HelpDesk Software - Information and Suggestions

[Haui]

Where do I begin?

Over the past 2 years our companies HelpDesk department has used HelpSTAR in efforts to make our HelpDesk run efficiently. However, up until around April of this year, we were doing "so/so" with the version we had. In essence we had to upgrade to the most recent version of the software. This was a huge mistake - to lack there of a full story.

So, needless to say I am here to get some opinions and suggestions on software that everyone here uses. We are a 500+ user company with 3 reps who support the HelpDesk. We have 3 different departments in IT (Software, Technology Services, and HelpDesk) who use the current software. We work as a "team" - for the most past - in efforts to communicate and move requests around.

Since we are "hunting" for something new, here are some features we are looking for:

* Ability for end user to send email to HelpDesk - software auto creates ticket

* Open a ticket on behlaf of the end user (if they call in or whatever)

* Intergrated Knowledge Base system (we have a huge knowledge base right now that we want to carry over)

* Web Interface for end users

* Reporting (Tickets Opened/Closed, time spent working on ticket, rep evaluation, etc)

* Email Notifications to both end users and support reps

* Remote Assistance and diagnostics

* Possible Chat system

* Queues/Tiers

* Ability to set business rules, SLA's

* Ease of Administration - the easier the better

If I can think of more things I will put there in this list. For now, lets go with this. Now, I am looking for something that "has it all", but I also realize that is most likely not possible. I appreciate all help, suggestions, comments and what not.

 

[SViper]

We use TrackIt! program at our organization. Information can be found here: http://www.numarasoftware.com/Track-It.asp

We have 300 users and 3 technicians that use the software. It's highly customizable. We have it configured to auto-generate a ticket when a user e-mails a certain account (ours is called "helpdesk").

In addition to doing everything you have listed in your post, it also has inventory tracking. You can track all devices on the network and what they contain, such as software installed, hardware installed, etc. It integrates well with Active Directory.

You can do everything you listed in your post with it, although it's going to cost money. It's a great software, but to have additional features, you have to dish out more money for each add-on. It can get expensive depending on which modules you want to have.

 

[soybeast]

SViper, would you mind if I asked you how much it's costing your org per year?

 

[soybeast]

Oh and how's the support, licensing, room/cost of upgrades?

 

[Haui]

I would like to know that as well.

SViper - What has the software been like so far? Any problems with it at all? Is their support staff on top of things when you have problem, or do they dick around with things?

 

[SunnyD]

Sorry, can't help you. We use in-house developed $hit... and the new version that we're rolling out is absolute $hit.

 

[Haui]

So whats the point of your post then?

 

[SViper]

Unfortunately I'm a low man on the proverbial totem pole, so what information I have is scarce. That, and since we bought the product, the company has been sold. Intuit was bought by Numera Software.

When we got it from Intuit, it was about $4000 for the product, $4000/year for support, and $3000 for 5 technician licenses. I don't know how much the modules were that we got, but my boss mentioned that some of the modules should have been included with the product.

I assume they have good support, but we haven't had to talk to them at all. I think one of our technicians had to call to know how to set something up, but they were right on top of it. I never had to talk to their support. We never ran into any serious problems with the software.

I have no idea what their pricing model is now. It's owned by a different company now. They probably have a totally different pricing scheme by now.

 

[Haui]

Thanks for the information.

Anyone have an experience with Track-it or anything else?

 

[jfall]

Support Trio
Kayako
Deskpro
Cerberus

 

[ohmide]

I implemented a product called c.Support for my IT dept last year. I work for a college within a University. Around 250 employees, 300 workstations/laptops, 6 remote locations, 3 IT workers. I think it cost around 5-7k...I would have to go back and check. It handles most of what you listed above:

* Ability for end user to send email to HelpDesk - software auto creates ticket **Yes**

* Open a ticket on behlaf of the end user (if they call in or whatever) **Yes**

* Intergrated Knowledge Base system (we have a huge knowledge base right now that we want to carry over) **Yes, but have not used it at all. I don't know how hard or easy it would be to import it, you would have to ask the sales peeps...my guess is that it would be hard**

* Web Interface for end users **Yes the base license handles 10 users but you can buy an unlimited user license for 1K?**

* Reporting (Tickets Opened/Closed, time spent working on ticket, rep evaluation, etc) **The reporting has actually turned out to be kinda piss poor. They have a lot of "premade" reporting options that automatically queries things for you, but there is no "easy" way to quickly get the info you need displayed. If it was not pre-made, good luck. Also if you create custom fields, you would have to have a separate installation of crystal reports to pull any querying off. We don't do that sucks"**

* Email Notifications to both end users and support reps **Yes**

* Remote Assistance and diagnostics **No**

* Possible Chat system **No**

* Queues/Tiers **Yes**

* Ability to set business rules, SLA's **Yes they have a big SLA section but we don't use any of that**

* Ease of Administration - the easier the better **Kinda....if things work perfectly then cool, but things are currently not so it has been kinda annoying"

I would say that this solution is only "ok". We don't use a lot of the features and only needed the basics. Right now something fishy is happening in that we can't delete things properly and their tech support is blowing major @ss because of their lack of expertise. We will probably have to rebuild everything and then restore the data in order for things to work as it should. One good thing about it is that the whole system is web-based so there was never a need to install a client. HelpStar and Track-It have clients as I remember.
But it's a hard call becasue I researched a ton of software products before choosing this one, and I never felt 100% sure about it and I still don't. PM me if you have any other specific questions.