UMass Boston

The IT Service Desk receives thousands of requests for information and help. Please check out our Frequently Asked Questions and Consult Our Knowledge Base before contacting us.

To report a suspicious email, please visit Reporting Suspicious Emails (Spam or Phishing). To learn more about phishing, please see our phishing page.

If you need a new password, please first try resetting your password yourself using the Password Management page. If that does not work, please use our Live Chat service or call us at 617-287-5220. We cannot change a password by email.

When you are ready to email the help desk, please follow these guidelines to speed the process up and avoid confusion:

• Please do not CC the IT Service Desk on a group email. Each reply to all will create a new ticket.
• Please do not send an email to the IT Service Desk from a departmental account.
• When asking for help, please include a phone number where we can call you back if necessary.
• Please provide as much information as possible, for instance, Mac or PC? Personal or University-owned computer?
• Please do not request more than one action per email, especially if they are unrelated.
• When forwarding an email to the IT Service Desk, please remove the FW: from the beginning of the subject line.
• Please be clear and specific in what you are asking for. Summarize previous emails and do not simply forward a long email chain and ask us to read it.
• Please do not create a ticket for another person unless you will be helping them. If you send the email, all correspondence will go to you and not the person who needs help.

If you are reporting a web site outage, please

• Try a different web site to make sure your internet connection is working
• See if the web site is Down for Everyone or Just You

If you are reporting a broken Ethernet connection or telephone, please first try unplugging it from the wall and plugging it back in again. Surprisingly, this often works! If that did not help, please provide us with:

• Jack number, if the wall outlet is labeled
• Building, floor, and room number
• Telephone extension
• Whether the computer is plugged into the telephone or directly into the wall

Often we will ask you for more information, such as your operating system or browser, etc. Here are some helpful links in case you aren't sure how to find out this information.

"Please try clearing your cache and cookies."

See this page for instructions: Web Browser Settings (privacy, clear cache and cookies)

"Are you in a Mac or PC? Which browser are you using? What version?"

See this page to learn your OS and browser, with version numbers: Computer Info (OS, IP, browser) Or use this one: Find out your OS (operating system)

"What is your IP address?"

Sometimes we need to know the address of your computer. You can find it here: Find your IP address Or, if you are on Windows 10 and would like to learn more about your internet connections, see: Find your IP address (Windows 10)

"Make sure you are using the latest version."

You should regularly scan your computer to make sure you are using the latest version of your OS, browser, and plugins. This page will help: Scan your computer / browser + Safe Computing Tips

Reporting Suspicious Emails (Spam or Phishing)

If you received a suspicious email, please ask us to evaluate it before doing anything like replying or clicking any links, Follow these steps to forward an email as an attachment in Office 365 webmail:

1. Log into your UMass Boston webmail.
2. Click the New message button.
3. Click the open separate window icon at the top right corner of the message window. (A tiny icon like a box with an arrow coming out of it.) This will open the new message in a separate window in your browser.
4. Move the browser window so that you can view both your mail folder listing (inbox) and the new message window at the same time.
5. Find the message you want to report in the inbox and drag it into the new message window. It should show up in the new message as an attachment.
6. Address the new message to abuse@umb.edu, enter a subject line and any other information in the body of the message, then click Send.