HIDOE Launches ʻOhana Help Desk

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education (HIDOE) launched the ʻOhana Help Desk Tuesday.

The initiative is a statewide, comprehensive help desk providing technical support to public school students and their parents as schools offer more opportunities for online and blended learning.

The ʻOhana Help Desk will also provide self-service and chat support for families experiencing issues connecting to HIDOE systems remotely from home. It will be able to assist with connectivity-related issues (e.g., network and wifi connectivity), access and security issues, device support (e.g., devices, applications, software updates), and general IT support.

HIDOE’s help desk was designed with phone support in multiple languages, chat support, and an online portal. The help desk will be able to provide phone support in languages most commonly spoken in Hawaiʻi households – English, Hawaiian, Ilokano, Tagalog, Chuukese, and Marshallese.

The Department awarded a $1.7 million contract to Hawaiian Telcom to establish the help desk.

The ‘Ohana Help Desk will be open to support students and parents by phone at 808-643-DESK (3375) Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The help desk will be closed on state holidays. Online services will be available 24/7 at ohanahelpdesk.org for self-service support and information.