Zendesk competitors

Helpdesk software solutions have become nearly indispensable in diverse business setups nowadays. Companies from different segments like automobile, aviation, healthcare, insurance and food are resorting to these specialised applications to fulfill customer needs faster and in more efficient ways. Usage of a suitable helpdesk took can bring your company many other benefits apart from enhanced customer satisfaction. However, selecting the right helpdesk tool for your venture’s needs is not much easy. Zendesk is one of the most popular tools in this sector but there are many other alternatives too.

Top alternatives to Zendesk

Listed below are a few capable helpdesk solutions that you can pick instead of Zendesk. Each of the solutions has specific advantages and areas of deficits. You have to analyze the applications with parameters like pricing, flexibility, viability for your business, ease of use and features. This will make the selection process less tedious.

• Freshdesk

This is the era of Cloud based SaaS solutions and such applications have also taken the helpdesk industry by storm. Freshdesk is one of the top notch cloud hosted customer support software that is preferred a lot by SMBs and some midsized companies. However, its adoption in large companies has also shot up in recent years. The newest version of the software comes with a fresh UI and it is also intuitive.

Freshdesk scores over most rivals in its segment owing to various reasons, such as wider range of plans. Most businesses will find some plan or the other suitable. The startups can opt for the Sprout-which comes for free. Even though it does not cost you anything- unlimited number of agents are supported. There are other paid plans like Blossom, Garden, Estate and forest. The paid plans of Freshdesk still cost you less than some of its rivals but it gets outshines by Cayzu and Zoho Desk in sheer affordability.

The dashboard is streamlined and UI clutter is minimal. It lets you have quick glance at ongoing support activities. It also lets you integrate with top social media services with a few clicks. The system notifications are helpful and you may tweak them to suit business needs. The live chat toggle is very useful- for the busy agents.

Freshdesk hits the bulls eye in ticket management. It lets the agents generate tickets manually and numerous ticket automation features are also included in the software. Bulk assigning actions to tickets is possible. Emails and social media feeds can be set to convert to tickets without manual intervention. You have to set filters for this conversion to take place, as it is. There are features like Observer and Supervisor which can be handy in resolving ticket management related hassles. Setting up SLAs to handle ticket priorities is possible and it is simplified. A logic driven automated response system is in pace which can be boon in busy work setups with limited number of agents. Automated actions can be set to escalate and resolve open tickets as well. The software also supports situation and skill based ticket assignment.

Freshdesk comes with decent reporting features and querying. However, it is not as good as rivals like Vivantio pro or HappyFox in reporting customization. All plans come with email and phone based support.

• Happy Fox

HappyFox may not have any free plan to woo the SMBs but it is deemed as a near perfect helpdesk product for midsized businesses on expansion track. This is a well performing and highly customizable helpdesk tool you can buy. The starting plan costs $29 per user a month. It has apps for iOS and Android devices.

To set up the software, an email confirmation is necessary and after that it is simple. Customization of the UI is possible and you can integrate a huge number of apps. However, for the latter possessing technical know-how is required. Major apps that can be integrated include Twilio, QuickBooks and SurveyMonkey.

Ticket Management in HappyFox which is similar to helpscout is streamlined and tickets can be created in various ways. Direct system based ticket generation is simple and conversion of e mail and social media based posts into tickets is also easy. The automations for ticket handling are not complex as such. Like rival helpdesk solution, it features agent collision detection.

The software comes with inbuilt knowledge base creation feature. There are options to let the customers rate articles and mark them too. It even lets you create separate support portal for employees and the customers. HappyFox’s customizable dashboard let you keep tab on ticket handling progress and hurdles, if any. The Reports engine is user friendly and with it you may create customized reports which can be reused too. The software also comes with an API for developers and there is a mobile SDK too.

• Zoho Desk

Even though Zoho Desk lacks the sheen and truckloads of features found in some of its pricier rivals. It offers awesome value for money. The free plan limits you to 3 agents but it is just right for the small ventures. Even if you analyze the paid plans, they are actually way more affordable than the rival paid packages. The best part about this Cloud based help desk software is it serves as gateway to access Zoho’s huge range of online services.

Setting up Zoho desk is simple enough and the entire process does not require a long time. Its UI is pretty simple and visual clutter is nonexistent literally. Just like rival helpdesk products, it lets you create tickets directly or by automated conversions. The administrators can keep tab on ticket handling progress and problems at all times using the dashboard.

Zoho Desk has a number of useful, time saving features. The auto-snippets enable the agents to revert to commonly asked client queries very fast. Agent Collision avoidance feature is also there. You get enough options to set up a self-service portal with FAQs. It is possible to create customized reports.

The software also scores well when it comes to integrating with various business apps and cloud based services. It integrates with top social media channels and services like Twilio.

• Jira Service Desk

Jira Service Desk is among the most useful helpdesk tools and it is quite affordable too. UI wise, it is not as sleek as Freshdesk or Zendesk. However, it supports plenty of plug-ins to enhance functionality. The Atlassian Marketplace has over 550 ready-made extensions. Ticket handling can be done in many ways and the workflow is systematic. Jira Service Desk is compliant with ITIL.

The customer portal is quite functional and the customers may submit requests using embedded widgets and emails. The customers also get notified about ticket handling progress.  Where Jira Service Desk loses out to the rival helpdesk tools is its lack of embedded knowledge base. Of course, Jira Service Desk can be integrated with Atlassian Confluence, a robust knowledge base. This is much like the approach taken by Zendesk. However, no provision for answering the customers directly through social media channels is there- where the rivals get an edge!

The software ships with decent reporting features. The canned reports are good enough and you can also create own custom reports through exporting data to apps like MS Excel. To get more reporting capabilities, third party modules have to be used. It however comes with basic asset management functionality.