What Is Helpdesk Software?
Keeping customers and employees happy is a vital consideration for business owners; in fact, it's one of a company's top priorities whether it's a small to midsize business (SMB) or a large organization. Customer service and service management businesses function thanks to the right helpdesk software. No matter what size business you own, it's vital to choose the right helpdesk software that can satisfy your company's particular needs.
Fortunately, you are not short of options as there is a wide range of helpdesk software available—some better suited for SMBs, others more suited for larger organizations, and still more suitable for internal IT operations rather than organizations dealing with customer requests. Additionally, not all helpdesk software is created equal. For example, helpdesk software such as Cayzu, Freshdesk, HappyFox, Vivantio Pro, and Zendesk Support include social tie-ins that let tickets be raised from social media sites, such as Twitter; this could be an important feature to a company dealing with a large customer base, but not nearly as important or even irrelevant for one using the system simply as an internal IT service platform. Or helpdesk software, such as Jira Service Desk, provides additional security measures and identity management (primarily single sign-on or SSO) features, which may be key differentiators to some companies but not to others.
In this roundup, we tested several leading helpdesk software offerings, including Agiloft Service Desk, Cayzu, Freshdesk, HappyFox, Jira Service Desk, Kayako, ServiceDesk Plus (SDP) 9.1, Vivantio Pro, Zendesk Support, and Zoho Desk. All of these helpdesk solutions are available as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions. This means you don't have to install any of the helpdesk software onto a local machine. As SaaS solutions, all of the helpdesk software tested can be run on someone else's servers—a fact that could appeal to many owners of SMBs.
ITIL Adherence
During testing, we discovered that some helpdesk software stood out from the others in one important way: adherence to the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). ITIL is an established service framework used mainly by IT management companies work. It is a set of best practices that include many processes, procedures, tasks, and checklists. Having ITIL effectively govern how your company does things can be both constraining yet beneficial, depending upon your particular industry. We believe that ITIL should be followed whenever possible, even if it does seem to be a bit overbearing for smaller enterprises.
The helpdesk software tested falls into one of two camps: those that follow ITIL's guidelines and those that don't follow them. The software that does follow ITIL—which were the more advanced services tested such as Freshservice and ServiceDesk Plus (SDP) 9.1—would make more sense to larger businesses working in the service management industry, perhaps overseeing data centers or large corporations in which service-level agreements (SLAs) and penalties are more than simple buzzwords. If your business follows ITIL, then you should opt for a helpdesk software offering that adheres to ITIL's framework.
But not all businesses that need helpdesk software follow ITIL or even need to. For example, if you are a software developer looking for something to handle incoming support requests from customers, then strong change management (something ITIL governs) probably isn't something you need. And Freshdesk, one of the helpdesk software offerings tested, is not likely to be useful to a company that's in charge of maintaining a large data center. Some businesses that don't adhere to ITIL may focus more on customer service where tickets generated from social media are offered. These businesses would benefit from helpdesk solutions such as Cayzu, HappyFox, and Zendesk. So, first determine whether or not ITIL is something your business needs to follow and shop accordingly.
Key Capabilities
All of the helpdesk software tested contains key features required to make the grade as even the most rudimentary of helpdesk applications. Some of those common features include giving agents the ability to create support tickets, edit the tickets, and then close the tickets when the issue or question has been resolved. This ticket handling, and whether or not they do it well, was one of the basic standards we had in mind while testing the helpdesk software in this roundup. Another feature common to all of the helpdesk software tested includes the ability to receive tickets by email. And finally, most of the helpdesk software offers a knowledge base, which provides different content for agents and customers. Freshdesk, for example, lets you create separate sections of the knowledge base that are accessible only to some of your customers or you can create private documentation for your agents with in-depth technical information.
Another key feature any good helpdesk app should have is the ability to communicate with other apps. The data gathered by service desk consoles can be invaluable to several other areas of the average business. For example, if you're using your helpdesk app to handle customer service calls regarding a product or service the company is selling then the data the system generates can give a serious boost to your customer relationship management (CRM) database, thus empowering your sales staff. If you're using social media as a service desk channel, then making sure your social media management tools are tracking customer interactions is another great data source.
These are all examples of very basic capabilities that any helpdesk software offering should provide, and most of the helpdesk software tested met these requirements. So keep those basic requirements in mind as you read the reviews. HappyFox, Vivantio Pro, and Zoho Desk were the three helpdesk software offerings that won our Editors' Choice award. HappyFox would satisfy the customer service needs of SMBs while Vivantio Pro and Zoho Desk are more suited to large businesses with their focus on ITIL and asset management.
Featured Helpdesk Software Reviews:
HappyFox Review
$19.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% A combination of intuitive automation and self-service tools, both key components of an efficient help desk, make HappyFox one of your best options for tracking and managing help desk tickets. Read the full review-
Vivantio Pro Review
$60.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% A mature and feature-rich helpdesk solution, Vivantio Pro has all the features it needs to become our Editors' Choice. It's only problem is a lack of clarity into its pricing. Read the full review -
Zoho Desk Review
$25.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Zoho Desk is a flexible helpdesk system that integrates well with other Zoho offerings. It provides basic features for small to midsize businesses (SMBs) as well as a full feature set for larger companies. Read the full review -
Agiloft Service Desk Review
$95.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Agiloft Service Desk is a highly capable tool that requires a good bit of work to get properly configured, but it offers a lot in return for enterprises looking for both an external and internal helpdesk solution. Read the full review -
ServiceDesk Plus (SDP) 9.1 Review
$395.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Combining service desk functionality with asset management, ServiceDeskPlus 9.1 offers a very mature feature set that's aimed primarily at large organizations desiring on-premises help desk software that conforms to ITIL best practices. Read the full review -
Zendesk Support Review
$5.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% A competent ticket management app, Zendesk deserves its popularity. Just watch out for price and make sure you're getting the features you need. Read the full review -
Cayzu Review
$12.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Cayzu brings best-in-class helpdesk tools for customer self-service, but lags behind our Editors' Choice in automation and reporting. Read the full review -
Freshdesk Review
$16.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Freshdesk is simple to use and even contains a few advanced features not found in more expensive help desk solutions. It's not the best choice for ITIL users, but for straight ticket management, it's a fine choice. Read the full review -
Jira Service Desk Review
$10.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Jira Service Desk is a solidly featured help desk at a decent price, but lags the competition lacking both knowledge base and social media capabilities. Read the full review -
Kayako Review
$20.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% The updated version of Kayako delivers an improved user interface at the same price. The same wide range of communication channels and enterprise security makes it a more viable choice than the previous version. Read the full review -
Revelation Review
$44.95 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Revelation help desk's search, filtering, and reporting capabilities will appeal to companies with relatively large support operations but its price will send some customers elsewhere. Read the full review -
Desk.com Review
$30.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Desk.com is well worth it if your service desk just needs to be able to raise and close tickets. It's not going to run your ITIL business but it doesn't set out to either. Read the full review -
Freshservice Review
MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Freshservice is a straightforward, managed service desk offering with a streamlined and intuitive web interface that provides the ITIL counterpart to Freshdesk. But even with its nod towards ITIL, this package is better suited for SMBs than the enterprise. Read the full review -
Mojo Helpdesk Review
$1.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Mojo Helpdesk offers entry-level pricing, but has a somewhat limited feature set if what you're after is custom reporting and branding. Read the full review -
Samanage Review
$0.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Samanage's IT Service Desk and Asset management suite has many features businesses may be seeking and offers a short free trial, but a lackluster interface means it's not a fit for everyone. Read the full review -
TeamSupport Review
$35.00 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% TeamSupport is a decent helpdesk application but with a dated and sometimes convoluted user interface. It's a good option for SMB operations, but make sure its particular features are really right for you before committing. Read the full review -
Teamwork Desk Review
$0.05 MSRP
%displayPrice% at %seller% Teamwork Desk is a clean and snappy product that shows great potential. However, it's still a newcomer in the helpdesk marketplace and has a ways to go before it reaches parity with the rest of the field. Read the full review