| Customer service is becoming the dominant factor in | | | | user interface and manageability of the software |
| any kind of business and providing a high quality | | | | would often end up be. Many Help Desks claim to |
| information and relationship resource for both your | | | | solve this issue, but unless you give them a try, it's not |
| clients and employees cannot be ignored. Along with | | | | possible to tell how it's going to work out in practice. |
| high level of customer relationship standards that have | | | | That's why you should try out as many as possible |
| emerged through the years we are also seeing the | | | | once you sort them out by the functionality they |
| continuous improvement of Help Desk programs and | | | | provide. |
| release of more and newer software in attempt to | | | | Another important aspect before you make your |
| satisfy all kinds of requirements. | | | | choice is how you prefer the Help Desk program to |
| Whether you're a small business owner or a multiple | | | | be managed - hosted by a third party/developer or |
| departments corporation spread in several cities, | | | | self-hosted, with 100% or partial web-based interface, |
| whether you've been using some Help Desk software | | | | with a single or several levels of access, preferably |
| solution and feel to urge to move to a better platform, | | | | customizable as well to sort out different management |
| or you're just looking for your first issue ticket | | | | departments from company clients who don't have to |
| customer relationship management package, there are | | | | register. There is a lot to think about and you should |
| always a couple of questions you should ask yourself | | | | take your time to specify each of those needs |
| before making your decision. | | | | exactly. |
| How much time and money I can spend to educate | | | | And last but not least, the price that you can afford to |
| my staff to use the software, in other words - what | | | | pay. Perhaps a free solution may work just fine in |
| degree of complexity can I allow the Help Desk | | | | managing your customer relationship and internal |
| solution to have? What additional functions do I need | | | | business operations such as sales, orders, |
| apart from basic issue ticket managing - email routing, | | | | transportation, asset management and so on? |
| automated escalation, FAQ and customizable | | | | Perhaps a commercial open-source Help Desk |
| knowledge database, detailed reporting system, | | | | platform is what you need so you can adapt it to your |
| multiple departments, custom fields and so on. | | | | current work flow, customize it and integrate your |
| These two questions go hand in hand because the | | | | existing data? |
| more functionality you need, the more complex the | | | | |