Government help desk software: complete management of IT assets for the public sector

Government help desk software: complete management of IT assets for the public sector
July 30, 2014 Daren Nelson

As public scrutiny and budget challenges grow, you can keep technology costs under control with government help desk software that is 100% made in America.

Our software is developed and priced with an understanding of the issues faced in the public sector – public scrutiny, budgets, regulation, oversight, staffing, and mandates to move to current technology. But even more impressive, we do all this while keeping every job right here in Washington State. For 23 years we have held to the principle that you can build the world’s best products with local labor. Not many software companies can make that claim. Sure, most companies have a majority of their operations based in the U.S., but almost every other developer of IT help desk software has some component of their business based offshore. Public agencies are funded with taxpayer money; when you purchase from iSupport, you are assured that every penny of your purchase is staying in our local economy to create living wage jobs. It is simply the right thing to do.

Incident Management. It is common knowledge but it bears repeating that a central repository for all your incidents is good practice. In a public environment most of your users are going to be on a common email system which, after telephone, is the most common way people will contact the help desk. iSupport brings optional channels to the table for incident management – live chat, web forums, and even social media channels. iSupport will automate the workflow of your incoming incidents, turning emails into incidents and using rules to auto-respond or auto-route information based on content. Maintaining a complete audit history helps you meet regulations for recordkeeping.

Asset Management: You have to know what is on your network, and iSupport helps you do this. Our asset scanning technology examines your network and reports back to you what is found. Using our monitoring technology you can monitor key assets like servers and automatically create incidents when CPU utilization gets too high or available memory falls too low. iSupport inventories the software on your network as well as the hardware. Easily stay compliant on software licenses with iSupport.

Workflow: A good workflow engine like what is built into iSupport is really the key to staying on task and saving money. Our workflow engine can be as simple as a rule that turns an incoming email into a ticket, or as complicated as a large scale project requiring approvals or sign offs along the way. iSupport provides complex change and approval workflow capabilities for adhering to ITIL standards.

BYOD: You will still have staff that wish to use their own device, especially when away from the office. iSupport’s advanced HTML5 interface works seamlessly across browsers, tablets, and smartphones. Our user portals can be placed outside your firewalls, or in DMZs, giving your users access to support without jeopardizing private information.

How iSupport saves you money.

No one likes budget surprises. iSupport is one of a handful of government help desk solution providers that will guarantee your costs. It is common practice in the software industry to modularize software and upsell when you wish to add additional functionality. Nothing can be more frustrating than trying to enable a feature only to realize that you didn’t buy it. Our pricing is very competitive and we offer on-premise and cloud deployments.

  • We own our asset and customer self-service technologies so you can manage as many assets and end users as you wish for one price. The only per-user charge is for support representatives.
  • There is never a charge for managers that need reports or participate in approval cycles but don’t actually open, route, or close work items.
  • Our licensing is concurrent. Maybe you run a public safety help desk with two or three shifts; you only need to purchase as many licenses as you need for peak logins.
  • We make it very clear up front regarding the features that are included in each version. You can upgrade from version to version at any time without reinstalling any software. To compare our features in each version, click here.
  • Our maintenance and support contracts are all inclusive and fixed for life. You will never be charged more unless you add support representatives.
  • We offer free weekly online instructor-led training.
  • We offer live agent support seven days a week (weekend support is limited to urgent priority or installation/upgrade assistance).

Many government agencies have deployed iSupport over our 23-year history. The Centers For Disease Control, U.S. Army, Seattle Housing Authority, Illinois National Guard, South Carolina Department of Revenue, Gallatin County Montana, The City of Campbell River, State of Nebraska Department of Roads, Oklahoma Tax Commission, Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, City of Philadelphia, Iowa Workforce Development, and Southeast Alabama Gas District are just a few of the leading agencies that have used iSupport.

One of the most interesting government help desk deployments is the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In addition to a traditional IT help desk deployment, the CDC was able to deploy iSupport to track an outbreak of highly contagious infectious disease a few years ago. The ability to rapidly deploy iSupport for short-term projects speaks to the flexibility of our tools. To further save your agency money, consider how iSupport could also be used by your facilities or HR departments.

To learn more about deploying iSupport, visit our web site. To get a more comprehensive picture of all of iSupport’s features, please watch our YouTube overview below.