Hesk Help Desk is a free PHP help desk software. I had earlier reviewed this on IT Discover (Hesk Help Desk). I thought its worth mentioning it again since HESK has come up with a new version which was released recently and it improves user experience with the help desk even more than the previous version. Couple of other striking salient features would include email piping and knowledgebase articles with “what you see is what you get" editor.

Hesk is everything you need from a help desk ticketing system. I had mentioned earlier that it can be an alternative to popular softwares like Kayako. Hesk PHP Helpdesk can be easily customized to look and feel of your site by editing the styles within the header and footer, even some of the paid programs may not offer this feature. Hesk offers unlimited personalized accounts for staff members, canned responses, a full featured knowledgebase complete with articles, customizable fields and anti-spam features for help tickets, an auto close feature for unanswered tickets. But above all I like the user rating for each staff reply, you can use the feedback to improve the service for customers, how thoughtful Hesk has been translated to various languages and can be easily translated to your language simply by editing one file. Hesk installation requires very little effort as they also bundle the installation file along.

The new version 2.3 released on 15^th September 2011 just reconfirms the fact that HESK is here to stay for long time to come. It’s on right track to becoming the most popular PHP Help Desk Software. From the long list of enhancements in HESK, the following would appeal to anyone the most.

• "What You See is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) editor for Knowledgebase articles
• Import tickets into Knowledgebase articles
• Create tickets from email (email piping)
• Support for sending emails using a SMTP server rather than PHP mail()
• Hesk is now IPv6 ready
• A number of minor changes and fixes.

What if you don’t want to install HESK on your own server? Well you will be glad to know that HESK offers a remotely hosted help desk for under $20 per month.  Unlike some other softwares they do not restrict any functionality when you remotely host with them. There is also a 14 day money back guarantee, which means if you don’t like their service you don’t lose anything.

In summary I would say that if you are looking for a help desk solution you should give Hesk a try and I am sure you will not be disappointed. It’s an enthusiastic team of people who will delight you and help your business.