WHMCS as a replacement for Kayako eSupport and ModernBill?

[bullsquirrel]

Hello!

 

I'm finally ditching ModernBill (got tired of their parade of bugs), and WHMCS looks promising.

 

However, I've been using Kayako's eSupport v3 and while it's admittedly bloated and a bit buggy, it does have several features which my clients really like. Features such as the ability to submit or reply to tickets via email, mass email notifications from the admin, and the tech support knowledgebase.

 

I really like the ability to submit new tickets for my clients if they call in a support request.

 

My question:

 

Could the WHMCS help desk be considered a good replacement for eSupport, particularly with the above features?

 

Is it possible to import the user data and tickets from my eSupport installation, over to WHMCS? I realize this would probably be a premium custom consultation job, and I'd be happy to pay for that--I just want to know if that is even possible to do though?

[skshost]

It's possible, and WHMCS supports the mentioned features.

[Matt]

Hi,

 

WHMCS does indeed have the features you mention - email piping, notifications to admins assigned to departments when tickets are submitted or replied to, admins can respond by email also to the notifications, a KB, announcements, downloads area, etc... And you can even open tickets with clients as an admin.

 

Or alternatively you could stick with your Kayako system for support. It's possible to redirect the links from WHMCS to your Kayako system and there's a loginshare which has been contributed by a user on the forums which you can use to give your clients a single login for both systems.

 

Matt

[yabado]

bullsquirrel,

 

I switched from MB (and esupport) back in March and cannot be happier :)

 

I had to import all 800 of my clients, but it all went smoothly.

 

Matt does a great job developing AND supporting WHMCS.

 

Switch now, you will glad you did.

[bullsquirrel]

Thanks for the response!

 

So, it IS possible to import my eSupport users and their ticket history? I like the loginshare idea, but I really prefer having everything go through a single script (WHMCS) to make things easier for clients.

 

Also, in playing around with the demo, I'm still unsure whether or not multiple email addresses can be registered to the same client, or if multiple emails can be CCed to a ticket. I really like having that option, as I encourage my clients to have off-network email addresses registered with us so we can still notify them in the event the primary email isn't accessible.

 

When an admin is creating a new ticket for a client (such as when a client phones in a support request or uses a non-support email), does the client receive a notification, letting them know that a ticket has been submitted?

 

And one more question from the billing end of things...I can see that I can create orders, however they require that I set up a product or package each time. As I am a web developer first and a webhost second, I send out a lot of invoices with item descriptions and totals that are unique and never used again. With WHMCS will I have to create a product, create an order, and then go back and remove the product after the client pays? I'd be doing that quite often if that's the case!

 

Sorry for all these questions...my clients (and I) are just very used to eSupport and I want to make sure I'm not dropping some of the "essential" features by switching.

[Matt]

There is no automated import script available for Kayako to import past ticket history. If you are interested in having us to do that for you, open a ticket and we can discuss it there.

 

It is not currently possible to have multiple emails registered to a client, but at the same time, clients can open tickets using any email address and not just their registered one.

 

The client does indeed still get notification when you open a ticket on their behalf.

 

Regarding the billing, you can generate invoices without the need for an order. Just add the client, then click on the Create Invoice link from the summary page and you can create a custom invoice entering descriptions and prices for each line item. No need to place an order at all.

 

Matt

[bullsquirrel]

ahhh, OK, now I see where invoices can be created, thank you! That is exactly what I will need from that end!! Very cool.

 

I suppose a solution to the multiple email issue could be to just simply set up a "new" client with their alternative email address. At least then, they can receive notifications when I send them out. Might you consider allowing secondary email addresses to be registered to clients, in a future update?

 

I would also like to request the ability to CC and BCC additional recipients to tickets, as many of my clients like to CC their boss or manager's like to keep tabs on their staff whenever they are contacting us for support. If there is a formal feature request thread, kindly point me to it, as I have other ideas to that I would love to see (such as the option to charge for premium support tickets).

 

WHMCS is wildly awesome! I believe we will be purchasing an unbranded full license in the near future.

 

Thank you for your helpful responses!

[Joweb]

" switched from MB (and support) back in March and cannot be happier

Matt does a great job developing AND supporting WHMCS. "

 

This is true was with MB 5 years nothing but headache's support was the worst.

[Xeonia]

We tried MB and found WHMCS to do everything 3 times better...

[bullsquirrel]

There are a couple more features in eSupport that we use a fair bit, that I can't figure out if WHMCS has or not.

 

--Ability to assign certain clients' user accounts to allow them to view tickets submitted by others on their staff. For example, we have several clients who have multiple employees which may submit trouble tickets. By designating one (or all) of them as "managers" for their group, they can see all tickets submitted by those specific users.

 

--Ability to have more than one usergroup/level for user accounts. For example, if a user signs up for an account in the help desk, they do not automatically gain access to our full knowledgebase, until or unless we grant them membership in our "client" member group. This keeps random strangers from creating a help desk account, just so they can view our knowledgebase articles.

 

--One feature I have long been wanting (and this isn't available in eSupport either) is a way to designate certain trouble tickets as "premium" tickets, which incurs an expense to the client or deducts support incident from their Prepaid Support Plan (if they have one). We offer discounted rates to clients for pre-purchasing support plans, and then deduct their support incidents from the balance. It would be nice to somehow be able to show clients what their balance is.

 

That third feature is just a "wish list" idea, but the first two features would be fairly important to us (especially the first one).

 

Does anyone know if any of this is possible with WHMCS?

[skshost]

I'd suggest asking Matt for a quote on those custom features. They are definitely possible.

[bullsquirrel]

Thanks...so, none of these features are available out-of-box, in other words?

 

I'm fine with paying for custom features, except I'm wary because I've had experiences with other scripts where my custom features get overwritten whenever a new version comes out.

[Matt]

What I prefer to do is get you to pay a smaller price for priority development, rather than paying for a feature. That way, all you are paying for is to have it implemented right now, instead of in the future, and it's then included with all releases. That way it solves the problem of upgrading and losing the custom feature.

 

However, with your first request, I think this would work with the new contacts feature I'm planning, where a client can create contacts in their account, such as a contact for billing, contact for support, etc... and then choose which contact to use when performing actions in the client area.

 

Matt

[Dominic]

the new contacts feature I'm planning, where a client can create contacts in their account, such as a contact for billing, contact for support, etc... and then choose which contact to use when performing actions in the client area.

 

Matt

Excellent, that would've been our next request :)

[bullsquirrel]

Matt, that sounds like an excellent route to take; I would be happy to help "push" priority development of key features, if it means not having to worry about losing them in an upgrade.

 

Your contacts feature sounds similar to what I would need, although in my case I'd be needing multiple contacts for each area, and some of those contacts would need access to both the support and billing side of things.

 

Would your contacts feature allow for this? And I don't suppose you have any idea as to when you suppose this feature would be added? I ask because it's something that I think we would just about have to require as a prerequisite to changing over from eSupport to WHMCS, as our clients are already used to this feature.

 

On a side note, I am quite thrilled to see how receptive you are to feature requests! I would never be able to make such requests of Kayako or ModernGigabyte. Their clients are just faceless account numbers with dollar signs attached.