I offer a variety of programs for IT Help Desks and Generic Customer Support.  This page may help you narrow your search down to the product or products most likely to meet your organization's particular needs.

Generic Customer Support Programs

These programs may be used by any organization that is not supporting computer users.  They do not allow for recording computer, software, peripheral inventory.  Instead, these programs are geared towards making it easy to record, update and report on information about callers (customers) and calls (sales inquiries, product information, complaints, requests and so on).  These generic customer support programs also have differences discussed below.

• MGCS version 1.0 - This is the newest of my generic customer support programs released in August 2004.  The backend database format is a Microsoft Access .mdb file and an optional web based interface is provided using Active Server Pages (.asp).  Initial price is $179 per location.  This program is fine for a single user providing generic customer support, and is like all my other programs - multi user ready.  The windows based application uses an ODBC DSN connection to the database.  The default installation would put the database file locally but to make the program shareable on a network simply copy the .mdb file to a shared folder on your file server and modify the ODBC DSN to point to the new location of the database.  Repeat the process of installing the program accepting the default for each staff member on the LAN and the modify the DSN to point the shared folder and you are done! 

   

  • MGCS is similar to Proactive Customer Support 2.0 with a big exception:  The web interface available for MGCS is intended for logins by support staff - not by customer and end users.  MGCS comes with two web interfaces.  One is not secure, i.e. does not require user logins, passwords and security levels.  The other web interface provides for different security levels for Customer Support Staff.  Some organizations may want to assign a new staff person only the ability to add customer contact information, but deny that person the ability to edit or delete existing contact records.  Further, they might have staff who they trust enough to allow editing and deleting of customer contact records, but do NOT want that user login to be able to delete customer records.  If instead of having logins for CSRs you want end users to be able to login and request support, you should instead look at Proactive Customer Support 2.0
  • Note:  The windows interface does not feature user login and passwords.  If you want a windows based application that can run on your Local Area Network but allows you to have various security levels you should consider either Simple Customer Support or QUAD Help Desk Pro Edition.

   

• Proactive Customer Support 2.0 - Currently the most popular of my generic customer support programs, PCS 2.0 has a much more advance web interface that MGCS version 1.0.  It is similar in that the backend database is also a Microsoft Access .mdb file and the web interface consists of Active Server Pages (.asp) and HyperText Markup Language (HTML) template files. The windows based interface is also more comprehensive and includes many more reports than MGCS.  PCS 2.0 can be a little harder to setup than MGCS but if you have a need to allow customers to be able to login and request support via web browser, this may be the best of my products for your situation.

   

  • If you need my most powerful generic customer support program, with more reporting options, Proactive Customer Support 2.0 is   my recommendation.

• QUAD Help Desk 2.5 and QUAD Help Desk Professional Edition 1.0 - are best suited for use internally on a LAN when there is no need for browser based support by an existing web server such as Microsoft IIS.  These programs use a more proprietary backend and include a mini http server that does not include users logins and displays data in the browser created "on the fly".  In other words there is no physical file such as with PCS and MGCS.  The mini http server is an executable file and most web hosting providers would not allow your organization to run it on a shared web server.  Both of the programs include multi users capable windows based application and some organizations find it even easier to set up that PCS or MGCS.  The data files are update based on the START IN property of the shortcut to the executable file.  To share data on a LAN it is matter of just creating a shared folder and giving your support staff rights to that folder.  Then, after installing the program at each workstation simply modify the shortcut to point to the shared folder.  When the program is started each workstation will be accessing the same data.  If you need generic customer support QUAD - QUick And Dirty might be the way to go.

• Simple Customer Support - As the name implies, this program is intended for simple customer support.  No web interface is provided.  Like my other programs, SCS can be setup for shared use by multiple users.  What makes this program different is the use of Login Names, Passwords and Security Levels.  If you want a windows only solution, but have a need to have your staff login before accessing the customer and contact information, I recommend Simple Customer Support.

IT Help Desk Support Programs

The first help desk program I ever developed is still among my most popular and I believe version 8.0 is the best release yet of Been There, Done That!  I received a number of emails from people that liked Been There, Done That! but wanted to allow their users a way to submit a request for support via web browser.  My answer was a program I named Problem Solved! - latest version is 4.0.  Both of these programs have the same proprietary .tps file format on the backend so I had other people write me that they liked the interface of these programs but wanted to use a more common backend database structure such as the Microsoft Access .mdb file format.  Now you start to see why I have so many programs - I have tried to respond to email suggestions and sometimes the only way to do that was with the release of a new program.  Below are some summaries that might help you decide which of my IT Help Desk programs might meet your needs.

• Been There, Done That! 8.0 is a very affordable program that can be used by a single user or multiple users on a LAN.  The program has gone through many changes over the years and I have incorporated many suggestions in this latest version.  In addition to allowing you to quickly record, update and report on user problems, you can also easily update PC inventory.  This is a good choice for a small IT shop that doesn't have need for web based support requests.  One of my lowest priced programs, BTDT is still multi user ready at no additional cost.  I continue to be surprised at the number of organizations who are using Been There, Done That! for generic support as described above.  The most frequent reply I get when I asked about their non-IT use of the program is "The price was right and we like the interface.  We just ignore the parts of the program we don't need to use."

• Problem Solved! was my second IT Help Desk program and the problem solved for many users was the abilty to let their users request support via web browser.  PS also did not require a separate web server like Microsoft IIS and many organizations found they were able to begin taking web requests within minutes of downloading and  installing the program.  Version 4.6 is still under development, so although you might download the current version, keep in mind the next version may be different in many ways.

• My Problem Solved! was developed specifically because I had received a number of emails from people who wanted me to develop a program that would let them use the MySQL Client Server Database as their backend.  Versions of MySQL were available for both Microsoft Windows and Unix/Linux and many web hosting services support MySQL/PHP pages.  So, I developed this program.  In all honesty, sales of My Problem Solved! has been disappointing so I don't know when/if I will take another look to see what might need changing/improving.  I concentrate my time where sales/emails indicate I should be spending my time, and there just has not been a lot of activity in regards to My Problem Solved!  Still, if you are seriously looking at an IT Help Desk program that can use MySQL then this might be the program you want to start looking at first.

• AccessAble Help Desk Client Server Edition was developed for those who emailed me that they prefer Microsoft SQL Server as their database backend and I have had better sales of this product so expect upgrades for AAHD C/S.  This program provides both a windows and web interface and is very comprehensive allowing for easily recording, updating and reporting and almost all aspects of IT Help Desk/Support.  If you want to use MS SQL Server as your backend, this is the program to consider from my current programs.

• AccessAble Help Desk Professional Edition continues to be my most popular IT Help Desk Program.  The program consists of a comprehensive yet easy to use windows based application as well as powerful web interface that allows end users to login and submit support requests via browser.  End users can even create their own web accounts and track progress on their support requests.  The latest version allows for sending email updates using SMTP via the windows application, while the web app can send email when a new request has been submitted using CDONTS.  Reports are comprehensive and professionally designed.  The backend database is the Microsoft Access format .mdb file making the data "AccessAble" to other reporting software as well.

• AccessAble Help Desk Standard Edition is for those that don't currently need a browser based interface, or the comprehensive reporting available in the Pro Edition.  However, the file format is compatible with the Pro Edition so if your organization later wants to move up this can be done fairly easily.

• SRM Help Desk 2003 also uses an .mdb file on the backend, however, a web interface is not included.  A Pro Edition is in development which will feature an improved windows application and a comprehensive web interface as well.

***  This page will be updated shortly but I hope this summary will help you as you consider my software alternatives.