Here to help: Service enhancements from the central IT Service Desk
A new way to get in touch, updated emails for new joiners and changes to several self-service requests
Do you:
- Struggle to reach the central IT Service Desk without a work phone?
- Frequently request secondary (project or generic) accounts?
- Support new university members - staff or students - with onboarding?
Read on to find out more about the service improvements coming from the central IT Service Desk.
Contacting the central IT Service Desk using Teams
Your feedback continues to shape our services. Recently we’ve heard that reaching us by phone has become increasingly difficult — many staff no longer have work numbers, some offices lack telephone access altogether, mobile signal can be unreliable, and international call charges can be prohibitive.
Yet contacting us by telephone remains one of the most effective ways to get immediate, live support when you need it.
To make this easier, we have reconfigured our systems so that you can now call the central IT Service Desk directly through Microsoft Teams — providing a simple, reliable way to connect with our staff wherever you are.
Whether you already use Teams Phone, or you have never placed a call via Teams before, the central IT Service Desk can now be reached by entering Central IT Service Desk into the Calls tab within Teams.
This will put your call through to our usual system - just be sure to check your audio settings are configured correctly if you rarely use Teams for calls.
Requesting secondary accounts is now simpler
You may know them as project, generic, role-based, or non-personal accounts; secondary accounts are used throughout the University to provide a Single Sign-On (SSO) account and/or a Nexus365 mailbox that can easily be shared with people across the University and transferred to a different person. They’re also used to create the accounts for meeting rooms, workspaces, and Teams Rooms (hybrid meeting rooms) that you will probably use throughout your time here.
Three separate request forms have been combined into one easy-to-use form in IT Self Service. This new Secondary mailbox/account request form lets you ask for a new account, including Teams Room accounts, all in one place.
Why the change? The new form allows IT Services to combine different workflows, reducing duplication of effort for the customer and increasing the efficiency of creating accounts. Believe it or not, it is a process that can require work from up to 3 different teams, depending on the account’s configuration!
The existing avenues for requesting a secondary account are being retired or renamed:
- On the ITSS Index, the current secondary account form will be replaced with a link to the request in IT Self Service.
- The UAS Generic Account Request form in IT Self Service will signpost to the new form for a short period before being removed on Friday, 31 October.
- The Create Teams Room form will be renamed to Convert an account to a Teams Room.
Overhauled welcome emails for new Oxford University members
New members of the University now receive clearer and more specific welcome emails about their accounts from IT Services. These now include:
- A revised Single-Sign-On activation email (for those who receive codes via email from Registration), focusing on providing the details required to activate and setup your account, along with where to get support.
- A post-activation email to your Oxford University inbox sharing the University’s online security guidelines.
- A new Welcome to the University of Oxford’s Nexus service email, providing a welcoming message to new members, guidance on what is available as part of the service, how to change or correct your own details and useful links to instructions for using the service.
These templates are available for IT Support Staff (ITSS) across the University to view on the ITS3 SharePoint page (ITSS only).
Reminder: How to get IT support
For support relating to systems in a unit (i.e. a department or college), your local IT support team is your best first stop for help.
If you’re looking for some guidance, you’ll find lots of helpful guides and forms on the IT Help website, including how to connect to eduroam, log in to Nexus365, and manage your accounts.
If you need more help, use IT Self Service to submit a request with details and screenshots. You can also track and update your queries in the My Open Items section of the IT Self Service home page.
For urgent or important issues, call the central IT Service Desk on (01865) 612345, or using the new Teams functionality described above.
We’re available 24/7, with support from our out-of-hours partner, Norman. You can also request a call-back—just leave your details and we’ll ring you when it’s your turn. Please have your University card ready.
