What Helpdesk Platforms are IT Service Providers Using
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@scottalanmiller said:
**The interface makes you feel like the RDP will be tunneled through the SSL channel that is already established, but it doesn't. ** That's confusing that they are tied together.Ding. That right there. That is why I'm not understanding why it's being tied directly to the browser. In theory it's neat, but sometimes just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
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@Bill-Kindle said:
@scottalanmiller said:
**The interface makes you feel like the RDP will be tunneled through the SSL channel that is already established, but it doesn't. ** That's confusing that they are tied together.Ding. That right there. That is why I'm not understanding why it's being tied directly to the browser. In theory it's neat, but sometimes just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
I'm not sure what you are saying. There is an interface and it isn't consistent. Some parts of the interface work at some times, others work at other times. There is no connection between them and no clues (other than knowing the underlying network) to tell you when things will work. It's like a Windows 8 and all the weird stuff with no on screen clues as to what is going to happen.
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Imagine any other application. Imagine you are using SalesForce to do some work. You are working along and suddenly some button on the screen just fails, no warning, no reason. You call support and they say "oh, even though this is a web app, for that one feature to work you have to drive to our offices and sit in our lobby."
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Try to remember the first time that you tried to use the troubleshooting tools. Didn't it seem odd that some buttons in the interface worked and some required special conditions under which to work - conditions with no connection to when the rest of the application worked?
When this feature was new, everyone was so confused because it looked like SW was making a remote access application which people needed (a la LogMeIn) but it didn't have any functionality that people didn't already have. And if you aren't on Windows, it REALLY doesn't work. Try it from Linux, for example, it does nothing. From a web interface perspective, it is broken in every imaginable way.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Bill-Kindle said:
@scottalanmiller said:
**The interface makes you feel like the RDP will be tunneled through the SSL channel that is already established, but it doesn't. ** That's confusing that they are tied together.Ding. That right there. That is why I'm not understanding why it's being tied directly to the browser. In theory it's neat, but sometimes just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
I'm not sure what you are saying. There is an interface and it isn't consistent. Some parts of the interface work at some times, others work at other times. There is no connection between them and no clues (other than knowing the underlying network) to tell you when things will work. It's like a Windows 8 and all the weird stuff with no on screen clues as to what is going to happen.
My point was that the RDP session being displayed in a browswer like that could fool you into thinking it's a secure connection.
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@scottalanmiller Troubleshooting tools? lol
I am the tool
Yeah I under stand what you are saying and yes, I've seen that condition where you can't pull purchase history when not online (gawd that drives me nutz still). But really, how many places are there left that have 0 internet connectivity? I don't think the app ever took that into consideration because of that.
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Well not to sound like an ugly duckling, I use Spiceworks 7.0 for my help desk it is good and painful at the same time. I've used BMC Remedy back in my support days for call centers and a few other help desk systems mainly that were in house deployed. Honestly, it makes me wonder why helpdesk can't be free ;(
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@Bill-Kindle said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Bill-Kindle said:
@scottalanmiller said:
**The interface makes you feel like the RDP will be tunneled through the SSL channel that is already established, but it doesn't. ** That's confusing that they are tied together.Ding. That right there. That is why I'm not understanding why it's being tied directly to the browser. In theory it's neat, but sometimes just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
I'm not sure what you are saying. There is an interface and it isn't consistent. Some parts of the interface work at some times, others work at other times. There is no connection between them and no clues (other than knowing the underlying network) to tell you when things will work. It's like a Windows 8 and all the weird stuff with no on screen clues as to what is going to happen.
My point was that the RDP session being displayed in a browswer like that could fool you into thinking it's a secure connection.
Oh I see, that's an additional problem. Although RDP does have some security, but not nearly as much as if it was in an SSL tunnel like it appears to be.
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@jimk said:
We are using a combination of Spiceworks for our older clients and Autotask Service Desk for our MSP clients. We are in the process of moving everything under Autotask though as this is our PSA and helps us better maintain client relationships and manage the client's locations and equipment better. It also integrates with our RMM GFI Max and GFI Max Backup.
I'm a big fan of Autotask. At first, I didn't think that I'd like it, given that it took more clicks to do some of the same tasks as other systems. However, once I saw how it tied in not only tickets, but basic CRM, projects, helpdesk, service scheduling, billing, and time/attendance, I was hooked. As a hosted platform, it's constantly updated, and they're great about notifying about maintenance windows and pointing out new features when they're added. The way that it handles ticket queues is great.
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I keep hearing great things about Autotask.
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@scottalanmiller said:
I keep hearing great things about Autotask.
I've heard great things about them, but with only 4 employess (counting the owner) I have never bothered to look into something like this for us. The owner still does his time sheet on a paper form in a 3 ring binder. The rest of us have a basic internally wrote app to create time sheets.
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@JaredBusch said:
@scottalanmiller said:
I keep hearing great things about Autotask.
I've heard great things about them, but with only 4 employess (counting the owner) I have never bothered to look into something like this for us. The owner still does his time sheet on a paper form in a 3 ring binder. The rest of us have a basic internally wrote app to create time sheets.
Wait, you aren't the owner? I always thought that you owned the company.
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@scottalanmiller
No sir, sorry if it seemed that way. I've been with the company full time since December 2009. Worked part time for them since June 2008 prior to that. -
@JaredBusch said:
@scottalanmiller
No sir, sorry if it seemed that way. I've been with the company full time since December 2009. Worked part time for them since June 2008 prior to that.I know how it is, I get that a lot too. I've been with NTG for fifteen years and I'm not a manager but I am the senior architect. People get me confused with management all of the time. Because I am often the technical face of the company and most MSPs are so small, they just assume that I am. I've got five of my bosses here in ML, lol.
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I will be installing OSTicket on a VPS. I didnt really like Manage Engine's solution and Spiceworks wont run on Linux
I am paying $7 a month for a Ubuntu 12.04 VPS with 2GB RAM and a 40GB SSD through ssdvps.com
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@scottalanmiller said:
The discussion in the IT group about ManageEngine's ServiceDesk+ becoming free, both locally installed and hosted, brings up a great topic for the IT Service Providers and MSPs - what helpdesk platforms are you using? And what ones do you think look really interesting?
I've been using Spiceworks and it is pretty much 99.99% my use. No one uses it...they walk into my office, call or e-mail. But I do use it to track my historical information per workstation and to attach purchases and to keep track of them. ServiceDesk+ looks interesting.
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@garak0410 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
The discussion in the IT group about ManageEngine's ServiceDesk+ becoming free, both locally installed and hosted, brings up a great topic for the IT Service Providers and MSPs - what helpdesk platforms are you using? And what ones do you think look really interesting?
I've been using Spiceworks and it is pretty much 99.99% my use. No one uses it...they walk into my office, call or e-mail. But I do use it to track my historical information per workstation and to attach purchases and to keep track of them. ServiceDesk+ looks interesting.
I would talk with the C levels and get them to enforce the use of tickets. Once they hear the reasoning behind it, my bet is they support you.
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@IRJ said:
@garak0410 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
The discussion in the IT group about ManageEngine's ServiceDesk+ becoming free, both locally installed and hosted, brings up a great topic for the IT Service Providers and MSPs - what helpdesk platforms are you using? And what ones do you think look really interesting?
I've been using Spiceworks and it is pretty much 99.99% my use. No one uses it...they walk into my office, call or e-mail. But I do use it to track my historical information per workstation and to attach purchases and to keep track of them. ServiceDesk+ looks interesting.
I would talk with the C levels and get them to enforce the use of tickets. Once they hear the reasoning behind it, my bet is they support you.
I've tried. There is a method to the madness here and popping emails to me is their most preferred way to go. But I'll keep trying...
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@garak0410 said:
@IRJ said:
@garak0410 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
The discussion in the IT group about ManageEngine's ServiceDesk+ becoming free, both locally installed and hosted, brings up a great topic for the IT Service Providers and MSPs - what helpdesk platforms are you using? And what ones do you think look really interesting?
I've been using Spiceworks and it is pretty much 99.99% my use. No one uses it...they walk into my office, call or e-mail. But I do use it to track my historical information per workstation and to attach purchases and to keep track of them. ServiceDesk+ looks interesting.
I would talk with the C levels and get them to enforce the use of tickets. Once they hear the reasoning behind it, my bet is they support you.
I've tried. There is a method to the madness here and popping emails to me is their most preferred way to go. But I'll keep trying...
Do you have an email address setup to automatically create tickets?
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@IRJ said:
@garak0410 said:
@IRJ said:
@garak0410 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
The discussion in the IT group about ManageEngine's ServiceDesk+ becoming free, both locally installed and hosted, brings up a great topic for the IT Service Providers and MSPs - what helpdesk platforms are you using? And what ones do you think look really interesting?
I've been using Spiceworks and it is pretty much 99.99% my use. No one uses it...they walk into my office, call or e-mail. But I do use it to track my historical information per workstation and to attach purchases and to keep track of them. ServiceDesk+ looks interesting.
I would talk with the C levels and get them to enforce the use of tickets. Once they hear the reasoning behind it, my bet is they support you.
I've tried. There is a method to the madness here and popping emails to me is their most preferred way to go. But I'll keep trying...
Do you have an email address setup to automatically create tickets?
Yes and they are aware of it. Change is a hard thing around here...
