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Yup. Assuming Remedy ARS then use Remedy mid-tier.

The license file for Remedy Action Request System used to be called ars.lic

Is Remedy. It allows call tracking, call histroy (on a per system, per user, and per location basis), classification of calls, etc. It takes a bit of work to optimize the setup, but once it's up it's great. I've dealt with bad setups and good, and when done correctly, it's great. When done poorly, it's a bit painful to enter calls, but a good form layout will really fix that.

If you don't mind going commercial, a very popular product is Remedy. It's extremely configurable and it can do everything you're asking and a lot more. I work for a national ISP and Remedy is what our dozens of helpdesks use.

I know that Remedy is mostly known for it's Helpdesk software (you might know it from the Asset Management, if your company does manage it's assets). But this is merely one specific type of workflow oriented application. BTW, you can download it for free...

I work for in IT for a bank too as it happens and we use Remedy with little pain... Of course, without users there'd be no pain but never mind ;o)

You will also need a trouble ticket system, or at least some project management software that everyone can agree to use (they are sometimes interchangeable, but they are NOT the same product; you should look at both in making your choice..)

When this reached a breaking point in my department, I found a distinct lack of "production quality" open/free ticket systems. I looked at several, and many of them would have been enough for me, but there were too many unimplemented features/implemented bugs/horrible UI mistakes to actually ADD productivity (as the inhouse programmer, I wasn't planning on manning the newly created support line myself; our first-line support person would need something intuitive and powerful while screening calls, delegating, etc.)

We eventually settled on Footprints, a cross-platform web-based trouble ticket/project management tool. It's written in Perl, works with Apache on Linux, and has several choices for backend databases (GDBM, Oracle, MySQL, MSSQL). It has alot of features, many of which we don't even use (yet :), but some of the important ones to consider:

• The system processes (via a cron job) incoming emails on either remote or local mailboxes (I use IMAP to our regular mailserver). It can take cold submissions and process them according to various rules, and experienced agents can edit tickets via email as well. In addition, it can send email (SMS too, I think) alerts when tickets are submitted, assigned, escalated, edited, closed....
• Sophisticated reporting features. This has helped us in alot of ways: in terms of support, it lets us know what the common user problems are, who the problem users are, what we could improve across-the-board, and quantifies that in a report you can pass out at those (non-IT) management meetings. It also can tell the "others" what your turnaround time is, who your most productive staff members are, and how many requests the department fields.
• Easy and *efficient* to use. If you waste alot of time interacting with it, thats time that you aren't actually addressing any of those tickets.

Just by way of comparison, Remedy is another example of such a commercial product; it did not have a web interface when I was comparing, but I think they claim to now (as the only user in the department with several non-Windows desktops, it was at least important when I made MY recommendation :)

There are dozens of commercial places attempting to solve this problem. I do not even find it worthwhile to start a list, Google can provide a far more extensive one anyway.

Most of them are based upon Remedy's Action Request System or have their own custom engine. You can use Action Request (or one of its competitors) and customize the thing to exactly what you want. You would be amazed how many vendors there are selling solutions that are built on Action Request for any specific niche market, such as telephone services.

There are also several open source projects that I am sure have been and will be listed also. What you need depends upon scale, usability, and budget.

We use Remedy Action Request System here at Western Carolina University's IT Services. It offers multi-tier user accounts so that our Techs, Consultants, and IT Dept heads have different access levels. It includes the ability to incorporate a profile for every call, email, walk-in, even complete system re-works for faculty and staff. There is an ability to include priority levels and mark a ticket as resolved once it has been passed on to the proper department and solved. It also contains a bulletin board system that contains system wide messages so we don't have to ask around when we get calls like "Is VMS down? What about email?" It also emails us when tickets come in that pertain to our particular staff position, so that we don't have to sort through the ticket list looking for pertinent tickets.

We used a customized version of Remedy where the user enters his problem via a web interface. The requests are automagically passed to the right department, and assigned to an individual tech. The tech works on the problem, making notes in the "work log" of the ticket, and finally closes it out. At this point the user receives an email stating (confirming) his problem is solved, and depending on the department they get the option to fill out a survey to ask how their experience was.

> Apparently many of those guys are now working at Remedy

First thing I thought was "damn, I can't think of a bigger mismatch than demoscene coders working for Remedy Corp" ... yah I think in HTML :)

Most of the major help desk application vendors tout the fact that their helpdesk system is web-based as being its biggest feature. Check out the offerings from Network Associates, Remedy, Applix, Peregrine Systems, and many others.

On the free side, definately look at Bugzilla, from Mozilla.org. In many respects defect tracking and help desk is very similiar, so a customised Bugzilla could do the trick.

You could code your own Helpdesk software, which is what Australian ISP connect.com.au have done, using perl.

If you are a glutton for punishment and seeking mega kudos, then perhaps try getting the NCR (AT&T) MP-RAS version of Remedy to work. I assume you would need to do something similar to what happened with the SCO version of Oracle on Linux before Oracle did a Linux port