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SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)

Score8 out of 10

53 Reviews and Ratings

What is SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD)?

SolarWinds Web Help Desk is ticketing and IT asset management software. It is designed to simplify help desk management. This solution includes built-in ticketing management, asset management, change management, and knowledge base capabilities.

Media

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Top Performing Features

  • Expert directory

    Directory of IT and businesses services available to customers to help route tickets to appropriate subject matter experts

    Category average: 7.9

  • Social integration

    Agents can communicate with customers via social networks like Facebook and Twitter; may also include brand activity monitoring/reporting capabilities.

    Category average: 8

  • Ticket creation and submission

    Users and agents can easily enter new support requests.

    Category average: 9.1

Areas for Improvement

  • Internal knowledge base

    Internal knowledge base helps agents answer customers' support questions.

    Category average: 8.1

  • ITSM collaboration and documentation

    Issue resolution through collaboration mechanisms like discussion threads, social tools; agents can attach notes, files, etc. to tickets in order to maintain a record of all interactions related to the case.

    Category average: 7.4

  • Help Desk CRM integration

    Integrates with CRM so that tickets and support communications are coordinated with customers' records.

    Category average: 8.6

WHD Saves the day!

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) across the entire organization, teachers/principals are responsible for submitting a ticket when experiencing a technology issue or request. We did use it for laptop and Chromebook inventory, it included helpful information such as purchase order, price, date and location deployed. We used to use an excel spreadsheet to keep track of tickets, who was responsible for resolving them and any notes the user had.

Pros

  • Active Directory Integration
  • Asset managment
  • User and tech both receive emails upon entry
  • Easy to use interface
  • Great reporting functions

Cons

  • Because of AD integration, users sometimes try logging in with their email address and not AD credentials. The user then calls stating they can't put a ticket in, it would be nice if there was a method of matching the AD Email field with a login.
  • Setting up new techs with the building they are responsible for can be a little messy
  • I would like to see the UI updated. It looks old, even in the latest releases.

Return on Investment

  • I enjoy I can continue running the software on my internal servers, the cloud is more expensive while providing minimal benefit to our organization
  • Cost per technician license is minimal

Usability

Other Software Used

SolarWinds Serv-U, SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM), FortiClient, HPE Alletra, Aruba ClearPass, FortiEDR, Aruba Networks Wireless WAN

SolarWinds Web Help Desk - the best of the best - forget the rest!

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We utilize the SolarWinds Web Help Desk both internally within our organization and we support "outside" entities that utilize our Public Safety Application and/or hardware. We tried out a demo and the product and decided to make it permanent in our environment. We use this track for re-occurring issues, as a knowledge base, and to measure the performance of our service. This has been a very valuable tool for our organization.

Pros

  • SolarWinds Web Help Desk was easy to implement and maintain
  • Support behind the product is phenomenal
  • SolarWinds is great about notifying customers about product updates
  • Owners / Users of the product can make suggestions to SolarWinds to help make improvements or feature requests

Cons

  • I have been a user for over 8 years and the product continues to exceed my expectations!
  • I am amazed at the fact that the users have an impact on how the product continues to evolve
  • Continued efforts put forth on the security of all the SolarWinds products have been amazing

Return on Investment

  • Amazing impact on our Organization, we are much more organized since we implemented SolarWinds Web Help Desk
  • The ROI is in the statistics! The application cost pennies to run compared to what the product will do for your organization.
  • I challenge you to find a better product for the price!
  • Our documentation has improved since we implemented SolarWinds Web Help Desk

Alternatives Considered

CA Service Management and with CA Service Desk Manager

Other Software Used

SolarWinds Database Performance Monitor (formerly VividCortex), SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset, SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)

SolarWinds Web Help Desk--Great ticketing and tracking system

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) as our ticketing system for IT Helpdesk at the college. It addresses any and all technical issues and account creation requests through the college systems. End users who have issues can send in an email and leave a voice message and those are created into tickets. Use can also log into SolarWinds Web Help Desk and manually create their own ticket.

Pros

  • Ticket Creation and Completion Tracking
  • Assets Management and Reservations
  • FAQs management

Cons

  • Mobile App

Return on Investment

  • Easy for users to submit tickets - saves time
  • Easy for technicians to see their workload - saves time

Other Software Used

Brightspace, Adobe Captivate, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Usability

Clunky and dated

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SolarWinds WHD is used by multiple departments for supporting users. Used by IT, Data (who provides application support), Facilities/Maintenance, HR and possibly others.

Pros

  • Easy to view tickets for department and self.
  • Easy to assign tickets to techs.
  • Easy to create email in ticket to send to user.
  • Advanced ticket search capabilities.
  • Ticket emails show all details of ticket.

Cons

  • Clunky, dated interface.
  • Interface doesn't always work. Sometimes have to click multiple times to get something to work.
  • No categories for tickets.
  • It is not possible to unmerge tickets in the technician interface. You have to go into the database to do this.

Return on Investment

  • It provides a way to track support requests in IT, Data, HR and Facilities without incurring a huge software cost.
  • It does not provide a way to manage our IT assets which makes it more difficult to manage the assets.
  • It is not the most intuitive software for techs to use, which can make it hard for them to come up to speed on it.

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Synology DiskStation, ConnectWise Control (formerly ScreenConnect)

Solid held desk offering with some shortcomings

Pros

  • Web-based interface compatible with all browsers
  • In-depth ticket class customization
  • SLA settings for ticket queues
  • Integration with other software platforms

Cons

  • Reporting functionality is limited and confusing
  • User interface customization is extremely limited
  • End-user layout can be confusing
  • Admin roles do not provide a universal view
  • Tickets do not always show up in the admin queue

Return on Investment

  • SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) enables better SLAs and customer service levels
  • IT can justify ROI through efficient ticket times
  • ROI can be hard to justify once technician licenses grow with department

Alternatives Considered

Spiceworks Help Desk and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

Other Software Used

Lansweeper, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM), VNC Connect