The season of giving and receiving is almost upon us! Like normal, the IT Service Desk will be closed over the festive period between Monday 23 December and Wednesday 1 January (inclusive), so it’s important to remember a couple of things about accessing your IT account – especially if you’re expecting to get a new phone over the holidays.

1. You can use your old phone to transfer your MFA account to your new phone. 

• Unlike some other apps, MFA apps (e.g. Okta Verify, Microsoft Authenticator and Google Authenticator) don’t start working automatically when you set up a new phone.  
• If you keep hold of your old phone, it is easy to transfer your MFA account to your new one. You can follow these instructions. 
• We recommend bringing the instructions up on your computer screen and then having your two phones open in front of you. Don’t worry – you don’t need a SIM card in the old one, just make sure it is connected to Wi-Fi and still has your authenticator app installed. 

2. If you no longer have your old phone, you can raise an IT Support Portal ticket to request an MFA account reset. 

• Within the IT Support Portal, select ‘Report a Fault’ and then submit a ticket in the usual way. 
• You can also email itservicedesk@sussex.ac.uk to request an MFA account reset. 
• Resetting your MFA account will allow you to set-up an MFA app from scratch using any of the instructions found on the MFA homepage.

Please be aware that the IT Support Portal and IT Service Desk email address will only be monitored for MFA issues, password issues, campus Wi-Fi outages, and major, university-wide incidents over the holidays. The Service Desk phone line will not be open. Tickets relating to any other issues will be picked up once the Service Desk reopens on Thursday 2 January.

Tickets can be raised on any day, and you will receive a response within 24 hours on weekdays (excluding Wednesday 25 December, Thursday 26 December and Wednesday 1 January) notifying you that your MFA account or password has been reset.

Other IT advice for the holidays 

1. Check that your secondary email address and/or phone number is up to date on Sussex Direct. This will ensure you can reset your Sussex IT password yourself if needed. 

• Log in to Sussex Direct. Click on the ‘Personal’ tab, followed by ‘Contact Information’ and then ‘Edit’. 
• If you already have your secondary email address or phone number set up, you can use these instructions to reset your password. 

2. Wi-Fi access  

• If you get a new phone, laptop or tablet over the holiday period and want to set it up on Sussex eduroam Wi-Fi, you can find out how here. 

3. Wifinity support in Sussex residences 

• If you need help connecting to, or support with, the Wifinity network, you can visit their support page here.