You'll first need to speak with the automated phone system, which will redirect your call to a human service agent. Microsoft has 10 worldwide call centers, in the U.S., Latin America, China and Europe. If you'd prefer to speak to a human, try the phone the easiest way to reach Microsoft's phone agents is by calling the general 24/7 support line at 1-80. The page did not include instructions on disabling the camera altogether.

Microsoft's reply consisted of a link to a list of ways you can prevent certain apps from accessing your webcam. My question about disabling the Surface Go's webcam was answered 4 hours and 22 minutes after I sent the query to the Microsoft Surface Facebook account (which isn't clearly labeled a support account). Microsoft's Twitter team even sent a personalized follow-up message asking how the installation went.įacebook Messenger support was even slower. I asked how to download the new Microsoft Edge browser and received a thorough reply with the appropriate link in 43 minutes. Microsoft's social media support got the job done, although it wasn't the fastest to respond to my questions. By the end, I was pretty happy with the experience. The exchange felt impersonal to start, but Judy warmed up, with a strange but endearing quirkiness. Once connected, Judy entered the Pen & Windows Ink settings and, after some fiddling, got me to the correct drop-down menus, where I could adjust those settings to my liking. I complied (despite it being a fairly simple task), and she sent straightforward steps on how to grant her control. I asked about remapping the buttons on my Surface Pen, and Judy immediately recommended that she take remote access of my Surface Go. When the virtual helper ran out of ideas, it handed me over to Judy Anne, who entered the chat within seconds at 11:45 p.m.

When I asked about adjusting Surface Pen shortcuts, the chatbot showed me several related topics, but they were too specific and left out the correct answer. I had mixed results with the virtual assistant. If you don't want to talk to a human, you can try direct-messaging a virtual assistant through the Answer Desk (there is a separate option for people with disabilities). I quickly got results for my questions about the Surface Pen and downloading the new Edge browser from Microsoft's support hub, but I needed help from the forum to figure out how to disable my Surface Go's front-facing camera.

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