Web Help Desk Alternatives

[appleconvert]

We have been using Web Help Desk for the last few years because Casper assets sync directly into the system which is great. We do have issues creating reports from Web Help Desk for specific asset requirements and their support have been promising for years to add more features to the software but this has never come to fruition.
What do other Casper users use instead of Web Help Desk that also works with asset management and statistic reporting?
Thanks in advance.

[bbinder]

Yeah it would be nice to see what others are using successfully.
For me, any time we had a vendor that provided an option for Mac support like what you have requested, it has fallen short - way short.
"Sure, we do this" Ok...let me try it out. No, you don't...or at least don't do it well. "I'll talk with our Mac programmer", they say...and that's about as far as it goes.
/sigh

[Bartoo]

Ditto @bbinder. This has been exactly my experience. IE: TrackIT! - well there's a Mac client. It doesn't really grab any useful info and oh, the client is never updated to work with new models/OS's until about six months after the fact, so until they fix it it doesn't work or it returns garbage data (like duplicating the last 4 digits of newer Mac serial numbers - "H013012MEUGMEUG" for "H013012MEUG"). We got a lot of "yeah, we'll talk to our Mac programmer..." when we asked, and then we'd wait and wait and wait.

We use ServiceNow - it's so-so. I dislike that you have to make an SSH account on every Mac for a 3rd party for it to run and the info it pulls is so-so.

I really wanted to go to Web Help Desk specifically for the Casper integration.

[JimAllsop]

What about Manage Engines Service Desk? Does it integrate?

[peter_kruty]

Hi guys,

I'm a product manager for WHD, here in Solarwinds. Asset Reporting is definitely high on our list of priorities. I'd like to encourage you to vote and comment on existing feature request we track on Thwack:

http://thwack.solarwinds.com/ideas/1881

This will help us better decide, understand and prioritize.

Thanks in advance,
Peter

[donmontalvo]

@peter.kruty Given Solarwinds' apparent laziness, not sure I would recommend this product to a client. Sorry if that sounds snarky, but I have clients asking why we are recommending a product if the vendor is not proactively updating it...

In any case, this is news everyone should be privy to:

From: "Peter Kruty (No Reply)" noreply@jamfnation.com Subject: RE: JAMF Nation] KB Article: Integrating Web Help Desk with the JSS Date: January 06, 2014 at 12:39:38 E...noreply@jamfnation.com Hey guys, Solarwinds just released Release Candidate of 12.1 with support for Casper 9 and needs your help! [http://thwack.solarwinds.com/community/solarwinds-community/product-blog/blog/2013/12/11/web-help-desk-121-release-candidate-now-available You can download bits from customer portal and I'd like to encourage you to test and give us feedback. Please use RC forums on Thwack: http://thwack.solarwinds.com/groups/solarwinds-web-help-desk Please note, that in version 12.1 was changed communication mechanism. We are using Casper API, so you have to use some Casper user to connect, not database user. Please check the tooltips in the UI of Asset Connection configuration Thanks in advance for any feedback, Peter, WHD Product Manager

[peter_kruty]

Thanks for sharing your view @donmontalvo. There are literally thousands of requests for Web Help Desk and sometimes we make one user happy, but not the other. I see your view and I want us to always have support for latest versions of 3rd party products as soon as possible. I'm also keen to hear feedback on other areas, so please feel free to contact me personally on peter.kruty@solarwinds.com. Thanks once more, this is useful information for me, so I know where we need to improve.

[peter_kruty]

Hi guys,

we have just released WHD 12.1 RC2, with

• faster Casper 9 synchronization
• new Mac OS X installer package, so now it does not display confusing notification about corrupted package.

You can find the new bits on Solarwinds customer portal under RELEASE CANDIDATES section.

http://customerportal.solarwinds.com

I would love to get your feedback! Feel free to comment on RC forum:
http://thwack.solarwinds.com/groups/solarwinds-web-help-desk

or contact me personally on [peter.kruty@solarwinds.com](peter.kruty@solarwinds.com).

Thanks in advance,
Peter, WHD Product Manager

[ndudley]

I use ZenDesk. They have really great branding and it is really customizable. They have an API and other companies have already developed integrations. It also works really well if you are using Google Apps, not a requirement, but great for SSO. And a huge plus for rules based on location and groups.

[corbinmharris]

It would be great if WHD had modular licensing. We would look at the asset management features.

Corbin