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He then recommended the Tips and Quick Assist apps before wishing me a good day. The process was simple, and Juan, who was patient throughout the activity and even casually asked how my day was going, verified that my camera was disabled by quickly taking control of the device via a remote session and opening the camera app. Once in the BIOS, Juan specified exactly where I needed to go and what steps to take to disable the webcam. Juan told me to shut off my Surface Go then he walked me through the steps of entering the BIOS (hold volume up and power). Juan didn't have the answer first hand but, after putting me briefly on hold, he came back with a dictionary of knowledge. I'm glad he wanted to get this right, because miscommunication could have caused a lot of frustration. Once he'd verified my account, Juan ensured that I really wanted to disable the front-facing webcam on my Surface Go. Fortunately, his good nature and helpfulness improved the cranky mood I was in after listening to elevator music for so long.

I chose to wait on the line instead of setting up a call (a great option to have). on a Saturday and was warned that wait times could be lengthy. I rang up Microsoft's support at 5:26 p.m.

The second call was also a success, although it took the better part of an hour (54 minutes and 29 seconds). The call took 17 minutes and 19 seconds, which isn't too bad for a correct answer. The agent was friendly and helpful, and while this question is somewhat of a softball toss to Microsoft, Anne knocked it out of the park.
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Once that was completed, she told me the web page I needed to visit in order to download the new Edge. The laptop was a few versions behind, but Anne patiently waited while the system updated.
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So Anne checked the version of Windows 10 on my Surface Go by entering "winver" in the command prompt. Rather annoyingly, you can't download the new Edge browser unless you're running the latest version of Windows. The phone agent first asked for the email associated with my account so she could verify, via a six-digit code, that I was the owner of the Surface Go.
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Within 5 minutes of calling, I was getting help from Anne on how to download the new Edge browser. There weren't any prompts to lead me in the right direction, but telling the automated voice "Surface" got me to the correct agent. 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.
