Know a good help desk ticketing system?

[Chris Kaday]

I have a client who is managing hundreds of properties and he needs to have an effective way of raising a ticket when a tenant has a maintenance issue and progressing this to a conclusion. This is a similar requirement to IT services when computers have faults which are reported and resolved. He does not need a fully-fledged property management system as the financial and other aspects are already well handled. Just something which can be used by the help desk so we know how many issues have been logged, how many closed and how many outstanding and can analyse these by property and fault type – simples. There are masses of systems for this on the web but nothing better than finding out what others do in a similar situation. Does not have to be industry specific as managing any type of fault fix requirement will be the same

 

[GraemeL]

http://www.lbehelpdesk.com/

(Sorry should have said I know of this through others, cannot tell you anything with more confidence than that)

But there are loads of others. Best to Google "Customer Service Desk"

 

[Chris Kaday]

Thanks for such a prompt response. I know I can find lots through searching and this looks pretty simple. However I was hoping to find someone who actually uses one who can recommend from experience.

 

[GraemeL]

Fully understand. We used one (not the one I mention) for IT system and bug reporting, was terrible for users but suited the IT dept. These systems - I think - are pretty specific to the application and unless you find another user in exact same position as yourselves then you could go down the wrong path.

But anyway I am rambling on. Best of luck with your search!

 

[Optegris]

We have been using www.kayako.com for a number of years (6+) and it's always performed very well. Their new v4 though has seen the pricing rise quite a bit.

It's still a very good helpdesk but may be overkill for what you want.

 

[EDRIAT]

I've been using: jitbit.com/helpdesk-software/ for the past 18months or so.

Has some minor issues, but worked very well for us.

 

[webhostuk]

I will highly recommend Vision Helpdesk , not impressed with kayako price for the the features they offer. Vision Helpdesk is really excellent helpdesk to handle mulitple companies plus there prices are real cheap to what kayako does, and most important support is far better than kayako.

 

[Chris Kaday]

Thanks so much for the recommendaitons - this should be a relatively simple application although it would be good if it integrated with Outlook and Word. Also need easy analysis of tickets, drop down menues and the ability for anyone on the system to see everyone else's tickets in case of absence. Would revolutionalise the way it is done at the moment which is by recording the jobs on a spreadsheet uugh

 

[HLSSolutions]

Hi Chris

Although you have said that you are looking for a help desk system, I would certainly not rule out some of the property management software that is around.

I used to work for the market leading residential lettings software company, and have now set-up my own software company focusing on the holiday rental side. Although they are designed to do a lot more than just the property maintenance, all of the lettings and holiday lettings packages should be able to produce job/work sheets for the contractors, track the preferred contractors for different properties and hold detailed notes about the status of each.

I used to run the help desk and had 33 staff supporting some 2500 property agents, I had our own help desk software programmed, as none of the off the shelf packages could deal exactly with the way we worked.

Would be happy to offer any further info or advice if needed.

Cheers

Ian

 

[peteoc]

Chris,

When do you need a solution by? Myself and a few other developers have been building a helpdesk solution for quite some time to meet a specific customers needs however we can always make a 'lite' version to meet your needs.

Give me a shout if you're interested.

 

[Chris Kaday]

Many thanks Ian. Our requirement is pretty simple as we are not maintaining the actual properties as these are new flats in developments with property management companies in place. We just make sure the tenants are happy and fix broken fridges, faulty showers, replace bulbs, change furniture and sort out keys etc. and make sure these items are charged back to the landlord We think something off the shelf like[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Kayako shoudl do it..[/FONT]

 

[Chris Kaday]

Having looked into this further I realise that lots of systems will log and categorise and close the ticket but we need everyone in the team to know on opening the ticket what has been done on it so we probably need some integration with Outlook? At present the emails are on individuals Outlook and also all muddled up and not filed by individual tenant request so others can’t access them or know what has been done. All help really appreciated.

 

[SneakSMS]

I'm using h2desk,

www.h2desk.com

 

[Chris Kaday]

Had a look at this and it does not seem to support emailing involved in actually fixing the ticket/fault. We need to show the email dialogue with tenant and contractor linked to the ticket so everyone on the team knows what has happened if they access the ticket so if necessary they can pick it up. Most systems are great for logging allocating and closing the ticket but not for integrated email. In short say a fridge needs replacing. We need to send an email to the contractor - he might offer various ones, we email back a decision and so on - this needs to be linked to the ticket. If not it sits in the Outlook of a team member all jumbled up with other instructions/requsts and no one knows what has happened to that particular job. Sorting this would be amazing. All jobs logged, all dialogues recorded by job and then closed and analysed!

 

[Posilan]

We use RT (request tracker - http://bestpractical.com/rt/) which works superbly.

Steve

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Chris,

you need to be a bit more specific about your requirents.

If you just want a simple/reasonable ticket system, there are loads - opensource include OSTicket (popular and well supported), eTicket, phpTickets or, commercially, Kayako.

However, do you also want to handle inventory, jobsheets etc. If yes, maybe soemthing a little more specific or bespoke may be better. Look at MyIT CRM.

Best to get teh brief right than find out what you install isn't enough in a few months/years!

 

[Chris Kaday]

Many thanks Steve. Had a look at this and does seem to be some email integration but not clear how this works. We would be advised by a tenant that a fridge was faulty by email so we need to open a ticket and with date time and through drop downs the problem type and property. We then need to email a contractor to visit the flat. The contractor might advise by email or phone a new fridge. We might ask for prices again by email and also advise the landlord and seek his permission to incur the cost and so on. Not clear form the screen shots if the emails are held on a database or something as does not seem to integrate with Outlook. Also need to analyse the tickets by property and issue type with drop downs and that does not seem to be there either. Might be me not understanding the screen shots – really appreciate your help. Hope this is specific enough?

 

[Posilan]

Many thanks Steve. Had a look at this and does seem to be some email integration but not clear how this works. We would be advised by a tenant that a fridge was faulty by email so we need to open a ticket and with date time and through drop downs the problem type and property. We then need to email a contractor to visit the flat. The contractor might advise by email or phone a new fridge. We might ask for prices again by email and also advise the landlord and seek his permission to incur the cost and so on. Not clear form the screen shots if the emails are held on a database or something as does not seem to integrate with Outlook. Also need to analyse the tickets by property and issue type with drop downs and that does not seem to be there either. Might be me not understanding the screen shots – really appreciate your help. Hope this is specific enough?

The email system works via "requestors", "cc's" and "admincc's". It handles all the email internally - no need for Outlook integration.

You can also create custom "scrips" to allow it to do exactly what you need it to do (automate the sending of emails to the relevant people etc, set priotities, sla's etc).

It also hooks very well into other scripts using back end command prompt scripts/cron jobs and commands.

Steve

 

[Chris Kaday]

OK I need to investigate Steve. Sorry really not trying to be negative but sounds a bit technical so might have to find some support?

 

[Posilan]

OK I need to investigate Steve. Sorry really not trying to be negative but sounds a bit technical so might have to find some support?

I quite agree - it's not trivial to install and customise. It is however a very powerful tool and easy for the end user to use once set up.

You may be able to find a local specialist who could set it for you though.

Steve

 

[KM-Tiger]

A second vote for RT. It's what we use internally, and it does mean you have a proper and complete record of all actions relating to an issue. There are many facilities to tag by client name, type of issue etc. All visible and searchable to multiple users with appropriate permissions. You can also add comments which don't get sent to the requestors.

It is self contained, it has its own database, and works from a web interface. So you work within RT, though you can set it to cc emails both incoming and outgoing to another account, e.g.Outlook. That's handy to be notified if you are not monitoring RT.

It needs a Linux server, so you probably would do well to get someone to set it up and maintain for you. We've done that for a few clients now, who seem very happy with what they have.

 

[QuickHomeBuyers]

This actually is a fantastic idea to implement from the start in the new EA. Would this also work via email?

Lets say somebody emails [email protected] this system would automatically repsond back with a ticket number to the tenant and log an open ticket in the system?

 

[Posilan]

This actually is a fantastic idea to implement from the start in the new EA. Would this also work via email?

Lets say somebody emails [email protected] this system would automatically repsond back with a ticket number to the tenant and log an open ticket in the system?

Yes, if you email support(at)posilan.com you can see it working. You should get a reply back immediately and another auto reply when we close the ticket. Feel free to try it

Steve

 

[swasa11]

http://www.ajsquare.com/products/helpdesk-software/index.php<link removed by mod> is the best effective help desk software with robust ticket support solutions. It is the best solution for smarter ticket support solutions.

 

[Peter Yu]

Hi Chris, your client can try focalscope—www.focalscope.com as the features in their system will help your client create, track and manage any sort of support tasks/incidents.

 

[Chris Kaday]

Many thanks Peter but we have now installed HelpSpot which has transformed the maintenance department and the client is very very happy.