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Do you administer a helpdesk website? (self.sysadmin)

submitted ago by toiletscribble

If so, what content do you share with your users? Do they actually use the site or does it just sit there collecting dust? Any tips, tricks, hacks, useful software you recommend? I am about to put up a drupal site and add a bit of content (mostly FAQs) but I am looking to do more with it.

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[–]binarycontrolIT Director et al 6 points7 points ago

Spiceworks. I run a small shop. Best software ever, it also monitors my network. :)

[–]toiletscribble[S] 1 point2 points ago

Love spiceworks! I should have stated that this is a 2,000+ user environment though. That's a tad higher than I think SpiceWorks can handle no?

[–]quietyoufoolJack of Most Trades 2 points3 points ago

It looks like 2000+ is possible.

SAM comments on it here.

It looks like the problem with large networks is scan time, not database issues, so the solution is use Remote Collectors.

[–]toiletscribble[S] 0 points1 point ago

Thanks for that. Investigating now

[–]steeef 2 points3 points ago

Are we talking strictly documentation for end users or are you including ticket tracking?

We use Confluence for the former and Jira for the latter. They're fairly expensive, but I work for a software developer, so having Jira's development tracking capabilities was a must. I created a separate workflow and project to track Helpdesk tickets.

[–]toiletscribble[S] 1 point2 points ago

Both honestly. I don't mind if they are separate or come in one package. Our goal is to have a fairly robust self help section and a ticketing system for those users who either refuse to help themselves or tried and failed

[–]toiletscribble[S] 1 point2 points ago

I will look into both of those, thanks for the suggestions

[–]chrish012I does it all 1 point2 points ago

I think spiceworks claims it has an unlimited scale, but i wonder what the biggest deployment really is.

We use Kaseya... its a love/hate relationship right now.

[–]phletchLOL WTF AM I DOING 2 points3 points ago

I'm with you on the love/hate for Kaseya

[–]chrish012I does it all 1 point2 points ago

Our system has been down for 8 hours and counting today. They saw .NET errors in our event log and suggested we remove certain versions, repair other versions, and re-register with IIS. Upon completing their recommendations we are getting 404's and no response from support... Sales will be hearing about this tomorrow...

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

-WebHelpDesk -Yes they must put in a ticket or I won't help them.

[–]genogOS X Sysadmin 0 points1 point ago

+1 for WHD. Had it at my old job, and really miss it now. Have iSupport at new job. Taking some getting used to.

[–]aterlumen 1 point2 points ago

We have a dedicated knowledge base that's being phased out in favor of ServiceNow's KB. It is pretty much unused by everyone except the guy that's supposed to keep it updated. They're having a contest where the person who makes the best/most KB articles gets gift cards and food, and not a single article has been submitted.

If you're going to put the time into making it, make sure that everyone that could benefit from it knows about it, and their first reaction becomes 'check the KB' instead of asking you.

[–]toiletscribble[S] 0 points1 point ago

Yeah I think that is definitely the challenge regardless of the software used. Are you switching to servicenow in hopes that you'll get more users to use it? If so what features are driving that decision?

[–]aterlumen 0 points1 point ago

I think they're switching to SN because the old system is just a homegrown website and they don't want to maintain it anymore. Also, the old search function is crude at best.

I think it's more of a convenience thing, if people already have SN open they're more likely to use the built in knowledge base.

[–]Hello_Operator 1 point2 points ago

Hmm. Small world. I'm under the assumption you're talking about the UofM. If so, they're switching because SN will integrate with all aspects of support. Software/app support, TAC, 1-help, FAST, and everything in between. Of course, the modules are still buggy and many are still not complete, but when finished it should be superior to ServiceCenter. The KB is still missing a bunch of core features (private group articles, broken searching, etc), so I'm not surprised it hasn't taken off just yet.

[–]aterlumen 0 points1 point ago

Yep. I like using it for bulk calls a lot more than SC, but still having to use SC for OneStop and network tickets is annoying as hell.

[–]Hello_Operator 0 points1 point ago

So help me if they don't implement/fix 'notifications' soon.

[–]notninja 0 points1 point ago

We use Tack IT. End users have a web interface that is hosted on a local server. Accessible through our Intranet. I would say 20% of users still call me and email me with issues. I say "if its not on Track-it I'm not looking at it." Unless its a emergency like No Voice or Data.

http://www.numarasoftware.com/track-it/

[–]_churndSysadmin 0 points1 point ago

I use Spiceworks in a VM for inventory purposes. I'm a one man shop for ~100 users. I unfortunately can't require users to use a ticketing system (boss denied it), so I'm trying to figure out a way to forward requests emailed to me into Spiceworks so I can at least track issues better. Right now I just keep an eye on my inbox & if something will take a while, I put a new todo in Things.app so I don't forget. I've also used RT & like it for the most part since most of it can be handled via email alone.

[–]argon0011Jack of All Trades 1 point2 points ago

We've been using RT for a while for our helpdesk support requests. Have users email helpdesk@domain, RT checks against Active Directory if user exists and then a ticket is created. End-users will use that method because they're just emailing.

For FAQs page and documenting your systems you can't beat MediaWiki.

[–]toiletscribble[S] 0 points1 point ago

Is getting RT working with AD a hassle or fairly straightforward? I will do my google-fu but figured I'd ask since you have firsthand experience

[–]argon0011Jack of All Trades 0 points1 point ago

Person who set it up has left but from what I remember and looking at the RT config files it was fairly straight forward.

This link is from the RT wiki: http://blank.org/memory/output/rt-ad-sso.html

[–]toiletscribble[S] 0 points1 point ago

many thanks

[–]_Unas_ 0 points1 point ago

We use ManageEngine, it has a web base but we currently don't use if

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