School Helpdesk and Logging

[jthompson]

Off the back of so many FreshDesk recommendations in this thread, we trying that out on the free tier. I'm liking it so far, particularly the mobile app. We've used self-hosted osTicket quite a bit in the past, but the lack of a decent mobile interface was a real downfall.

 

One feature of it that I'm liking a lot is that when a ticket is forwarded to the helpdesk (because we always seem to have people emailing the entire IT team instead of the helpdesk), it automatically sets the original sender as the ticket requester. Neato.

[supportman]

We created our own. Google Form converts to Trello card using Zapier. Working well for IT, Premises Team and Finance team so far.

As someone else mentioned Microsoft Lists is also a good free option...you can also tie this in with a Microsoft Form which would be nice.

 

I honestly don't understand why people use anything else these days other than Microsoft Lists or Google Forms. They are both brilliant helpdesks that are hugely customizable.

[jthompson]

I've only ever found that email-based helpdesks get any traction at all with users. YMMV, obvs. They allow for much easier back-and-forth, which I can't really see how you'd do in a task management system like Trello or MS Planner. I use MS Planner a lot, but not as a helpdesk.

[EssentialRug]

I honestly don't understand why people use anything else these days other than Microsoft Lists or Google Forms. They are both brilliant helpdesks that are hugely customizable.

 

Agreed...and FREE!

[jmak]

I honestly don't understand why people use anything else these days other than Microsoft Lists or Google Forms. They are both brilliant helpdesks that are hugely customizable.

Did you use a template or roll your own? I fancy having a go at this but haven't got time to start from scratch at the minute.

[supportman]

Did you use a template or roll your own? I fancy having a go at this but haven't got time to start from scratch at the minute.

 

I used their "Issue Tracker" template, took 5mins to setup. Just edit any fields to hide them or make them non mandatory in the list options.

The beauty is it all integrates into Office 365 in terms of users and groups.

 

You can also use Rules to setup auto emails on update or completion. Additionally you can use power automate to do some really crazy advanced stuff, although i've not looked into it too much.

 

You can also create new lists from scratch, i've made lists for long term jobs, assets and all sorts. Its very flexible and quick to setup.

Edited May 16, 2022 by supportman

[Aprice]

Another vote for Freshdesk from me, The free plan is probably fine for schools. We're planning on moving away now to something more suited to ourselves now.

[GrumbleDook]

I honestly don't understand why people use anything else these days other than Microsoft Lists or Google Forms. They are both brilliant helpdesks that are hugely customizable.

 

Because customisation takes time ... and a lot of time to maintain.

 

Service Desk engines are more than just job lists or job tracking. Good ones help provide so much more. To some extent though, you use what you need.

 

[HPlum78]

https://plumsail.com/sharepoint-helpdesk/