Discussion on:

10 things to consider when choosing a help desk system

We currently use a proprietary system which is extremely clunky to log calls and hard to configure/use/report. If there is a suitable open source alternative it would be very helpful to know what is it.

Hello Andy. I was just about to post the same question... We use the open source software "Eventum", which is based on a MySQL database. Actually it is the system the guys at "MySQL" use for their own trouble tickets/bug tracking. It fits all the needs Jack was publishing in this article.

try this one
https://sourceforge.net/projects/bartleyhelpdesk/

very simply and quick to use

I downloaded Web HelpDesk from Unipress software - www.unipress.co.uk - and it is fantastic! The single-user license is free, which is all I need, but the additional users are again about $700 each (although I'm sure there could be price-breaks in there - I just haven't needed to ask!) It supports web and email ticket requests, and has no problem with exchange 2007 (it also supports IMAP and POP3 connections). Although I will probably go ahead and buy the full single PRO license, as it includes extensive asset and billing support, I might examine other systems if I went to a multi-tech environment due to the license costs.

Is the software ITIL compliant? A good helpdesk software should allow complete ITIL compliant change, service, risk, etc. management. This is a tried and tested framework which would allow the software to slot in to your current business practices rather than having to shoe horn it in (assuming your company follows the ITIL framework).

This article couldn't have come at a better time! Kaseya & Autotask are just slightly out of my reach and is not an investment I really want to tie into right now. So, I have been holding off. I just rediscovered Manage Engine's offering after a few years and got really excited about their MSP Solutions of a built in Help Desk, PSA, Scripting & RMM with lots of features for $25/year/device! and has a 30 day demo.

Ready Desk has a nice help desk for $199 that does billing as well, but doesn't tie into anything.

Make sure to look at Manage Engine's site for their free "Soup to nuts" white paper under their documents section for MSP's.

They have some great live demo's too. I'd be curios to see what other's thought about it after actually looking at it...

I was recently evluating ServcieDesk Plus from Manage Engine. A superb product in my view. I was especially impressed with their attitude to support. They have a forum where you can suggest improvements or features you'd like to have. I made a suggestion during the evaluation preriod and, about 3 weeks later, received a notification that it had been implemented.

It works extremely well with MS Exchange, uses MS SQl or MySQL, is very easy to set up, is fully ITIL V3 compliant and very easy to customise to meet your needs.

I was evaluating a number of other products at the samer time but have recommended this to my employers. They have a free version but I've gone for the fully featured Enterprise version.

I use an open source app called SiT! or Support Incident Tracker, it runs on Apache/PHP/mysql and has everything our Tech Support team need adn it's more professional than most. http://sitracker.org/

I installed Spiceworks earlier this year primarily for its help desk function and it's fulfilled all my needs and more. Definitely worth a look with lots of support from almost 1 million in the Spiceworks Community. I can't believe it's free.

It does work, but my experience during a recent evaluation, was that it is a "horses for courses" application. Small, simple to use, some useful features.

I had evaluated a number of products very much along the lines of the original article in this thread generating a comprehensive list of requirements. SpiceWorks met maybe a dozen or 15 out of the box. And they weren't obscure requirements.

If you are a small organisation ( 100 staff or so) with simple needs, SpiceWorks should meet your needs. Otherwise, forget it.

I am a single IT pro with 5 subnets and more than 200 users plus their net-connected instruments. I could not do it without spiceworks

Seriously, osTicket is absolutely excellent. Ticks all the boxes in this article and I've personally implemented it a number of times (always to rave reviews).

http://www.osTicket.com

HI,

I really liked OsTicket and would still be using it now but it didn't have a nice way of displaying 'KnowledgeBase' type articles for customer use.
Apologies if they have since added this feature but it didn't do this at the time

We went over to Xoops, a CMS, very easy to set up and plenty of modules to add including a nice Helpdesk and FAQ systems.
Can just be a Helpdesk or fully-fledged Intranet which is how we use it at our company, highly recommended.

http://www.xoops.org/

Please check SMART Suite Help Desk, we can deploy a 30 days trail for you, free of cost.
Also we are having local support in UK.

Don
www.iitsw.com

Thanks Don,

I'll have a look at that

I have also done the hours/days/weeks worth of research for a ticketing solution for my IT organization. I ended up utilizing the free (and eventually the very price worthy paid version) of Web Help Desk. It has all the features mentioned, and much more.

We're a tiny business, and about 3 years ago we were looking for a good helpdesk system, and the one we finally decided to use is Support Center by qualityunit.com (http://www.qualityunit.com/supportcenter/). A gmail-like interface with email options, good tracking, and lots of nice features.

At the time, the single-agent version was free, and they still provided excellent support for it! We decided to purchase the unlimited agent version, even though we would have been fine with the free version.

It's a php/mysql system, and it's been very stable and easy to use for us.

They currently offer two options: a hosted helpdesk on their servers for $29/month, or a purchase option -- the price for the unlimited version is $199, and comes with 1000 days free updates and support. They may even run promotions from time to time...

Not free, but we've been VERY happy with the quality of the product and service they've provided to us.

(disclaimer: just a satisfied customer -- no other connections to them)

My last employer uses "Track-It". expensive, propriety, clunky and un-reliable. The potential for false reporting and time allocation abuse is enormous making it a pain to verify. I know it's not Open Source but its out there and I'm sure may Org.'s are subcribing to it.

After an extensive search for ASP-based help desk applications with a SQL backend, my company (about 200 users) decided on JitBit for the following reasons (SpiceWorks was a close second but the interface was a little more complex than we had desired):

- Web-based interface that's clean and easy to use
- Supports Active Directory integration
- Supports email ticket submissions
- Email notifications to users and techs
- Allows file attachments to tickets
- Supports asset tracking
- Generates reports
- Includes knowledgebase and newsfeed features for user self service and announcements
- Most fields are customizable (status, priority, categories, etc)
- Private messaging for techs
- Inexpensive ($349 for software, $699 for software + source code), plus a hosting option
- Phenomenal support and regular software updates based on customer feedback

http://www.jitbit.com/helpdesk.aspx

We looked for a system that could:

- Support the ITIL framework and include change management and configuration databases as part of the overall support system.

- Incorporate an asset database for bother software and hardware

- Allow the setup of a knowledge base for support techs

- Allow self service by staff for general requests (such as connect a printer, reset a password, etc).

I fully agree with the thrust of this article. I have just finished an evaluation of a number of programs pretty much using this approach.

I believe that some of the most important features any application should have are:

1. ITIL V3 compliance.
2. Web interface for general users.
3. Knowledge base
4. Database back end
5. Customisable (by you) to suit your needs.

I evaluated the following products listed in order of preference after evaluation:

1. ServiceDesk Plus from Manage Engine
2. Numara FootPrints
3. HelpMasterPro from PRD Software
4. FrontRange HEAT
5. SpiceWorks

ServiceDesk Plus was a clear winner meeting all 36 of the essential requirements I had specified. FootPrints and Helpmaster Pro met 30 and HEAT 28. SpiceWorks met a low 16.

I'd be happy to share my technical investigation and methods with anyone who cares to email me.

would you please send me the doc so I can headstart

thanks

my email is
aziz.rahim@hotmail.com

My email is justin.shelbourne@gmx.co.uk

Would you mind sending me you helpdesk essential doc, I too am looking at ServiceDesk etc.

I was looking into the same thing and crossed OTRS. We didn't go for it for now because it seems not the smallest thing to set up.

What did you favour?

Resource requirements - will it run on the spare workstation in the corner or will you need to buy half a dozen new servers? Plus licences for SQL, IIS etc. etc.
Reports - how good are the reports out of the box? Will you need to invest in Crystal skills?
Integration - do you need it to work with your other systems - LANDesk, SMS, Zen or whatever. Can it import data from existing data sources such as Active Directory?
Inventory - can you keep inventory/asset records through their lifecycle? (The mythical CMDB/CMS even)
Service Levels - how easy is it to apply correct service levels to all your different customers.
ITIL - is it "ITIL aware" if required.
Service catalogue - can you create such a thing, store it within the system and report on service availability etc?
System Admin - can you administer your new Helpdesk easily? What about drag/drop interface, multiple selection of users/groups/roles/inventory etc.
Performance - how responsive is it? Loads of bells & whistles are no use if they bring your system to its knees. Make sure you see it working in a real world situation - talk to existing users if possible.

I've been using it for a couple of years now and it does everthing you mentioned above and more for free! it's great.

Dont forget to understand what you will need to get OUT of the helpdesk.. Is there some measurable matrix that you are seeking to provide (SLA, uptime, ticket type, ticket location, etc, ad nauseam.) Often knowing what you want to get out of the system helps to dictate what system you purchase, what features it has, and so forth. It may sound silly, but many that are new to helpdesks forget this step and wind up with a beautiful new system that is like a care with no wheels.

For larger companies it is imparative that you can track the number of tickets opened, the first response time, escalation and time when ticket was resolved. Reporting all of this is vita to run a good Help Desk. I worked for a company a few years ago and we had a ticker that counted average time on phone - they ran the service desk very well.

I am sure everyone has their favorites. Honstly, I haven't heard of most of these systems referenced by other posters. I've used Remedy, TrackIT!, and SupportSoft in the past. All of them were used in fairly large organizations. I am crious how big your organizations are and if these systems can support the large to mid size orgs. I've also toyed with Spiceworks but it lacked a few features which as of two years ago might be fixed.

I think above all else it doesn't matter WHAT system is used but WHO is using it. If your Level 1 and 2 support techs are mentally challenged it won't matter what system is implimented. I read the most pitiful responses from service desk now and we use Remedy from BMC (finally after 5 years using Lotus Notes Database) but sadly the system is not used to its full potential (for the price tag) and ultimately the techs fail to put in their names, a proper response, a proper reason for ticket closure or problem resolution and no way to re-open a ticket from the end user side. It really is more about HOW the tech and manager run the shop than the software they use.

The two hardest steps to implementing a helpdesk system are:

1. Getting your end-users to use it

2. Getting your tech staff to use it

It is a matter of training, re-enforcing good behavior, re-training, and buy-in from administration/management.

Our users are getting very comfortable with Sharepoint, so it would be nice to have a system that has a familiar interface for the users.

We can migrate our system to sharepoint, if
you are requested.

Please advise, if you need a demo.

www.iitsw.com

It passes muster on all the criteria, has canned and custom reporting, and a VERY active support community.

And it is free, but don't let that fool you - sometimes the best things really can be free.

At the very least, I would recommend installing it and trying out the features to find out which ones are the most critical to your organization.

http://www.spiceworks.com/referrer/Dana4085

Dont overlook HESK

I've been a Spiceworks user since version 1.5 and it's awesome and keeps getting better. Most of all, it's free. Even better though is the knowledgable user community.

http://www.spiceworks.com/referrer/ITSlave

I second that - easy to backup also.! And the price is right - FREE

I third it

A fantastic product!

The community support is great!

Thanks for sharing this cool app which does it freely but do you think with the embedded advertisement appearing on the right hand side, is it kind of disturbing for IT administrators? Is there any way to disable these advertisements?

Ads subsidize the cost of Spiceworks to make it free to end users, however you can get a subscription for $20/month that will replace the ads with your company logo.

Spiceworks fits the bill here all the way. Free, helpdesk, inventory, event monitoring, network mapping, and an awesome community. I've canceled my EE subscription because SW fills that need. Been using since beta and haven't looked back.

http://www.spiceworks.com/referrer/benhar

The auto discovery feature is cool - but I have almost a 100 PCs that for whatever reason, needs Windows tweak in order to be seen by Spiceworks. Each PC is weirdly different in what is causing issues.

It would be SO MUCH easier just to deploy a tiny little agent that 1.) made the PC auto discoverable OR 2.) made auto discovery unnecessary.

Only other issue is with PCs at 20+ branch offices w/ little-to-no network infrastructure OTHER than an ISP provided router and a little LAN for two PC users. (no domain controller, VPN, et cetera.)

There are some scripts you can run (local or remotely) that fix a lot of issues with the SW Scan (WMI fixes).

For a remote office, SW running as a service in remote collector mode on a desktop PC takes few resources.

When each PC is configured just a little different, then the configuration for spiceworks might have to be just a little different. I run a script on each PC when I install it that cfonfigures WMI and security to allow the spiceworks scan. using a GPO you can insert it into the logon script to make sure everything stays accessible.

As has been stated you can pay $20/mo to stop adds, But you don't get the screen real estate back it's just blank.

But these are not Google ads that might vaguely be tech related. But properly targeted to the IT SMB Admin. We have found several goods and services from SW adds. One was a rebate on scanners we had just bought. So we for us SW was not just free but paid us money.

Thats also were i seen secure logmein
https://secure.logmein.com/US/home.aspx and use it all the time.
SW community is great, they also seem to release upgrades quickly.

Keep in mind the ads are only visible on the admin side. I was pleased to see that our user portal was devoid of ads and customizable for our company.

I have been using it since 1.something and have introduced it to a third site now.

+1

Been using it from ver 1.5.
Also SW has lots of extension: http://community.spiceworks.com/extensions

I've been using spiceworks for over a year and its seamless integration of network scanning, inventory, and help desk, makes handling tickets a breeze. I can assign tickets to a particular devices or even open one from device view in the inventory.

THAT'S how strong SpiceWorks is. Unbeliev-a-easy to set up helpdesk, with enough notifications, tracking and customization options to make you wonder how you made do without it. I'm not a drink-the-Kool-Aid kinda guy but this tool rules.

What System did you use?

David Dare
System Consultant
PC Techs & Network Solutions
ddare@pctechs-net.com

I would recommend to take a look at www.attend-solutions.com. ATTEND PRO covers the "10 things" and more. 100% web, advanced ticket management, ITIL compliant, complete DB integration (MS-SQL, Oracle, MySQL and more), Google Maps integration, complete set of reports based on Crystal Reports runtime (new reports available with CR Designer).
ATTEND is also available through SaaS without limitations.
We are using this system since 1999 and it has been updated regularly every year.
There is a 30-day trial at this web site.

Numara Footprints has been an amazing tool for us. I highly recommend it due to low cost and ease of use.

the help desk system we wound up using was osTicket! it's really quite good.

Sounds like Jack just described Cerberus Help Desk/CRM. Developers are great- product is reasonably priced (free for the first 3 users) and while they charge licenses, it's open source, allowing for easy customization. Version 4 has been in development for at least a couple of years and is working great for me. www.cerberusweb.com

You need a way for the users to generate tickets, that's a must.

You also need to REALLY think about how it will scale. How will it access external data, will it have web services you can use or will you be relegated to file listeners, etc...

Download it now and take advantage of the almost 1 million knowledgable IT pros. It even replaces Google for help on IT problems.

Download it here and at least give it a try:

http://www.spiceworks.com/referrer/ITSlave

this post has got into d details.good for starters. would have been great if u had mentioned of names of some tools and also i guess telecom equipment is critical

You guys try OTRS open source Ticketing system

Have you guys tried out NeuQS free help desk. It checks all the boxes here and best of all it is free: http://www.neuqs.com

We use it and find it works a treat.

Can someone point me to where I can find a template or matrix that I can use to evaluate the various helpdesk apllications out there?

Just a quick suggestion. Try out Freshdesk. Same team that built manage engine service desk has built it. check it out. www.freshdesk.com

Great to see HelpMaster get a mention earlier in the thread.

v12 just released. Check it out here http://www.helpmasterpro.com

Hi, Do you have any opinion about BMC Remedy Mid Tier 7.6? A web system based an also includes ITIL And I also used HP Openview Service Desk, all ITIL based.

Thanks for answering.

Using Pink Veirfy Assestments, by PinkElephant, i found OTRS as the best choice. The best of OTRS is that they have a schedule of upgrades, and now it is very simple to install it.
Take a look, it is very flexible and configurable, Even the tickets are very simple to create.
May be the cons. are in the Change management process, it is a little bit messy, but it works. But it has several pros and plus, and it is free.