Helpdesk options

[Fawthrop]

Hi all!

 

 

We're looking around at Helpdesks and wanted to know what people are using most of the time? It's for a school with 2-3 people who will be managing the tickets. We're currently on SpiceWorks but with it being a free software it's limited in what it can do, we're mainly just testing the waters and want to see what is available.

 

 

Thanks!

[dmj]

depends how much time you have to set it up.

Jira free version isn't very restricted and can allow 10 users - It can do a really good job of helpdesk as well as agile, but is a massive headache to setup as it is very flexible. https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/pricing

[Davit2005]

Used to use Managengine ServiceDesk plus at last place (FE). Can do things like auto assign a technician (and exclude others) which was handy for us as we had separate 1st/2nd/3rd line teams. Worked well for us.

[jthompson]

We're using FreshDesk. The free option is limited to only 2 agents, so with 3 in your team you'd need to pay for it. It works well for us, whilst we're still eligable for the free option.

[Rob_D]

We've used manageengine for both the ICT and site teams for over 10 years now, works great for us. The only thing I don't like is how early they start trying to push our renewals through (our license renews in November, but their sales guys are sending us renewal quotes from about June).

[dhicks]

We're looking around at Helpdesks and wanted to know what people are using most of the time? It's for a school with 2-3 people who will be managing the tickets.

 

We use Trello, which allows for arranging of tasks into ordered lists, all on a shared workspace. We then use the SendBoard add-on to process emails, so people can email a specific address (or fill in a Google form) for a ticket to be created.

[PotNoodleTech]

We use Trello, which allows for arranging of tasks into ordered lists, all on a shared workspace. We then use the SendBoard add-on to process emails, so people can email a specific address (or fill in a Google form) for a ticket to be created.

 

Ooh intersting we already use free version of trello internally for keeping track of tasks it would be great to link up a google form for staff to use!

 

I suspect you need premium for this though?

[Fawthrop]

Used to use Managengine ServiceDesk plus at last place (FE). Can do things like auto assign a technician (and exclude others) which was handy for us as we had separate 1st/2nd/3rd line teams. Worked well for us.

 

How much does this cost you guys? and does it charge per user? I think we'd be looking to keep as low priced as possible to help the case of spending money on the helpdesk.

[Fawthrop]

We're using FreshDesk. The free option is limited to only 2 agents, so with 3 in your team you'd need to pay for it. It works well for us, whilst we're still eligable for the free option.

 

I think the school used this before I joined, but they got rid of it - I can't see the option for the free 2 agent version on their site though, but I might be blind!

[Fox]

+1 Managengine ServiceDesk for 13yrs

[jthompson]

I think the school used this before I joined, but they got rid of it - I can't see the option for the free 2 agent version on their site though, but I might be blind!

 

I still see it listed here - https://www.freshworks.com/freshdesk/pricing/

 

The free tier used to include up to 10 agents, but they're in the process of introducing the new limit now.

[Fawthrop]

I still see it listed here - https://www.freshworks.com/freshdesk/pricing/

 

The free tier used to include up to 10 agents, but they're in the process of introducing the new limit now.

 

I've had a glance around it and it does seem so much nicer than SpiceWorks, I think this might be the one we go for if we can convince SLT that it's worth the small price!

 

 

Thanks all!

[dhicks]

I suspect you need premium for this though?

 

I think Trello bought out SendBoard at some point, so I think if you now set up a board-with-email it's cheaper than it used to be (£10-ish per user per month?). I think the free limit is three addons, so for 3 users using just the email plugin you might just squeeze in under the free limit.

[timbo343]

I've had a glance around it and it does seem so much nicer than SpiceWorks, I think this might be the one we go for if we can convince SLT that it's worth the small price!

 

 

Thanks all!

We're in the process from moving from 3 instances of Spiceworks to 1 FreshService and i must say it's great! We haven't got the automatic asset discovery but we will be using it for Asset management.

 

Spiceworks and FreshDesk / FreshService kinda look and feel the same.

 

One thing I've setup on FreshService are the Automator rules, they are great!

 

We looked at FreshDesk, ITSM, InvGate, HappyFox and ManageEngine. Went with FreshService in the end.

[StephenPink]

We recently went with HaloITSM - liking it so far, and lots of features still to be explored

[Brax]

Used to use OSTicket and it worked well plus it's open source and free. However like a few other free options it's a bit of a pain to setup.

[PotNoodleTech]

We recently went with HaloITSM - liking it so far, and lots of features still to be explored

 

Blimey. Our quote for that was gynormous.

[StephenPink]

Blimey. Our quote for that was gynormous.

 

I thought it was reasonable - and had the most integrations, all of which are included. A lot of others I looked at, kept having "optional extras" at a cost which was irritating...

 

We're a team of 10 currently as well, which perhaps helped with value.

 

PM me if you want to compare pricing?

 

Cheers

[PotNoodleTech]

Thanks. Yeh we were team of 2. Sadly it's too late now anyway the oppotunity is no longer there. If I can jig up something for free using google forms and trello I will be happy.

[MatthewL]

ManageEngine is great, we use the service desk product and others teams have the customer service version to manage the workload into them. Slowly setting teams up with their own instances.

 

In use with ME desktop central can manage devices too, absolute life saver and it all integrates.

[gwendes]

We were using estreamdesk but this morning we've had an email to say they've gone out of business taking all our tickets and knowledgebase with them! Looking to take this opportunity to buy a single product for facilities, HR and IT, but everything seems to charge per agent per month at a lot more than we used to pay!

[Netwacky87]

Sorry to jump onto this thread but we have received notice from FreshDesk that our helpdesk will be limited to two agents very soon! (Talking about about 2 weeks time!) - Brilliant.

 

I'd like to utilise FreshService to bring multiple departments onto one platform but its eye watering! c£6000/year for 15 agents.

 

Anyone seen anything that's reasonable? Gone from £0/yr to £6k!

[supportman]

Sorry to jump onto this thread but we have received notice from FreshDesk that our helpdesk will be limited to two agents very soon! (Talking about about 2 weeks time!) - Brilliant.

 

I'd like to utilise FreshService to bring multiple departments onto one platform but its eye watering! c£6000/year for 15 agents.

 

Anyone seen anything that's reasonable? Gone from £0/yr to £6k!

 

Microsoft Lists does everything Freshdesk does and is free and great design. I have no idea why people use dedicated helpdesks these days.

[PotNoodleTech]

Microsoft Lists does everything Freshdesk does and is free and great design. I have no idea why people use dedicated helpdesks these days.

 

Will look int that, thanks!

[jthompson]

Microsoft Lists does everything Freshdesk does and is free and great design. I have no idea why people use dedicated helpdesks these days.

 

Really? Does MS Lists give you mailbox monitoring, auto responses, templates, cope with CC's, etc.? I haven't looked as MS Lists for ages and so hadn't even considered it as a viable email-based helpdesk option.