What should you be looking for in a help desk?  There are many different help desks out there in many different shapes and sizes.  Here are a few thing I would recommend you check in on before you make your final choice.

Script vs Hosted Service

I would highly recommend going for a hosted script, that somebody else can manage the backend for.  Why?  Well, it takes one more monkey off your back, and allows you to focus more so on the customer service and support you provide through the help desk.

Built in Tools

How many other built in tools does your help desk choice have?  Having quick response management is a must, and a built in knowledge base is really nice.  These are two features I like to see built into any help desk I am checking out.

Quality Tools and Support

Find out how responsive the help desk provider really is.  Before choosing one, contact their support team or try posting a support message on their message boards and see how responsive they are to your questions or issues.  This is the best pre-test you can do, before you really need their help.  You should always know what to expect, so this trial test with the support methods they provide should help shine a light on things.

So those are my must-have features for any help desk I use, what about you?  What tools and services does your perfect help desk need to have?  Let me know in the comments!