BestOpenSourceSoftwareforWindows1.jpg' alt='Best Open Source Knowledge Management Software' title='Best Open Source Knowledge Management Software' />Open Source Hosted Help. Desk Reviews The help desk software industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the computer software industry. As companies of all sizes across the globe continue to realize the importance of cultivating long lasting relationships with their clients through increasingly technical media, this industry is poised to grow well beyond the hundreds of help desk software solutions that are already in existence. For small and large companies alike, choosing the right software solution is the key to providing outstanding customer service and support. Compared with the traditional sales funnel, commercial open source has a different lead generation model, and it replaces the traditional presalestosale. The opensource model is a decentralized software development model that encourages open collaboration. A main principle of opensource software development is peer. Open source tools for Scrum or Kanban Agile software project management. A Comprehensive Guide to Help Desk Software Solutions. The help desk software industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the computer software industry. End of 1990s Foundation of the Open Source Initiative. In the early days of computing, programmers and developers shared software in order to learn from each other. In many cases, help desk software also provides internal team members with an effective way to communicate with one another about internal and external issues, while also allowing them to measure their effectiveness when responding to various types of client issues. For many companies, the process of selecting help desk software is a major cause of stress and the final decision often comes after many months of deliberation. Usually, this is due to the wide variations in available features across products and the lack of a clear understanding of which features will best suit the companys needs. However, this process can be made much easier by gaining an understanding of the help desk industry and how each solution approaches the task of creating a transparent flow of information between both staff members and clients. Please feel free to use these links to jump to relevant sections of our site. What is help desk software Help desk software is any software application that is used to provide customers with technical information on a product or service, while also supplying them with a connection to a support representative. Open source software project management tools Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Lean, planning, estimating, tracking. The goal of this software is to increase a companys efficiency and their productivity when using technology by providing workers and clients with timely answers to their questions and pertinent information that can aid them in solving their problems. Essentially, a help desk is a very large and complex database consisting of customer information, call reports, information regarding hardware andor software, problems and solutions logs, and service level agreements. Most help desk software, however, goes a step further by providing company representatives with a means to communicate electronically with their clients and colleagues. The typical support scenario without a dedicated help desk Most companies rely on a variety of methods to provide their customers with support. For instance, it is very common for an organization without a dedicated help desk to search through Excel spreadsheets and multiple databases in order to retrieve customer data and product or service information. Additionally, the support representative may have to write notes by hand or type them up in a general word processing program in order to record the nature of the issue. If the customer has called in with an issue, they will normally be left on hold as the support representative searches through various databases of information. It is not uncommon for clients to be left on hold for upwards of ten minutes for common support issues that are dealt with regularly. Knowledge Management Software Find the best Knowledge Management Software for your business. Compare product reviews and features to build your list. News and analysis about open source, from apps to distros to enterprise open source solutions. Open Source vs Proprietary CMS. Written on the 10 February 2017. Every website should be easy to use and update, should be built with SEO Search Engine Optimisation. Build Security In Software Supply Chain Assurance content is no longer updated. The articles are provided here for historical reference. Suggested resource https. The common support process is as follows when dealing with a phone request Customer call is received. Support agent asks client for their contact information andor customer number. Agent keeps the client on the line or places them on hold as heshe searches for the clients details within their client database or a spreadsheet. Once the clients details have been located, the support representative asks the client which product or service their issue is related to. Support agent then searches through a database andor spreadsheets that are specific to that product or service. The client may be placed on hold as the agent searches through multiple sources of information. If the agent cannot access the necessary information, the client may be transferred to another support agent. After being transferred, the customer is usually required to supply their details again, which essentially equates to starting the support process all over again. If the agent was able to locate the necessary information, the issue is resolved, but has typically taken over ten minutes to handle. If the agent was not able to locate the necessary information or a support representative who can handle the issue, the agent tells the client that they will call them at a later date. At this point, the client has typically already invested 1. Several issues can crop up for customers who call in their support related issues including being placed on hold for extended periods of time, having to repeat their details a number of times as their request is passed from one agent to another, and not receiving a resolution by the end of their call. For many customers, the process becomes highly frustrating and may even cause them to take future business elsewhere. When dealing with an email request, the support process changes and a new set of issues may arise The clients email is received by one or several support agents. If the agents were busy at the time the request was received, the email may go unnoticed and the client may not receive an acknowledgment of their email for over 2. If the clients request was marked as spam by the email server, the client may never receive a response to their request. If an agent does see the request, heshe may or may not provide the client with an acknowledgment of their request. Additionally, if the agents did not communicate with one another in advance about who is to be assigned to the request, several agents may work on the same issue unknowingly. If necessary, an agent will search through the customer database andor spreadsheets to confirm that the requester is a paying client. If necessary, the agent will send the client an email requesting more information about the issue and await the clients response. Once all of the necessary details of the issue have been gathered, the agent will search through multiple resources to find a solution to the customers issue. If an answer is found, the client will be emailed, though typically after 2. If the agent cannot locate an answer, the clients question may be emailed to another agent, which will in essence return the clients request back to step 1 of the support process. When dealing with email requests, there is always a chance that a clients request will not be seen because it has been marked as spam or the request may be received and left unacknowledged until a resolution has been found. In either case, the client is left waiting for an extended period of time and may not know that their issue is being processed. Additionally, the process may be riddled with even more inefficiency if agents do not confer with one another about the assignment of each support ticket. How help desk software changes the support process Help desk software, when implemented correctly, can streamline the support process, leading to lower resolution times and increased customer satisfaction, which in turn boosts customer retention. There are several benefits to deploying a centralized help desk. Support agents have access to a central knowledge base containing all of the companys product and customer information. Agents can search the entire knowledge base, including articles and previous support tickets, for an answer by typing in relevant keywords or phrases. Clients can seek answers to their questions without contacting an agent by searching the knowledge base. Tickets can easily be created by both customers and support representatives through the help desks ticketing system. When creating a support ticket, a customer can automatically be prompted to fill in required information regarding their request to expedite the support process. Top 2. 0 Knowledge Management Software 2. Answer. Hub is a knowledge management platform for developers built on a question and answer Q A foundation. With additional features like ideation and knowledge base, Answer. Hub is the perfect solution for capturing, sharing, and succeeding with shared knowledge. Some of the most successful companies in the world use Answer. Hub for collaboration, social learning, customer support and online community including GE, Epic Games, Linked. Starman Secret Files Wii. In, Estee Lauder, e. Bay, USAA, Unity, and Thomson Reuters. Learn more about Answer. Hub. Answer. Hub is an enterprise knowledge management solution for developers for collaboration, scalability, integration. Learn more about Answer.