Choosing Help Desk Software
There are so many help desk software providers out there, prices ranging from free to over $6,000 per advanced user (i.e. Technical Support Rep or Customer Support Rep) and an overwhelming array of structures, web services, and features to choose, selecting the right helpdesk software for your organization can be a time consuming and frustrating process.
The purpose of this article is to try and simplify the process for you. This article will address ordinary issues that everyone in the help desk software market should understand before making the ultimate selection. Considering these issues will help you make a more informed decision.
Issue Tracking Software – Architecture
The issue that tends to cause the most confusion in our industry is client/server web-enabled solutions (C/S) vs. 100% web-based solutions. In general, C/S architected solutions are quickly depreciating. At one point, an great step up over main frame solutions, C/S technology has been phased out due to the availability and benefits of web-based solution architectures. The main reason some helpdesk software businesses continue to sell C/S solutions is due to the fact that they do not have the development resources to convert their older product to a web-based architecture. Some of the rewards that web-based solutions have over C/S solutions include:
- No client-side software installation, updates, or support
- Log in from anywhere, anytime with any browser
- Access to all features and functions anytime and from anywhere
When you start to try different customer support software solutions please take note if you are required to load code on your computer to starts the demo. If so, you are not dealing with a vendor that gives a web-based solution. True web-based architectures need only a web address in order to do a demo.
So, if the vendor emails you a 5 MB exe. file to demo their solution, you are not seeing a 100% web based customer support software solution. The file that vendor is sending you is either front ending a C/S system or is a entire canned demo on your desktop. Make sure you evaluate the solution you are going to buy! If you do purchasea C/S solution, please note that web-enabled add-on modules will not give you full access to all of the features when you are at a remote location.
