Moreover, SolarWinds’ network management/infrastructure monitoring solutions are more robust than Spiceworks or the freemium alternatives to Spiceworks that we cover here.
SolarWinds offers a full range of ITSM solutions, including network management, system management, IT security, database management and help desk. Users pay a flat annual fee for Lansweeper, in addition to $10 per agent per month fees for more than one agent. Paid versions of Lansweeper include API access for integrating more robust help desk solutions.
The free version of Lansweeper can create and manage help desk tickets, but it doesn’t include robust ticket management features. Unlike some other products covered here, Lansweeper does not include extensive tools for analyzing and managing bandwidth/network performance-it’s primarily a network inventory/IT asset management solution.
Lansweeper also includes IT asset management functionality, such as compliance audits of license keys and automated software deployment. In addition to discovering Mac and Windows machines on the network, Lansweeper inventories network devices across multiple sites. After that, plans start at $15 per month per agent.Īs its name suggests, Lansweeper is network inventory software. Freshdesk does offer a free version for teams with up to three agents. Like Zendesk, Freshdesk lacks network monitoring and IT asset management capabilities. Freshdesk’s contact center applications include call recording and monitoring.įreshdesk sports advanced reporting capabilities that allow managers to forecast staffing requirements, track metrics on problem tickets, identify top performers etc.
Freshdesk also offers in-app support for businesses that offer mobile or desktop apps for their customers via Mobihelp, a solution that plugs into your existing iOS or Android app. Like Zendesk, Freshdesk supports ticketing via email, Twitter, Facebook, live chat, web portals and voice. Freshdeskįreshdesk is another cloud-based, multichannel help desk solution that sports contact center functionality. It’s priced per agent, starting at $5 per agent per month. Like Spiceworks, Zendesk is a cloud-based product.
It will be overkill for organizations that primarily accept tickets via an intranet site or email, and it doesn’t include network monitoring or IT asset management tools. Zendesk is therefore ideal for organizations that need contact center functionality and multichannel capabilities in addition to a basic IT ticketing system. In addition to multichannel capabilities, Zendesk includes a full-blown suite of contact center applications, such as automatic call distribution (ACD) and interactive voice response (IVR), for accepting and managing tickets via phone.
The voice channel is particularly complex. Whereas in Spiceworks, users submit tickets through email, the desktop app or the web portal, Zendesk also supports submission of tickets via Twitter, live chat, Facebook and even voice. The major area where Zendesk exceeds Spiceworks’ offerings is multichannel management. Zendesk is a recognized leader in the help desk market.