Help Desk Software question

C

Cheeptech

Limp Gawd
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Aug 22, 2005
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The company I work for is looking to deploy Help Desk software to offices that we manage to allow the users to send emails to our support desks for support requests. One of the main requirements we have been given, is that we want a customizable icon to be in the system tray that will launch the ticket that will send the e-mail. I have been looking into ZenDesk, and it seems to fit most of what we need (and alot we really don't), but have been unable to determine if it launches the way we are looking for. From what I can tell, it is accessed by webste only.
Anyone know of any other programs that DO use the system tray Icon? I believe LogMeIn rescue does, and is an option, but we would like to find something a little less expensive.

Thank you
 
We use TrackIT! in our office. I like the software, we demo'd a lot before picking it and its very easy to use and we've only has 2 minor issue occur in the past 3 years with it, so its rock solid.

That being said, it doesn't have a client that goes on the end user's desktop like LMI. We just use an ITHelpdesk@ email account we setup for all requests to be sent.

It sounds like your "requirements" are more like idiot proof methods for getting tickets, but whats more idiot proof then sending an email? (trust me, you will never make it fully idiot proof, someone will always prove you wrong) You can even save a pre-constructed email to the user's desktop, with the To: section filled out for your account, so all they have to do is double click and fill in the body, header.

Just a thought.
 
It's all about the idiot-proofing :D
The main reason for the customizable Icon (so we can put our logo on it) is to avoid confusing our customers. If I can't find a way to do it, will have to convince the boss, but would really like to find one with the Icon to launch the e-mail.
 
Most helpdesk programs that I am aware of either use a web portal and/or email parser to enter tickets from end users.

The only thing I have seen that comes close is by a remote management tool called "Labtech". You could allow end users to submit tickets directly from the agent icon in the task tray without actually sending an email or using a web portal.
 
To Idiot proof ours we just forced on a desktop Icon / shortcut to the web portal of the ticketing system. We used group policy so if the shortcut gets removed, once group policy sync's back up the shortcut will be placed back on their desktop.
 
Aren't you forgetting the deprecated use of the System Notification area beginning in XP? Microsoft has been moving to make the System Notification area less and less visible, it is currently not readily accessible in Windows 8 Dev preview. If you want to gaurantee visibility and accessibility, you might want to look at other optiions. As Tablets and non-windows OSes become prevalent, the System Tray may not have an analog across all devices. Just food for thought.
 
We have SysAid. A small app runs on each desktop, they click on it and it launches into a web browser for them to put the information into. Naturally they have to choose the category and enter a description that makes sense. I then get an email with the information and I also have a helpdesk portal that we log our time into.
It works fairly well but does not stop the phone calls and those who walk up to my desk :)
 
jadams said:
do not use Service Desk Express by BMC. Sucks.
Click to expand...

I've not had an enjoyable experience with BMC products. I was lead for a team that used BMC Remedy ITSM for 44,000+ EUs, and it was a constant battle. Part of the problem was that it was being hosted on servers in India (with TERRIBLE load-balancing) but it was also a royal pain to get anything corrected... we were told for nearly a year that due to the pending release of a newer version of Remedy, they could not support the current version of Remedy.

It meant months of half-assed workarounds just to get tickets to clear properly, and screwed with our reporting.
 
If you want something with a tray icon for tickets + Remote Access + System automation + Patching and such look at labtech

It has a ticketing system also

If you want a full CRM ticket + Billing system, look at connectwise
 
This past week I've been looking at other solutions and I remember nService was offered via MS Web Platform Installer.

I installed it, have been testing it out and thus far seem to like it. Integrates into AD nicely. Its worth a look.
 
We couldn't be happier with Web Help Desk. Sounds like you just need the Lite version. We use the Pro version at work because we track computers which is a feature in the Pro.

BMC bloooooows...and $$$$$$$$$$
FrontRange, see BMC above
SysAid is clunky
Service Desk Plus has crap overseas support
Track(sh)IT! is written on 80s technology (web client is weak)
Zendesk is shiny but lacks features (that you might not think you need now but will)

We tested them ALL and even looked into their financials (at least what was public). Zendesk is venture capital'ed out the whazoo....scary. :eek:

Help Desk Software by Web Help Desk

Hope that helped. :D Been there...done that...not fun... Too many vendors!!!

P.S. We needed one that worked on in-house Macs too. Web Help Desk FTW on Macs! :D
 
The solution I have used in the real world was simply a SharePoint site with a task list that users could add tickets to, at that point the helpdesk guys were able to mark the tickets based on their status, contact the users and fill out ticket resolutions. In my personal lab I have been tinkering with SpiceWorks and I think its a great solution, there is a user portal where users can submit tickets and check on ticket statuses and besides being totally free SpiceWorks has some great management tools also.

I deployed a shortcut to users desktops that takes them right to the user portal.
 
We recently switched over to Axios Assyst. Not really the biggest fan of it compared to some of the others I have seen/used.
 
jadams said:
This past week I've been looking at other solutions and I remember nService was offered via MS Web Platform Installer.

I installed it, have been testing it out and thus far seem to like it. Integrates into AD nicely. Its worth a look.
Click to expand...

I finally got around to testing this. Basic, simple, light weight, easy to manage. It replaced Service Desk Express from BMC.

If only my boss had asked me my opinion I could have saved him 30k.
 
We are using Symantec Altiris but it is a full blown web and email helpdesk, remote control, asset management, software management, software install/uninstall, etc.
 
haunter said:
they spam me too much :/

and I dont want my stuff hosted outside
Click to expand...

Hosted out side must be a choice. We run spiceworks at work and all our stuff is hosted internally. It runs on a local pc and the data base is on that pc, maybe I am missing something.
 
Snufykat said:
Hosted out side must be a choice. We run spiceworks at work and all our stuff is hosted internally. It runs on a local pc and the data base is on that pc, maybe I am missing something.
Click to expand...

maybe I just wasnt paying enough attention, it must be installed on the local workstation I was playing with

it would do what I needed for SQL server(SQL Server 2000 eeeeew) when I was looking at it, so I walked away from it

running on a windows host is a plus, maybe I will look into it more.
 
SpiceWorks offers a lot.. it pretty much installs itself and then you do everything through a web setup. it has guides to help you like when it sees a host that's not letting it scan it. They have ads but they are not the obnoxious Flash ads advertising belly weight loss like people think. They are pretty well curated. Also, if you really wanted to you could block the advertising on your firewall. People talk openly about it on the SpiceWorks discussion boards.

You can save on licensing by installing it on a Windows XP or 7 machine as long as it can support he number of users (people submitting tickets) you will have accessing it at one time.
 
I've never liked spice works. Their web portal is buggy, they constantly try and redirect you to their forums, and you can't run it as JUST a helpdesk solution. There is no way to turn off all that inventory and monitoring garbage.
It's also not very customizable considering it's based on Ajax and HTML. As soon as you get passed making it "look" pretty you are left with very limited expansion of it's capabilities as they relate to help desk processes.
 
cyr0n_k0r said:
I've never liked spice works. Their web portal is buggy, they constantly try and redirect you to their forums, and you can't run it as JUST a helpdesk solution. There is no way to turn off all that inventory and monitoring garbage.
It's also not very customizable considering it's based on Ajax and HTML. As soon as you get passed making it "look" pretty you are left with very limited expansion of it's capabilities as they relate to help desk processes.
Click to expand...
You don't have to use the inventory and monitoring at all. You can use it just as a Helpdesk system. Their forums are fantastic and a great community much like this one that can get you a ton of free advice and help. Personally I have used a number of the helpdesk systems mentioned here and even custom ones built out for our company. I keep coming back to spiceworks for ease of use and installation.
 
we use the Drupal platform for Tickets, Wiki and Support Forum.
no inventory or monitoring though.
 
Here i can see so much of sales pitched comments. I am not going to suggest any help desk software, since it totally depends on your requirements. Rather you can check help desk software reviews from various websites like comparehelpdesk, softwareadvice, ithelpdesksoftware.com and so on, to analyze yourself whether it has all the features to satisfy your needs. And check out the reviews from the users, before going for it.

Try it out IT help desk feature by feature reviews
 
@Xerxes
Your company looks worse and worse the more you spam that focalscope trash.
We are going to report your posts every time idiot.
 
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