HESK

Support teams that do not want a heavy ticketing system often reach for HESK, a PHP help desk that runs in a browser. Organizations use it for outward-facing customer support or for an internal IT desk, which can run on the organization's own web server or be rented as a hosted cloud service, and the self-hosted download costs nothing.

Handling tickets from request to resolution

Staff submit, track, assign and collaborate on tickets, each of which holds the request details and a running conversation with the customer. Tickets can be prioritized by urgency, sorted into categories and filtered in several ways. Notes, file attachments, status changes and time-worked records can be added. Administrators set up staff accounts, restrict access and functionality, and see who is working on what. The options include ticket templates, custom data fields and custom statuses, with more than a hundred settings in all.

Fewer tickets through a knowledge base

An integrated knowledge base lets customers solve common problems on their own, so a support ticket is raised only when they need one. HESK says 86 percent of users now receive fewer tickets. Canned responses and auto-assign settings reduce repetitive work.

Self-hosted or cloud

Teams can install HESK on their own server and use it on any device, or start with HESK Cloud, which needs no server setup and is offered on flat-fee plans. The project says it has existed for more than twenty-one years, has been downloaded over a million times and supports more than 35 languages, serving individuals, companies, nonprofits and public institutions. Its aim is small and medium-sized teams that want a simple tool.

When a team outgrows it

HESK's site points users who need a full IT service management suite to a sister product, SysAid, which adds asset management, a self-service portal, password reset and remote control.