equipment problems, contact the FHC Support group.

Ensure Equipment Is Available and Secure

Know what technology is available for use in your ward or stake.
Understand how equipment is requested, planned for, purchased, installed, supported, scheduled, shared, and replaced.
If you are a stake technology specialist, coordinate with the facilities manager (FM) through the PFR for repairs and replacements needed throughout the stake. (See “Facilities Management Group (FMG) and Facilities Manager” in the “Who Do I Work With?” section of this resource.)
Coordinate with the FMG through the PFR to set up internet service through an internet service provider (ISP) and choose locations for wired and wireless access.
Verify that equipment is secure.
Verify that confidential information on computers is secure and that data is backed up regularly.

Know How to Set Up and Operate Meetinghouse Technology

As a technology specialist, you should know how to set up and operate all technology approved for use in your meetinghouse(s). This section outlines the equipment you will work with and gives examples of when you will be called on to provide support.

Equipment All Technology Specialists Will Work With

As a technology specialist, you will want to familiarize yourself with the following equipment in order to best serve your ward or stake.

Printers, Copiers, and Multifunction Devices

Work with clerks and ward librarians to determine when printers or copiers need toner, ink, or paper. In most stakes, the agent bishop of each building purchases these items. For repairs, work with your PFR and FM.

Audio/Video (A/V) Equipment

Audio and video equipment available in your meetinghouse(s) may include televisions, projectors, projection screens, computers, media players, audio systems, microphones, translation systems, assistive listening devices, and set-top boxes. You may be asked to support use of audio and video equipment to meet many different needs.

Keep in mind that there are only a certain number of A/V devices in each meetinghouse. Work with your PFR, FM, and other technology specialists in your stake to determine how to meet technology needs for your ward, including when equipment needs to be purchased, repaired, or replaced.

Virtual Broadcasting

As the Church continues to grow, Church leaders’ ability to communicate with other leaders and members in remote locations has become increasingly important. As a technology specialist for a ward, you will be asked to help stream sacrament meetings or other meetings as needed. Zoom software is provided by the Church to make facilitating these meetings easy.

For conferences or meetings, refer to the Meetinghouse Technology section of the Help Center site at ChurchofJesusChrist.org for information about setting up and testing equipment before an event.

You are responsible to ensure that policies on the use of cameras are followed.

Equipment Technology Specialists for the Stake Will Work With

Some technology specialists will be called by their stake president and will have more duties and responsibilities than those technology specialists called by bishops. Along with the equipment listed above, the technology specialists for the stake will also be responsible for the following:

Computers

When called by the stake president, you are responsible for all computers in all stake meetinghouses. These include clerk computers, FHC computers, or others used for gospel-related purposes. You may be asked to do the following:

Keep operating systems current.
Install security patches and approved licensed software.
Keep passwords secure.
Check firewall compliance.
Work with ward clerks to install the Member and Leader Services (MLS) program and keep it current.
Erase hard drives before computers are disposed of.

Meetinghouse Internet

As a technology specialist for the stake, you will need to know how each building has been wired for internet service, where access points are located for wireless networking, and what ISP provides the service.

Church networks use a smart firewall device. To protect the network, ensure that all devices connect through the firewall. There should be no personal routers that bypass the firewall.

As part of your responsibilities, you may need to help reset routers or otherwise troubleshoot internet connection issues. At these times, you may need to contact the Global Service Department (GSD) at Church headquarters to help troubleshoot issues, check information on the Meetinghouse Technology section of the Help Center site at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, or contact other technology specialists called for stakes.

If you have questions about how the internet in a building is set up, you need additional services from a local ISP, or components need to be replaced, work with your PFR and FM.