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Help Desk, What support is provided by the Help Desk?
The Technology Services Help Desk provides support to students, faculty, and staff at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign campus for accessing software and services provided to their University accounts. This means there is much that we can assist with, but many technology questions are outside the scope of support that the Help Desk can provide.
Examples of what the Help Desk can assist with:
- Access to the University email system
- Access to the University wireless networks (IllinoisNet) and VPN service
- 2-factor authentication for University websites
- Licensing for Office software, if your University account qualifies
- AV support for the Urbana campus' general assignment classrooms
- General account and login issues for other services we support
- Note that some systems configured for specific department use are not managed by Technology Services, and we may need to refer you to a different help desk
Examples of things the Help Desk cannot assist with:
- Issues arising from hardware damage (broken screens, dead touchpads, damaged ports, etc.)
- Software malfunctions on personal devices (lost data or files, operating system updates or configuration, installing programs)
- If you're having trouble with software from the University WebStore, contact them directly at WebStore@illinois.edu
- Problems with University-provided devices
- Although the Help Desk does have some ability to find things, work computers are usually better served by the departmental IT group that originally configured them
- Removal of viruses and malware unless explicitly instructed by our Security group
- Recommending a computer, or any specific hardware or software, for use at the University beyond what we directly provide (though individual department IT groups may be able to give more direct guidance)
- Instruction regarding how software should be used for University work
- In-home support
If we can't help:
For technology issues that are not supported by the Help Desk, you can reach out to Technology Services OnSite Support, a paid service. More information about their offerings can be found here: Facilities, Contacts, OnSite Consulting
Though we cannot specifically endorse a local business, the Help Desk also maintains a referral list of 3rd-party tech support businesses in town here: Help Desk, Tech Support Referral Resources