Web Help Desk vs. Zendesk

A help desk is the key point of contact for consumers and staff seeking assistance when something goes wrong. The help desk is critical in assisting end users in resolving issues and locating information. Help desk software and solutions are used by businesses to set up and maintain such assistance and support services.

Help desk software has traditionally served as a central hub for logging and managing end-user tickets. However, most businesses will no longer be satisfied with a simple ticket management help desk system. The growing IT ecosystem, combined with BYOD regulations, produces a complex IT environment with a wide range of assets that necessitates the use of specialised tools and processes for simplified IT service management. To fulfil these demands and boost productivity, the help desk implementation must be adaptable and expandable.

This article compares Zendesk Support and SolarWinds® Web Help Desk®, two major help desk software systems, in terms of functionality, features, extensibility, deployment models, and applicability for various organisational requirements.

Zendesk Customer Service

Zendesk Support is a prominent customer service-oriented help desk solution. To provide omnichannel customer care across channels including email, chat, voice, and social messaging applications, the technology can interface seamlessly with other Zendesk products and solutions. Furthermore, the application supports knowledge base administration via Zendesk Guide, allowing end users to self-serve.

Help Desk on the Internet

SolarWinds Web Help Desk is a help desk solution with a variety of features and functionalities, including automated ticket administration, knowledge management, relational ticket association, native connectivity with LDAP and Active Directory, and customer satisfaction evaluation, to name a few. It also comes with built-in procedures for automating and regulating IT change and issue management.

Web Help Desk vs. Zendesk

While Zendesk Support focuses on customer service in general, the Web Help Desk solution is designed for IT departments that provide support to both customers and employees. To help you choose the right solution for your needs, here are the important distinctions between Zendesk Support and Web Help Desk.

Asset Management for IT

Asset management is a critical responsibility of the IT service desk in most IT firms. For IT asset management, Zendesk Support requires third-party app connectors, which are offered through their marketplace. Web Help Desk has built-in IT asset management features such as asset detection, reporting, inventory management, and recordkeeping. Asset data can also be imported from spreadsheets, third-party asset discovery tools, and network management systems.

Automation and Artificial Intelligence

For support agents, Zendesk offers AI-powered features such as article recommendations related to a ticket, as well as machine learning-based ideas for creating new articles and modifying current assistance articles. Ticket management, incident management, and change management, among other things, are all automated with the Web Help Desk system.

Model of Implementation

Zendesk Support is only offered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. Web Help Desk is available in both on-premises and cloud variants, and it supports FIPS 140-2 cryptography. The benefits and drawbacks of these deployment options are determined by corporate needs and in-house capabilities. In general, enterprises dealing with a variety of compliance regulations, such as data localisation, HIPAA, and PCI DSS, may demand deployment flexibility.

Integrations and the Marketplace

While Zendesk Help provides native integrations for live chat, messaging, and voice-based support, it does not have native integrations for remote assistance. Zendesk Support does, however, provide a marketplace for third-party applications and service integrations, such as third-party apps for remote assistance, that enable extend Zendesk Support's usefulness beyond its core features. Web Help Desk works with a number of other SolarWinds IT service management and monitoring products, including Network Configuration Manager, Network Performance Monitor, and Server & Application Monitor. This enables enterprises to leverage SolarWinds products and solutions to produce tickets automatically when IT infrastructure problems are discovered, and then allocate tickets to the appropriate IT professionals. Under the SolarWinds umbrella, Web Help Desk natively connects with Dameware® Remote Support for remote support.

Management of Service Level Agreements

Zendesk's professional and enterprise plans include functionality for defining and implementing SLA policies. It also flags any tickets that fail to fulfil SLAs, allowing support staff to handle the issue sooner rather than later. Web Help Desk also has SLA management capabilities. Escalation automation is based on predetermined criteria derived from ticket information, and SLA reports with performance indicators are generated to aid in increasing efficiency and identifying bottlenecks.

Where Should You Begin?

Zendesk Assistance focuses on customer service and support, with a marketplace for supporting integrations with a variety of third-party apps. Web Help Desk offers a lot more than standard help desk software when it comes to service desk management. Apart from their fundamental capabilities and features, both Web Help Desk and Zendesk are extendable for a variety of help desk functions suitable for a variety of use cases.

Web Help Desk's natural connection with Active Directory, LDAP, and SolarWinds network management and server monitoring software, for example, streamlines initial setup and helps transform node performance issues immediately into support tickets. Before you choose a solution, it's critical to think about the business requirements and demands at hand, as well as the fundamental competencies necessary. Other considerations to examine are the ease of implementation, usability, and workflows.

Before you implement a solution, we recommend that you run a proof of concept. SolarWinds Web Help Desk is available for a 14-day free trial.