New way to access IT support and services beginning Oct. 30

Beginning Oct. 30, faculty, staff and students at the University of Alberta will have a new way to access IT support. To better support the University of Alberta community and enable a consistent experience for requesting support, intake of all IT support and services will transition to the U of A Service Portal.

Faculty, staff and students currently use the U of A Service Portal to submit inquiries or requests related to human resources, finance and student services. With IT services and support available through the U of A Service Portal, the U of A community will now have one, consistent platform to manage service requests, inquiries and technical incidents across the HR, Finance, Student Services and IT service areas.

What is changing?

Currently, the U of A community requests IT support and services by emailing ist@ualberta.ca, by calling the IT Service Desk phone number, through Vera or by visiting IST’s service catalog on a platform called ServiceNow, which hosts support articles and facilitates general inquiries. 

Beginning Oct. 30, intake for IT support and services will be facilitated through the U of A Service Portal available on the Staff Service Centre and the Student Service Centre webpages. As the IST Service Desk has been part of the Shared Services Staff Service Centre since February 2022, moving to one portal now enables you to call the Staff Service Centre at 780-492-8000 for HR, Finance and IST service related requests. Classroom support will also be available through 780-492-8000. Emergency classroom support will continue to be available.

Use of ServiceNow and the ist@ualberta.ca email address will be retired. Vera will remain unchanged.

Where do I go for support?

Staff, faculty and students can request IT support and services through the U of A Service Portal available on the Staff Service Centre and the Student Service Centre webpages or by phone through the Shared Services Staff Service Centre at 780-492-8000. 

What can I expect?

On the U of A Service Portal you can expect to search popular support topics, as well as submit, update and review your IT service requests.

Through the portal, you will also be able to view a summary of your requests and inquiries. Once a request is submitted, you will receive email notifications on the status of your requests and will be able to communicate directly with staff to resolve your request. 

Help and how-to articles called Solutions in the new U of A Service Portal will be available 24x7 and the U of A Service Portal will efficiently route questions and assign requests to appropriate support teams to get answers and solutions even faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is changing?
Intake for IT support and services is moving to the U of A Service Portal to provide better and more efficient services across multiple service portfolios, all in one place. IT support is available by phone through the Shared Services Staff Service Centre at 780-492-8000.

How will this change affect classroom support? 
All of the same classroom support services are available to you through the U of A Service Portal or by calling the Shared Services Staff Service Centre at 780-492-8000. The same emergency classroom support will continue to be available. 

Why are we making this change?
With the U of A Service Portal becoming a one-stop platform, faculty, staff and students will now have a consistent experience for accessing IT, Finance, HR and student services, with new processes and features. The portal platform also provides enhanced data and analytics functionality that will be used for continuous improvement as well as reporting.

I have seen the terms Freshservice and Freshworks on the U of A Service Portal and in some articles. What are they?
Freshworks is the company that provides a software product called Freshservice, on which the U of A Service Portal is built and operates.

How will I access the portal?
You can find the U of A Service Portal in a few different ways. The U of A Service Portal is available by a direct link, through the Staff Service Centre, the Student Service Centre or from the IST home page.  

Do I need to log into the U of A Service Portal?
Yes, you will need to log into the portal with your CCID upon first visiting. You will need to log in again if you log out of your U of A account.

How do I log into the U of A Service Portal?
Simply visit the portal and click “login” in the top right corner. On the next page, click “sign in with CCID.” That’s it!

Can a vendor or guest who doesn’t  have a CCID access the U of A Service Portal?
Vendors and guests can access the U of A Service Portal by creating an account. In the top right corner of the portal home page,  they can click “sign up,” then complete the registration.