Looking for (free/cheap) helpdesk software

Forums › IT Pro and developers › Looking for (free/cheap) helpdesk software

tagoso

30 posts

Geek

#46754 9-Nov-2009 14:16

Hi,

I look after the IT for a company with about 30 users spread over 4 branches. Not huge - but then again my role is varied so I get to look after a lot.

I am looking for some free (or cheap!) software to manage the users' requests. I would like to be able to respond to requests, add notes and then keep the solved problem in a knowledge base. Ideally I would also like to manage projects/tasks within the same software.

I have found an interesting one called SysAid which seems ok - but I would really like it if the users didn't have to log into the application - it would just see who was logged in and allow them direct access to create new jobs (my users have little tolerance for logging in to something more than once a day!).
Perhaps even an email based system would work - something with Outlook integration....

Currently I am using a very basically edited Sharepoint list - this is ok but doesn't have many of the management features above.

Has anyone used anything else? We don't have a lot of money to spend on some of the flash systems (US$1500 +) so something open source or free is my preference.

Thanks for your advice and suggestions!

Regards.

Bryan

tchart

2396 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 577

ID Verified

Trusted

#271299 9-Nov-2009 14:35

Best one I found. Easy to set up and customise. You just need a web server with PHP and MySQL;

http://www.eticketsupport.com/

Did I mention its free?

xpd

Geek of Coastguard
14116 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4576

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#271304 9-Nov-2009 14:47

We use Sysaid here, great little system.

I believe you can set it up to use Single sign on etc so if youre on a domain it should work without logging in as such.... havent actually tried it here yet tho :)

XPD / Gavin

LinkTree

amanzi

Amanzi
1354 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 332

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#271324 9-Nov-2009 15:58

I use Zendesk which is all hosted so no local installation required. Not sure whether this fits what you're after, but it works well for me.

wazzageek

1095 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 108

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#271817 10-Nov-2009 20:34

tchart: Best one I found. Easy to set up and customise. You just need a web server with PHP and MySQL;

http://www.eticketsupport.com/

Did I mention its free?

Seems their site has gone belly up ... went to download this tonight. Dang.

robjg63

4161 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1426

Subscriber

#271835 10-Nov-2009 21:21

Bugzilla might be worth a look?
http://www.bugzilla.org

Free and huge user base - Not just for software bug tracking.....

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

browned

636 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 36

#271970 11-Nov-2009 11:01

We use a sharepoint list to log, give feedback, and make notes on requests.

We have also used Sharepoint Designer to create workflows and email notifications. single sign on, all free from MS.

With a little work you could get sharepoint to assign tasks as needed and once a job is closed add the solution to a sharepoint knowledge base. I am no expert in sharepoint but would fancy my chances at doing exactly what you have described with the right webparts and addons to the server.

check out www.codeplex.com for WSS creations and helpful tools for sharepoint.

Home Server: AMD Threadripper 1950X, 64GB, 56TB HDD, Define R6 Case, 10GbE, ESXi 6.7, UNRAID, NextPVR, Emby Server, Plex Server.
Lounge Media Center: NVIDIA Shield TV 16GB: Kodi18 with Titan MOD, Emby.
Kids Media Center: NVIDIA Shield TV 16GB: Kodi18 with Titan MOD, Emby.
Main PC: Ryzen 7 2700, 16GB RAM, RX 570, 2 x 24"

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

tagoso

30 posts

Geek

#272404 12-Nov-2009 14:13

Thanks for all your feedback:
SysAid
BugZilla
ETicket
ZenDesk
(Web Help Desk)
Sharepoint

I would like to get Sharepoint working - it's just my limited experience with customisation that's holding me back. I have downloaded and tried many of the above with mixed results.
Browned - thanks for your push back to Sharepoint - I will have another shot at improving that. At least the users are all familiar with Sharepoint.

allan

2073 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 899

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#272427 12-Nov-2009 15:41

I'm just using Sharepoint at two SBS sites that I support on a voluntary basis, both for charities. It's included, it's free and it actually works pretty well as a means both for them to notify an issue and also for emailing the fault details out to me - as I'm obviously not on site.

EDIT - i should just clarify, it's Windows Sharepoint Services with SBS, not the full blown SharePoint Server/MOSS.

stevonz

397 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#272431 12-Nov-2009 15:47

I used to use WN Helpdesk US$500 see http://www.wickett.net/

Cheers, Stevo

browned

636 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 36

#272432 12-Nov-2009 16:00

Sharepoint a a great tool for business, I doubt we are even using 1/4 of the features but it is more than enough for us at the moment while I work on developing new tools and processes on it.

1. All you need is your helpdesk list
2. task list if needed (we don't use one).
3. Open sharepoint designer, create a workflow for the list when things change and new items are created.
4. email "created by" and "modified by" and maybe "assigned to" if more than one support person.
5. Make the email as fancy as you like with HTML.

The knowledge base side of things is a little harder, but is still quite easy. You will need to install some workflow tools so you can copy a list item into the knowledge based list when the helpdesk job closes. I use http://spdactivities.codeplex.com/ "copy list item extended" for this.

You will need to make sure the fields copied from one list to the other are of the same type ie Text, date and time etc etc. But pretty straight forward.

You might also need to do some reading on installing sharepoint webparts, workflow addons, wsp's and dwp's. All info available on internet.

Oh and views are great, create views to show people the data they need, sort and group and filter howeever you like. Oh helpdesk default view lists the persons requests then all active requests so they can see we are busy.

I had no sharepoint knowledge a year ago and now we use sharepoint for company announcements, staff leave tracking, quality assurance document library, default templates, internal phone lists, IT assest tracking, and staff surveys and suggestions. Plus we are adding more as development allows.

Cheers
db

tagoso

30 posts

Geek

#272434 12-Nov-2009 16:08

Cheers for that. I really do need to get stuck in and learn more about Sharepoint. I want to be able to email the person creating the job when the job is updated or the status changes.....It is already emailing me (the only IT support person) when a job is created or changes status...
I've got the list set up so that users can only see the items they've created - and from memory this is what prevented me emailing them updates....been a while though - I may be mistaken.
What I think i might do, is create a dummy site on my Development Server and play - that way if I get over zealous, it won't turn to custard. Thanks again.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

browned

636 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 36

#272437 12-Nov-2009 16:10

And getting right off topic you can add a corporate search feature to sharepoint with search server express. Brilliant tool and pretty good at what it does. indexes most common MS documents and filetypes so staff can find what they want when they want it.