How to Choose Your Help Desk Software

Choosing the right help desk software is an important decision you make for your business. A good, easy to use help desk will bring you happy customers and more sales.

But on the other hand, a complicated or cheap-looking help desk will drive your customers away and lose your profits.

No matter if you choose a free help desk software or a paid one, there are some important features you want to make sure your software provides...

1. Easy to Use

When your customer is visiting your help desk, it means he has a problem or question. So the last things you want to do it confusing him even more with a complicated help desk.

2. Professional Design

Just like you know your office should look professional to win the trust of your offline customers, on the Internet, your help desk should look professional as well.

This way you win your customers' trust and they are much more willing to buy from you.

3. Web Based Help Desk Software

A web help desk software makes your business worldwide and easy to run. No matter where you or your support staff might be, you can always access your help desk and take care of your customers questions.

You can find out more about web based help desk solutions in this free helpful article.

4. Easy to Customize to Match Your Business Needs

You want to be able to add various sections, departments, staff, products, and as many changes that you want in your help desk software.

Source: http://www.helpdesk-software-free-tips.com/how-to-choose-help-desk-software.php

What Is an IT Helpdesk?

In a nutshell an IT helpdesk (in the modern sense) is an information and assistance resource that helps is there to help solve problems within the computer and IT related industry. These helpdesks can be of two distinct types that are listed below:

Internal facing IT helpdesks

Internal facing IT helpdesks are very often found "in-house" at a company and are geared toward providing IT and IT service support for employees of that company only.

External facing IT helpdesks

External facing IT helpdesks are often set up by business corporations such as Microsoft and Apple to offer helpdesk IT support to their customers via a toll-free number, website and/or e-mail.

The functions of an IT Helpdesk

A modern IT helpdesk has many functions no matter if it is internally (Employee) or externally (Customer) focused. Both provide users with a single point of contact that will help with various computer and IT issues.

Both helpdesk types normally manage IT help requests through very specific helpdesk software that allows the helpdesk to track all IT job requests from start (when the IT helpdesk request is raised) to finish (when the IT problem is fixed). Each IT helpdesk request is issued a "criticality and response level" grading as it enters the job tracking system. These IT Support grading levels are:

IT Support Level 1: This type of IT support is generally seen as phone support. However, there is also although some limited desktop support (see below).

IT Support Level 2: Level 2 IT support is generally a desktop support function. This means that the IT technician will do physical work on your computer, PC or laptop. This is often seen as an escalation from Level 1 IT support if the issue that needs resolving is not a basic level 1 IT issue.

IT Support Level 3 This level is generally an escalation point from the level 1 and 2 IT support grades. Level 3 IT support is the highest level of both internal and external IT support and generally they are industry or company specific.

IT Support Teams

With an IT helpdesk there are a number of different team members (IT technicians) that have different functions. These functions are specifically relevant to the team in which they are found. These IT teams are:

The desk side team:

The desk side team is often referred to as the desktop support team and is responsible for all of the desktops, laptops, and peripherals, such as personal digital assistants in a company or organisation.

The network team:

The network team is responsible for all of the network software, hardware and infrastructure in a company or organisation. This includes...

• Servers
• Switches
• Backup Systems
• Firewalls and Internet (Online) Security

This team is normally assigned work by the helpdesk.

The server team:

The server team is responsible for the servers and server infrastructure within a company or organisation. This includes all of the following...

• DNS or Domain Name System Servers
• Network Authentication
• Network Resources
• Database Storage
• Content Management Systems
• Industry-specific Server-based applications

Other IT teams:

Certain companies have a IT telecom team that is responsible for the all of the telephonic communications infrastructure. This includes PBX, voicemail, VOIP, telephone sets, modems and fax machines. This team is part of the service desk but generally does not deal with specific IT issues.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6899674

Open Source Help Desk Software - Free Help Desk Software You Can Customize

What Is Open Source Help Desk Software and How Can It Help You?

An open source software is simply a free software you can customize and use for free. For example Linux is an open source operating system software but Windows is not.

So when it comes to open source help desk software, in simple terms it means you can get a totally free professional help desk solution and you can use it on unlimited number of sites at no cost.

You can also change and customize your open source software to match your business needs.

Most business owners feel that their search for free help desk software is hopeless. They feel it is too good to be true - if it is free, it cannot be good! Many are afraid of viruses and spyware.

The good news is, this is simply not true.

Many authentic websites retail products endorsed by millions of businesses. You need to be a little careful in your search but there is no reason to think that all free software is harmful.

Free help desk software can help businesses prosper in a number of ways.

The free help desk software can help you create reports by clubbing data from call reports and emails. You can get quite sophisticated free help desk software from the Internet.

help desk software is a program or collection of programs used to manage a company's help desk. help desk software is a must for any company that does business online.

Free help desk software is practically free to use, and many of them have most of the features that are available with other costly help desk software.

Remote Help Desk Software - How to Run Your Help Desk No Matter Where You Are

What Is a Remote Help Desk Software and How Can It Help You?

A remote help desk software allows you to see your customer questions and take care of their issues - no matter which part of the world you or your support staff might be.

This is a great benefit comparing to in-house help desk softwares, because you can have staff from all around the world.

Outsourcing your customer support and help desk has been become a popular choice in many small and large business, because you can use the service of people in countries like India that will save you a lot of money.

Why Do You Need a Help Desk Software?

Help desk support software is a must-have for any new or existing online business. Even if the majority of your business is off-line, many people prefer online product and service support.

Customers want their questions answered quickly and personnel need a way to effectively manage their work. Help desk software is an affordable, easy-to-use and useful tool for the growth of your business.

Some of the benefits of help desk support software may include an increase in customer satisfaction, few calls to call centers, more productivity of personnel, and the ability to determine and better manage issues with your service or products.

Consistent feedback can help the growth of your company by keeping you informed on what works and was does not.

Both your customers and employees will benefit from a productive help desk program. Most help desk support software programs allow the end-user to compile a list of FAQ’s to better serve the client base.

In cases such as this, many companies choose to automate their help desks.

This can save the company both time and money by letting customers find the answers to their own questions. Of course there will be occasions when the FAQ’s do not cover every conceivable troubleshooting issue.

Although help desks can be automated, this type of software also allows for more advanced technical support to be offered.

Customers can simply submit an inquiry to the appropriate department and expect a timely response.

With help desk support software packages, customer and technical support staff are better able to manage and track trouble tickets.

Source: http://www.helpdesk-software-free-tips.com/remote-help-desk-software.php

Help Desk Software Reviews - Discover Which Software Is Best for You

When you are looking for the best help desk software for your business, reading other people's reviews will help you make your choice more easily and smartly.

After all, you know how every help desk software owner will tell you his solution is the best you can ever find, right?

But is it always the truth?

Certainly not. Actually most help desk software programs are not easy to use and cost too much. So you want to read what other real people like you have tried and what they think, to help you find the best software for your business.

I have personally tried various free and paid help desk solutions. Some where useless. Some were "OK". And a few were fantastic.

So I share my honest review here with you to help you save time and money.

The best software I have used and still use for my business is Kayako Help Desk Suite.

It is a truly powerful, all-in-one solution for any small or large online business. You can check out the Kayako demo for your self here.

If you are looking for a free help desk software, then Kayako might be a bit expensive for you. So here are the free software I recommend...

Source: http://www.helpdesk-software-free-tips.com/help-desk-software-reviews.php

Help Desk Softwares/Applications

Selecting a proper help desk software is extremely essential for any company which really wishes to provide best possible customer support. When you have implemented the correct solution, it not only results in reduction of response and resolution times, but also increase customer satisfaction rates and customer retention. Select a proper helpdesk for your company to maximize your profits and reduce your IT costs.

Here I have listed some good helpdesk softwares (not specifically in any order).

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus:

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is a Web-based, easy to use HelpDesk software with Asset Management whose features include contract management, software license management, network inventory management, purchasing, active directory & LDAP integrations and knowledge management functionalities. ServiceDesk Plus is a highly customizable, easy-to-implement help desk software with best ITIL practises. It also provides Hosted, SaaS software with Asset Management Suite, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus On-demand.

Zendesk :

Zendesk is the web based help desk software with support ticket system and a self-service customer support platform. Combining the fields Priority, Type (Question, Incident, Problem, Task), and Status (New, Open, Pending, Solved), and age, ZenDesk creates a score that places that ticket in order.

Sysaid :

SysAid is a suite of web-based IT software tools. It automates your processes for help desk, hardware configurations, asset monitoring, software licenses, tasks, projects and much more. By automatically scanning and testing your network, SysAid provides you with the necessary details about each machine and lets you control each one remotely.

H2Desk :

H2desk is the powerful way to provide online support to your customers. From small businesses to larger corporations, the help desk will streamline your online communication with your customers - your business will save time and money. Create, manage, and overlook unlimited staff members, departments, and tickets.

Web Help Desk :

Web Help Desk is a web-based help desk software that empowers IT help desk technicians with email-to-ticket conversion, trouble ticket email notifications, track work time, a self-service knowledge base, LDAP & Active Directory integration, and much more.

Helpstar :

Helpstar is the help desk with asset management software which specialized in tracking PC configurations and assets, manage help desk work orders, and perform reports and queries.

Spiceworks :

Spiceworks is the help desk software which lets you manage user tickets, organize your work, and assign tasks to your helpdesk team. Receive tickets via web or email, assign tickets across your IT team, create tickets while browsing network assets and track tickets by user, asset, due date & more.

Helpdesk Pilot :

HelpDesk Pilot is web based, php & mysql driven support / trouble ticket solution. Turn customer emails into tickets and each email id as a department. Add support members (staff) to a department. Each ticket (issue) is grouped by responses and each activity is tracked.

Numara Track-IT :

Numara Track-It is a comprehensive IT help desk software and asset management solution that allows you to cost effectively implement industry best practices, including ITIL. It helps you manage all aspects of help desk and asset management functions.

I may have missed out some other good help desk softwares. Please forgive me for that and feel free to use the comments to tell about the missed ones. Thank you....

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6320389