David Benjamin
Manager, Client Technical Support
Diagnostic Center
for Population and Animal Health
Michigan State University
Suite
202
Lansing, MI 48910
517-432-5840
>>> John Gorentz
<
[log in to unmask]> 05/24/05 12:18PM >>>
At 11:40 AM
5/20/2005, John Gorentz wrote:
>I am looking for helpdesk call
management/issue management software that would be suitable for a small
department with two IT helpdesk people and an occasional kibitzer or
pinch-hitter. We have too many issues that get lost between the
cracks, and too many dropped balls when both outfielders are calling each other
off with calls of "I've got it, I've got it!"
>
>We do a lot of
business by e-mail, and I'm a huge believer in keeping all possible parties in
the loop by way of the cc: list. But just keeping track of the e-mails is
getting difficult. I'm not sure exactly what features I should
be looking for, but I have this vague idea that a good system would integrate
well with e-mail.
>
>I'm not necessarily looking for a better way
for users to report problems -- I think we have that covered reasonably
well. What I'm more interested in is a way of keeping track of who
has done what on an issue, whether it has been resolved or not, and of letting
users know where their issues stand. I also want the information on
past issues to be easily available and searchable by us.
>
>Does
there exist anything that would be appropriate for a small department in which
the helpdesk people are also busy doing other things? (I.e.
something with lots of asynchronicity built in?) I'd be
interested in listening to the voices of experience, or even the voices of those
who have done no more than go window shopping or tire kicking on these
things. (I already have a system for mixing metaphors, so don't need that
feature.)
>
>John Gorentz
>W.K. Kellogg Biological
Station
>I got several responses to this message, of basically two
types. I got the names of three products to look at (provided by
four different persons), and I also got several >messages saying
We'd-like-to-do-something-too-please-let-us-know-what-you-find-out.
>I
was getting pessimistic about this, because none of the softwares looked like
they would do what I wanted, even though I didn't really know what I
wanted. But my latest >revelation is that I don't really want
helpdesk software; what I really want is "email response management
software." Googling with those words is leading me to products that
>look more interesting.
>I'm tossing that tidbit out in case those
magic words elicit any other ideas from this group.
>John
Gorentz
We(DCPAH) use GroupLink and it integrates wonderfully with Novell
eDirectory and our GroupWise email. All tickets created or modified sends an
email to the technician, submitter of the ticket and the end user receiving the
repair. So far it has been great and it's completely web based. You can go to
the website
www.grouplink.net to
schedule a demo or just let me know and I do one of ours over the web with you
if interested - for anybody for that matter. It is priced per technician.