I plan on opening a hosting company in January of 2006, and need some advice regarding support panels.

I don't want one that already exists - I'll be handling my own programming for the site - but I DO need to get an idea of what features a support panel should have.

Please be specific - I know a ticketing system will need to be instated, but I'd like to know what sort of FEATURES would make customer service easiest and most attractive, as it's #1 in business.

Thanks!
Jim

Why re-invent the wheel? Why are you opposed to a commercially packaged system like Kayako?

--Tina

Originally posted by AH-Tina
Why re-invent the wheel? Why are you opposed to a commercially packaged system like Kayako?

--Tina

Maybe the fact that Kakyo is encrypted and comes with a never ending line of fees while something custom is completely open with no more fees? ;)

I didn't mean Kayako, specifically. I just meant, with all of the support software options - I was curious why he's wanting to do it himself. ;)

--Tina

So then what about something like Request Tracker :)

Seriously what customers like at least is

1) Online submission of tickets and email with replies
2) Searchable Ticket history
3) FAQ Access
4) Intergration into billing?

that should keep most customers happy

Rus

... [Kayako] comes with a never ending line of fees while something custom is completely open with no more fees?
Owned License: $349.95
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unlimited Users, Tickets, Departments, Knowledge base Articles, Troubleshooters, Downloads, Announcements. You own the product, no renewals. Upgrades are free for first 18 months, If you wish to receive further upgrades you pay just $39.95 per year.

Taken from the Kayako website as of 05-25-2005.
How much do you value your own time? To write a support system as advanced and easy to use as kayako would take many hours. Lets say you could build something basic (ticket tracking, e-mail piping engine, multi-admin capability, user file upload capability, capability for admins to assign tickets to other admins, and so forth, just to name a few features) in 3 weeks. Multiply that by 5 hours a day of work. 15 (Days) * 5 (hours per day) = 75 hours. Now factor in updates, compatibility testing, and so forth over an 18 month time period. Just development alone at $20/hour would cost you $1500 compared to Kayako's one time fee of $349.95. IMHO, it seems to me, based on your supplied needs, a system such as Kayako's would be much more cost-effective for your organization, and much better for your customers, based on the quality of Kayako's support system. It is one of the premier helpdesk support systems available for a reason.
Maybe the fact that Kakyo is encrypted...
Yes that is true, it is likely you cannot pass this software on as something you wrote yourself. But why not co-brand the opportunity, and let your customers know they are in good hands using industry leading support software? Additionally, IMHO, response time, and the clarity of answers provided by your technitions will really be what sets your hosting company apart in this industry.

Well that is my $.02

:cool:

I agree with vaserv's list of features.

Instead of writing a support application from scratch, have you considered any open source projects? We're using oneorzero (http://www.oneorzero.com/), which I have found to be a pretty good support app. If you're not interested, you may want to check it out to help decide which features should be included into your support application.

Just a little advice from me: developing applications for your site can be very time consuming. I spent about 4 months dedicated to developing our billing application from scratch, and there are still many features I would like to add, but haven't found the time for. It was very rewarding to have done, and it will save money, but there's a lot else I could have done with those months.

Just my $0.02... good luck!