Pros & Cons
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- Extensive AI features
- Automated ticket management
- Clear, colorful interface
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- Can be overwhelming at first
HaloITSM Specs
| Asset Management | |
| Chatbot Support | |
| Custom Reporting | |
| Knowledge Base | |
| Live Chat | |
| Self-Service Portal | |
| Smartphone Apps | |
| Support Widget | |
| Tickets From Social Media |
HaloITSM is a robust IT help desk management platform that combines an extensive feature set with a polished, intuitive interface. Built around established ITSM best practices, it focuses on helping organizations standardize and enhance their internal IT operations. A standout benefit is that AI agents, along with AI-driven automation and service tools, are included at a single account level rather than as add-ons. While HaloITSM comes at a higher price point and can feel overwhelming at first glance, its depth of capabilities and exceptional user experience make it an Editors' Choice winner for internal IT help desk software.
How Does HaloITSM Differ From Customer Service Help Desk Software?
HaloITSM is an IT help desk solution designed for internal employees, but, like Vivantio, it is also flexible enough to handle support tickets for other company departments, such as HR. As an ITSM service, it focuses on helping your organization adopt industry-standard practices and adhere to service-level agreements, extending beyond the standard ticket management process. Freshservice is another example of an ITSM product. Internal IT help desk software also typically offers features for asset, inventory, and project management.
Other help desk products, such as HappyFox Help Desk and Zoho Desk, are suitable for supporting external customers, regardless of where they attempt to reach you. Like all internal IT and external customer-facing help desk services, HaloITSM provides you with the tools to build a knowledge base that supports AI features, employee self-service, and your staff.
Pricing: Straightforward, Per-Agent Pricing
HaloITSM offers a flat monthly subscription fee and doesn't provide any add-ons. Pricing depends on the number of agents you need to support, as well as whether they are Named (a license for a specific person) or Concurrent (a shared license).
The company doesn't publicize its exact rates, but it provided a few examples of how it works. For companies with 25 or fewer agents, the monthly price is $95 per agent for a Named license. For companies with between 25 and 100 users, the rate goes down to $90 per agent per month. Concurrent licenses cost roughly twice as much, but multiple agents can share each for as little as a few hours. You don't get a discount for paying annually. For comparison, Vivantio also uses all-inclusive pricing (around $90 per agent per month).
This pricing model is far clearer than with other help desk services, such as Freshservice (starting at $19 per agent per month, billed annually) and Zendesk for Employee Service (starting at $29 per agent per month, billed annually), because you don't need to think about the features you need. With HaloITSM, you simply get everything the product offers, from AI agents and sentiment analysis features to asset, change, and project management. With Freshservice and Zendesk, you have to pay extra for their most advanced AI and ticket management features. If you can make do with just core help desk features or don't mind figuring out the exact plan you need, however, both offer substantial savings over HaloITSM. At the other end of the affordability spectrum, the more basic Spiceworks Cloud Help Desk offers a capable free tier and charges just $5 per agent per month for its premium version.
(Note: Spiceworks is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company. For more, see the ethics policy in our Editorial Mission Statement.)
Interface and Ease of Use: Colorful and Intuitive
HaloITSM's highly intuitive and colorful interface is more enjoyable to use than those of both Freshservice and Vivantio. The bright orange, red, and teal accents are prevalent throughout, from the New Ticket button to ticket status indicators. The use of color is crucial due to the product's extensive features. The navigational sidebar requires you to scroll down to view all its icons, but these modules (incident tickets, change requests, customer management, and so on) are still easy to identify.
The service runs in a browser and also offers dedicated mobile apps (available for Android and iOS). Vivantio doesn't maintain mobile apps, though Freshservice does. In testing, I found the iPhone app intuitive; it mirrors the desktop browser experience and makes it easy to find open tickets. That said, you can't adjust admin settings or use some advanced triaging features, such as viewing other agents' tickets, on mobile.
(Credit: Halo/PCMag)I tested a fully functional trial version of HaloITSM with preloaded data. Extensive (and optional) setup wizards are available to help you learn the system and configure the software to your needs. They walk you through how to perform tasks, such as adding more agents and employee records, and even provide time estimates for how long those tasks will take.
The software has a lot of settings, so you have to scroll a bit to access them all in the preferences section. Nonetheless, all of them have helpful descriptions and labels, and the search box works reliably. During testing, I encountered no issues adding and configuring agents, enabling AI functions, or adjusting the automated workflows. The permissions and roles are the same for Named and Concurrent licenses. However, one minor gripe I have is that mobile app access is off by default, and that the related checkbox isn't as prevalent as it could be.
Adding knowledge base articles is simple. Just note that building an extensive repository to support HaloITSM's AI features and your company's support staff is a time-consuming process.
HaloITSM oddly doesn't offer live chat support. However, it maintains an extensive library of self-service resources and provides 24/7 support via email and phone. Freshservice offers live chat support in addition to these same options. During testing, I sent an email to HaloITSM's support team to inquire about whether HaloITSM has a Windows client, and I received a response after a few hours. Enhanced support is available by contract and varies based on your specific needs; it typically includes a dedicated tech support agent and regular check-ins.
Ticket Management: AI-Based Ticket Tools
HaloITSM has best-in-class ticket management features. The main ticket view is neither cluttered nor confusing. You can quickly filter tickets by various criteria, and the search box in the upper left functions as expected.
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On a ticket's detail page, a row of clearly labeled buttons makes ample use of color to help you work with them efficiently. For example, when I added a new ticket related to a power outage, I was able to easily escalate it by clicking the prominent Escalation button. And when I wanted to reassign a ticket, the bright orange Re-Assign button was simple to find.
Tickets show a summary at the top, including their creation date, as well as their escalation and resolution status. You can easily customize the fields on tickets as well. HaloITSM enables you to sync internal employee details via Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure) or Google Workspace directories. Otherwise, you can import a CSV file of employees or add individual users manually. The software lacks an obvious employee database component, similar to Freshservice and Zendesk, for Employee Service. Nonetheless, you can still access detailed employee information from within tickets, along with a history of previous interactions.
(Credit: Halo/PCMag)Otherwise, you can quickly downgrade tickets, transfer them to other agents, and mark them as resolved. Notifications inform agents when their assigned tickets are overdue. It’s easy to see which agents have open tickets, how many they have resolved, and more by opening the Organization tab in the left-hand sidebar and selecting said agent.
The software offers more workflow automation features than any other help desk solution I've tested. These tools are extremely granular, enabling you to manage open tickets in a manner that adheres to established IT support protocols. During testing, I created a workflow that escalates a ticket after a specified period to a manager. The flowchart-based workflow interface is just as vibrant as the rest of the experience, allowing you to intuitively build complex automated processes for reassigning, grouping, and resolving tickets.
AI features are also more extensive than I’ve seen in any competitor. HaloITSM's AI can help you categorize, organize, and triage tickets, as well as gauge employee sentiment and escalate tickets accordingly (for example, when a user appears to be upset). In my tests, I quickly scanned an AI summary to get up to speed on a ticket, which helped me understand its current status. The AI can also help you build your knowledge base, which a virtual-agent-run chatbot can then consult to carry out self-service. Freshservice's AI features are mostly competitive, but they lack the same level of seamless integration.
Asset, Change, and Project Management: Robust and Intuitive
HaloITSM fully implements asset tracking and change management features into the interface and ticketing process. That means you can add assets that an employee just acquired and is now requesting help with to a ticket, as well as explore all assets and change requests separately. This flexibility and power make the software quite scalable. And, unlike Freshservice, you don't need to pay extra if you go above 100 total assets.
(Credit: Halo/PCMag)HaloITSM also offers better project management features than its alternatives. You can easily view all open projects, assign tasks, check timelines using a Gantt chart, and review tasks in a Kanban view that makes it easy to see who is working on what.
(Credit: Halo/PCMag)Reports and Exporting Data: Capable and Configurable
The software's analytics and reporting capabilities are excellent. You get dozens of standard reports that show which tickets are escalated or unresolved, as well as data related to asset, change, and project management.
(Credit: Halo/PCMag)The reports are highly customizable; you can tweak their appearance, which fields they include, the data range they cover, and just about everything else. Prominent buttons along the tops of reports allow you to edit them, email them, or export their data as a CSV file. In testing, I found the process of creating a report to be simple because the software breaks down each step into dedicated sections, including its look and feel, the fields to include, and when it should automatically generate. With just a few clicks, I created a report that shows all overdue tickets by agent, which helped me get a picture of open service issues.
One interesting example of how AI plays a role in this context relates to the knowledge base. You can generate a report in which the AI summarizes the articles that you have created. This can help you gauge whether the knowledge base adequately covers common support topics and if it's actually helpful to agents.
Integrations: A Good Range of Choices
HaloITSM offers more than 200 integrations to help you seamlessly integrate it into your existing workflows. For example, it works with various CRMs, such as Salesforce and HubSpot, as well as Slack for communication needs, and Zapier to help you build custom connections to third-party apps. HaloITSM also integrates with a wide range of Microsoft products, including Azure, Dynamics, and Teams. Freshservice supports far more integrations (around 1,200), but HaloITSM's options should be sufficient for most companies.
Administration and Security: Extensive Options
HaloITSM's admin settings section has numerous pages of options, but that's mainly because the product itself is so comprehensive. The good news is that all preferences are clearly delineated and easily accessible via search. Even though HaloITSM is powerful enough to serve larger companies, small businesses won't find any of the options overly complex.
(Credit: Halo/PCMag)HaloITSM's privacy policy is fairly understandable and up-to-date. The product supports multi-factor authentication and employs various encryption methods.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Halo)
HaloITSM
HaloITSM's combination of advanced ticket management features, excellent AI tools, and a friendly interface makes it an intuitive and robust IT help desk management solution.