28 Best Help Desk Software of 2024: Reviewed & Compared
10 Best Help Desk Software Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 28 tools reviewed.
With so many different help desk software solutions available, figuring out which is right for you is tough. You know you want software to help you manage and resolve your customer inquiries more efficiently, but you need to figure out which system is best. In this article, I'll help you make your choice easier by sharing my insights on the best help desk software to streamline customer communications and provide timely and consistent responses to service requests.
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The Best Help Desk Software: Pricing Comparison Chart
This comparison chart summarizes basic details about each of my top help desk software selections. You can view pricing details and the availability of free trials or demos side-by-side to help you find the right help desk software for your budget and business needs.
| Tools | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuetrak | From $26/agent/month | Website |
| Freshdesk | From $15/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Zoho Desk | From $14/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Zendesk | From $49/user/month. | Website |
| SuperOps | From $59/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Zoho Assist | From $12/month | Website |
| Salesforce Service Cloud | From $25/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
| LiveAgent | From $9/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Front | From $19/user/month (billed annually) | Website |
| NinjaOne | From $20/user/month (billed annually) + $25 base fee per month | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareHow to Choose Help Desk Software
You'll want to ensure the best fit possible when choosing help desk software for your team. Here are the questions you should be asking yourself before making a purchasing decision:
⬜ What do you plan on using customer help desk software for?
⬜ Will it be an internal or customer-facing ticketing system?
⬜ How many users will need access to the tool? And how often?
⬜ What are 3 key software features you can't live without?
⬜ What unique or niche needs does your company have?
⬜ What channels does it need to connect to? Chat, email, socials?
⬜ What's your budget for help desk software?
⬜ Do you prefer a cloud, on-premise, or hybrid solution?
It could be helpful to write down the answers to these questions before you start reading the reviews below. That way, you can measure each tool against the features, functionality, and flexibility you actually need.
Best Help Desk Software Reviews
To help you find the best help desk software for you, I’ve provided detailed summaries of my top 10 choices and explained why I included each system in this list. I’ve also highlighted their noteworthy features, best use cases, and pros & cons to help you determine which software solution best fits your business needs.
Plus, I’ve included 16 additional options below, for different use cases, to help you find the right help desk software for you.
Issuetrak is a ticket management software designed to handle and track issues across multiple channels, providing a centralized platform for businesses to manage customer support queries, internal helpdesk requests, and issue tracking. The tool's capability to accept tickets from various channels such as email, web forms, and phone, coupled with its adaptability to different business sizes and industry needs, positions it as a leading solution for omnichannel ticket submission.
Why I picked Issuetrak: The platform supports task collaboration for efficient problem-solving, a knowledge base for quick reference to common issues, and asset management for tracking organizational resources. Additional features include system integrations, professional services for customization and training, dedicated product support, cloud hosting options, data services for in-depth analysis, notifications and reporting tools for monitoring operations, and entities and permissions for secure data access.
Issuetrak Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include omnichannel ticket submission, which allows for the capture of customer interactions across multiple channels, and automatic ticket assignment, ensuring that issues are promptly directed to the right team members. I particularly like the round-robin feature which automatically assigns an incoming issue to the next available agent when you have enabled this feature for a specific group.
Integrations are available with thousands of apps through Zapier (which requires an additional subscription). Additionally, you can build custom integrations using its API and connect the tool to other software in your tech stack.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Quick and simple setup
- Limitations on field customization
- User-friendly interface
Cons:
- Limitations on field customization
- Steep learning curve for new users
Freshdesk, created by Freshworks, offers a full suite of customer service software, including help desk software. Their software includes intelligent AI-backed automations and the ability to customize the look of your support portal, ticket forms, agent roles, and many other details to make the help desk software mesh with your corporate needs.
Why I picked Freshdesk: I included Freshdesk in this list because I appreciate the depth of their customer self-service portal features. Freshdesk helps customers find answers to their questions independently via their integrated knowledge base and customer forums. They also have an integrated chatbot that's powered by AI, called Freddy AI, which can help deliver fast and precise answers to your customers to improve your response time. Another highlight is the ability to integrate a help widget anywhere on your website or mobile app to help people easily search through help documents.
Another cool feature is that the tool supports 42 languages. This is useful for global support teams, and agents can even switch languages from within the tool.
Freshdesk Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features for Freshdesk include their collaboration tools that help agents work together to solve help requests more efficiently. These tools include a team huddle feature, shared ownership of tickets, linked tickets, and parent-child ticketing. All of these features work in tandem to help your agents work together behind the scenes to figure out the best solution to your customers' issues, without losing visibility. Other collaboration features include team messaging, collision detection, and the ability to tag teammates.
You can connect almost any communication channel you can think of to Freshdesk, including email, website chat, phone support, and social media channels like Messenger, Whatsapp, SMS, iMessage, and Line. There’s even a contact center feature so you can handle inbound and outbound phone contact.
Integrations are available with over 1,000 apps through their integration marketplace. Featured integrations include Mailchimp, Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Shopify, Slack, and WhatsApp.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Supports canned responses to offer consistent responses to common questions
- Includes a thank you detector tool that prevents tickets from being reopened when a customer says "thanks"
- Supports SLA management
Cons:
- Multilingual features are only available in their Pro or Enterprise plans
- Intelligent AI-based features and chat-bots are limited to their top-level paid plan (Enterprise)
Zoho Desk is omnichannel help desk software. It allows you to connect all the contact methods your customers use including email, social media, web chat, and even telephony. Respond to contact from all these channels in a single inbox. The tool also has powerful workflow automation features.
This allows you to create best practices—known in the tool as blueprint—to help you respond to common requests. You build these blueprints with a visual drag and drop editor that allows you to add actions with different outcomes depending on specific conditions. Use these workflows to ensure agents follow the correct process when offering support.
This is especially helpful for quickly getting new hires up to speed because the tool tells them the correct response to take in different situations. Beyond this, the tool has all the features you’d expect from customer service software, including self-service resources, collaboration, reporting, and integration with other business tools.
Zoho Desk costs $20 per agent per month for the standard plan. You can grab a free trial on the website.
Zendesk
Best AI-powered customer service solution for companies of all sizes
Zendesk offers customer service software with AI-powered help desk functionality. Their customer support software is also customizable and scalable, allowing you to add more features as your operation grows. It lets you organize support from multiple channels including messaging, email, voice, and social media in a single inbox.
Why I picked Zendesk: I included Zendesk because they're a well-known platform and their combined features help your team offer fast support. You can create automatic routing rules so agents can answer tickets that best match their abilities, whether that's based on language preferences or a particular type of product expertise. You can also use the chat widget to automatically collect extra details about your customers' problems or identify intent so you can route them to the most relevant agent.
Another cool feature is the ability to create a customer community you can use to offer support. Your team can use this as an extra support channel, or you can encourage members to help each other. It’s particularly useful because any community member can benefit from the help you give in the community, not just the people who ask the question.
Zendesk Standout Features and Integrations:
One standout feature worth noting is how easy it is to create new self-service articles to help customers get future answers proactively. To do that Zendesk helps you identify common questions that are trending. Upon answering the initial customer's question, you can take that answer and transform it into an article, then feed it to the platform's chatbots. Then, the next time that same question comes up, the link to that article with the answer will pop up in the chat widget immediately. This feature can save teams a lot of time and cut down on the overall volume of help desk requests your team will receive.
Integrations include Asana, Google Workspace, HubSpot, Jira, Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, Shopify, Slack, Trello, Zoom, and over 1200 more options on the Zendesk Marketplace.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Internal ticketing system combines email, chat, voice, and social messaging queries into one system
- Has a user-friendly interface with robust features
- Supports localized content in over 40 languages
Cons:
- Self-service portal isn't available in their basic plan
- Analytics dashboard is pre-built (not customizable)
SuperOps is a PSA-RMM software designed for Managed Service Providers (MSPs). It aims to consolidate all IT-related tasks into one platform, from network monitoring and asset management to ticket management and workflow automation. This all-in-one approach allows MSP technicians to access all relevant tools and information without needing to switch between different platforms, which can help improve ticket resolution time and overall customer support experiences.
Why I picked SuperOps: I like that SuperOps specifically focuses on providing an IT help desk solution for MSPs. It offers a robust ticket management system that facilitates client communication and contextual engagement, ensuring all necessary information is available for technicians as soon as they view a ticket. The platform also enhances efficiency with powerful automation capabilities, including event-based triggers, automatic time tracking, ticket assignment, and scheduling. Additionally, SuperOps simplifies financial operations with its automated invoicing features, ensuring timely and accurate billing for services rendered.
SuperOps Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include in-platform collaboration tools, which enable technicians to communicate with each other and work together on complex tickets to find resolutions. The platform also supports ticket prioritization and offers a Kanban view to visualize workloads. Beyond its help desk capabilities, SuperOps provides a comprehensive suite of PSA and RMM functions, including contract management, event scheduling, and network, patch, policy, and asset management.
Integrations include Xero, QuickBooks, Stripe, Webroot, SentinelOne, Splashtop, TeamViewer, Bitdefender, Guardz, Hudu, Emsisoft, and Microsoft Azure.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- Good automation capabilities
- All-in-one RMM and PSA features
Cons:
- Client portal could be improved
- Limited support for other languages
Zoho Assist is a customer support and remote access software. It can be used to provide customer support through both on-demand and unattended remote access sessions, and is compatible with other Zoho products.
Why I picked Zoho Assist: This software allows customer success teams to remotely accessing customer (or team member) devices. The unattended remote access capability also allows you to push updates, diagnose issues, and reboot devices even if the customer is not at their computer. High-level security features are included, providing peace of mind for agents and customers alike.
Customer service reps can also support customers via live chat, video, and voice calling. The software also has a scheduling feature to set up support sessions as needed. Files can be shared between support agents and customers seeking assistance.
Zoho Assist Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features include the system's session recording tool. You can record any remote access session, which is super helpful for record-keeping but also for auditing purposes. Session recordings can also be used for training new staff or reviewing performance with support agents.
Integrations include the Zoho product suite, Zendesk, ServiceNow, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Freshdesk, Spiceworks, and the Google Suite, among others.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- On-demand and unattended remote access
- Ability to deploy bulk updates
- High-level security (SSL, 256-bit AES encryption, 2FA)
Cons:
- Some features may require coding knowledge
- Might not be ideal for non-Zoho users
Best for creating personalized experiences with AI
Salesforce Service Cloud is a multi-channel helpdesk that enables businesses to deliver great customer experiences using AI-powered personalization.
Why I picked Salesforce Service Cloud: The software uses AI and automation to take care of repetitive tasks, so your agents can focus on giving top-notch support. AI features like chatbots and automatic triaging not only save time but also improve efficiency. The AI also makes sure customer queries go to the right agents with the right skills, providing a personalized support experience.
This software works well for businesses of all sizes and across different industries to offer personalized support through various channels. The AI can analyze customer interactions to give proactive service suggestions, anticipate needs, and tailor interactions on a large scale. The platform also has a drag-and-drop editor for building a self-service center, so customers can find answers on their own, enhancing the personalized support even more.
Salesforce Service Cloud Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include omni-Channel Routing, which directs customer inquiries to the right agents based on skill set and availability, ensuring efficient and accurate responses. The platform also provides a comprehensive knowledge base, allowing agents to quickly access information and solutions to common issues, speeding up resolution times. Additionally, the Field Service feature supports mobile workforce management, ensuring that field technicians have the tools and information they need to provide excellent service.
Integrations include Freshdesk, CloudTalk, Twilio, Brandwatch, Paligo, Mailchimp, HubSpot CRM, Trello, TeamViewer, Smartsheet, Klaviyo, Aircall, Gainsight, and Conversocial.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Effectively simplifies support procedures
- Adaptable to users’ needs
- Provides a unified view of interactions
Cons:
- Comes with a learning curve
- Can be cumbersome to implement
LiveAgent is a help desk and knowledge base management software that helps customer support teams manage multi-channel ticketing flows and provide self-serve content for customers. Team members share an inbox where they can see all incoming tickets in one place, whether they're coming through via phone calls, email, or live chat.
Why I picked LiveAgent: I included LiveAgent in this list because their help desk software is known for its fast and easy customer onboarding and implementation process. They also offer excellent customer support for clients 24/7, and concierge migration services if you're looking to switch from a different help desk solution to theirs.
LiveAgent Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features for LiveAgent include automated spam filtering, ticket routing, and follow-up scripts, which can all be configured in the platform to help streamline workflows and alleviate busy work.
To create an abundant knowledge base to empower customers, you can implement the customizable themes available in the software and draft articles with the WYSIWYG content editor. Customer forums can also be established and moderated through the platform, giving customers an opportunity to share their advice and helping to nurture your community. Feedback buttons can be added to the customer-facing portal, helping teams collect insights into user needs, wants, and pain points.
Integrations are available with 200+ other SaaS tools like ActiveCampaign, BigCommerce, Clockify, Gmail, HubSpot, Jira, Pipedrive, Shopify, Slack, and Trello.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Includes the ability to merge or split help tickets as needed
- White glove implementation services
- Numerous third-party integrations are available
Cons:
- An additional fee is required if you want to host more than one knowledge base (multi-knowledge base feature)
- Some social media integrations require an additional fee
Front is a customer operations platform that consolidates communication channels into a single interface, aiming to improve the efficiency and visibility of business operations. Overall, Front strives to offer a balance between email flexibility and help desk organization, providing scalability for businesses of different sizes.
Why I picked Front: Front assists help desk operations by providing a platform that centralizes customer communications from various channels into a single interface, enabling teams to manage and respond to customer inquiries efficiently. It is designed to help businesses manage customer interactions, improve response times, and maintain a high level of organization in their customer service efforts.
For example, Front supports collaboration among team members by allowing them to share inboxes, comment on conversations, and assign tasks to one another. The tool also automates workflows to direct messages to the appropriate team members and provides analytics to track performance and customer satisfaction. Additionally, Front's knowledge base feature allows for quick access to information, and its live chat enables real-time customer engagement.
Front Standout Features and Integrations
Standout features include the platform's customer insights. Front's contact profiles consolidate customer information, providing a holistic view of previous interactions, contact details, and relevant context, which empowers teams to deliver personalized and informed responses. Front also enables teams to add internal notes and collaborate within contact profiles. Agents can share important updates, observations, or specific instructions with their colleagues.
Integrations include Aircall, Asana, Clickup, Dialpad, Bugpilot, FullContact, Chatra, Gainsight, Drift, and Calixa.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Robust customization and automation
- Easy multi-channel integration
- Enhances team collaboration
Cons:
- Potentially slow response times
- Wide array of features can result in a steep learning curve for new users
NinjaOne is a unified IT management platform, designed to simplify and optimize the way IT teams work. It offers a suite of tools that cater to various aspects of IT management, including remote monitoring and management (RMM), endpoint management, patch management, backup, and disaster recovery.
Why I picked NinjaOne: As a help desk software, NinjaOne excels in streamlining IT support and enhancing customer service efficiency. It offers a robust ticketing system that allows IT teams to efficiently track, prioritize, and resolve user issues and requests. The platform's strength lies in its intuitive interface and seamless integration with other IT management tools, enabling a unified approach to IT service management.
NinjaOne provides detailed reporting and analytics, which help in identifying common issues and trends, leading to proactive problem resolution and improved IT support strategies. Additionally, its automation capabilities significantly reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks, allowing IT professionals to focus on more complex issues. The software's ability to offer remote support and access further enhances its effectiveness, enabling IT teams to provide timely and effective assistance regardless of location.
NinjaOne Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features include its user-friendly interface and design, which is tailored to enhance user experience and productivity. The platform's intuitive design stands out in a field often characterized by complex and technical interfaces. This focus on user experience simplifies the learning curve for new users and enhances efficiency for experienced IT professionals.
Integrations include TeamViewer, Splashtop, Connectwise, Sentinal One, Bitdefender, Webroot, Alwarebytes, OKTA, OneLogin, Accelo, CloudBlue PSA, SherpaDesk, HaloPSA, IT Glue, BightGauge, ScalePad, PagerDuty, and Slack.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Robust automation capabilities
- User-friendly interface
- Comprehensive feature set
Cons:
- Learning curve for advanced features
- Focused on IT customer service only
Other Help Desk Software
Here are a few more worthwhile options for help desk management. Even though they didn’t make it into my top 10 selections, they’re still worth checking out if you need more options:
Related CX Software Reviews
If you still haven't found what you're looking for here, check out these related customer experience management tools that we've tested and evaluated.
- Customer Service Software
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- Customer Messaging Platform
- Digital Experience Platform
- Sentiment Analysis Tools
- Customer Experience Management Software
Selection Criteria for Help Desk Software
If you're wondering how I selected the best help desk ticketing software, I'm happy to break it all down for you. First of all, I started off by reviewing recent help desk software market data and publicly available user satisfaction ratings to create my long list of help desk vendors to assess.
Next, using my own experience in customer experience as a guide, I created a list of the key criteria that are most important for help desk software. I then used these criteria to compare how each help desk provider stacked up against the rest:
Core help desk software Functionality: 25% of total weighting score
Common features for help desk software typically include ticket management, multi-channel support, automated routing, knowledge bases, collaboration tools, analytics and reporting, self-service portals, chat widgets, and integration capabilities.
To be considered for inclusion on my list of the best help desk software, the solution had to support the ability to fulfill common use cases:
- Have the ability to track customer support tickets using a ticket number, tag, or by some other means.
- Offer some sort of customer self-service portal, where customers can access key information themselves, proactively. This could include an FAQ section, a community forum, or an integrated knowledge base.
- Channel integration capabilities that combine requests from popular sources (email, live chat, phone, social media, web forms, etc.) into one unified user interface for your agents.
Additional Standout Features: 25% of total weighting score
- Unique functionalities that distinguish the software from competitors, such as AI-driven insights or advanced automation capabilities.
- Solutions offering exceptional customizability to adapt to specific business workflows.
- Examples of innovative features include real-time customer satisfaction tracking or predictive analytics for ticket volume.
Usability: 10% of total weighting score
- A balance between powerful features and ease of use, ensuring software is accessible to all team members.
- A design aesthetic that simplifies navigation and task execution, such as drag-and-drop interfaces for scheduling or intuitive tagging for asset management.
Onboarding: 10% of total weighting score
- The presence of resources like training videos, templates, interactive product tours, and webinars to facilitate quick adoption.
- Assessing how easily a new user can migrate to the platform and start benefiting from its features.
Customer Support: 10% of total weighting score
- How the provider's customer service stacks up against others, looking for responsiveness, knowledge, and support channels offered.
Value For Money: 10% of total weighting score
- Comparing the pricing of the software with its feature set, looking for affordability without sacrificing essential functionalities.
Customer Reviews: 10% of total weighting score
- Gathering insights from user feedback to gauge overall satisfaction and identify any recurring issues or highly praised features.
Choosing help desk software requires a thoughtful approach, weighing features against specific business needs. The right software simplifies customer service management, aligns with budget constraints, and grows with your organization.
Trends in Help Desk Software for 2024
SaaS technology is always changing. Here are some of the key trends shaping help desk software solutions today and in the future.
AI-Powered Automation
AI-powered automation is revolutionizing help desk software. It streamlines ticket management and reduces response times. This trend is vital for enhancing customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Omnichannel Support Integration
Omnichannel support integration is becoming a standard. It allows customers to interact through various channels seamlessly. This trend ensures a consistent and unified customer experience.
Self-Service Portals
Self-service portals are on the rise. They empower customers to resolve issues independently. This trend reduces the workload on support teams and increases customer satisfaction.
Mobile-Friendly Platforms
Mobile-friendly help desk platforms are increasingly popular. They enable support teams to assist customers anytime, anywhere. This trend is essential for maintaining service quality in a mobile-first world.
These are a few of the trends I've noticed when it comes to modern help desk software. Keep these in mind when you are considering what CX software and tools seem the most future-proof for your business.
What is Help Desk Software?
Help desk software is a tool designed to provide a centralized resource to answer customer inquiries and resolve technical issues. An efficient help desk will manage customer support tickets, track user requests, and streamline communication between support teams and customers. Key features often include ticket management, automated responses, knowledge base integration, and reporting capabilities. A help desk enhances customer service efficiency, improves response times, and ensures that support issues are resolved effectively.
Features of Help Desk Software
The specific features included in each help desk software will depend on the type of platform you choose (a standalone tool versus a module within a customer relationship management system or an IT service management system). However, these are the key features I assessed when selecting the best help desk software for this list:
- Scalable customer service help desks: Essential for adjusting the support capacity based on ticket volume. This flexibility ensures efficiency during peak times and cost savings during slower periods.
- Omnichannel support: Integrates all support channels into one inbox. This feature is key for a unified customer experience, allowing support to be seamless across email, chat, social media, and more.
- Automated routing: Directs support tickets to the most suitable agent based on their expertise and the nature of the inquiry. This ensures that customers receive the best possible assistance without delay.
- Collaboration tools: Facilitates teamwork among agents. Features like tagging, messaging, transfers, and whisper mode are crucial for resolving complex issues swiftly.
- Chat widgets: Enables direct communication with customers via your website. These widgets can also provide self-service options, enhancing customer satisfaction.
- Templates and processes: Standardizes responses for common inquiries, ensuring consistent quality and efficiency in customer support.
- Telephony integration: Allows seamless handling of calls and SMS within the help desk. Advanced features like routing, automatic call distribution (ACD), and interactive voice response (IVR), are valuable for managing voice support effectively.
- Analytics and reporting: Offers insights into support activities and customer interactions. Analyzing data helps identify trends and areas for improvement.
- Knowledge base and self-service: Empowers customers to find answers on their own, reducing the volume of incoming tickets and increasing satisfaction.
- Extra support tools: Includes additional resources like community forums and knowledge bases. These tools are invaluable for building a comprehensive support ecosystem.
These features ensure that customer inquiries are managed and resolved with greater efficiency and precision. By automating routine tasks, routing inquiries to the appropriate agents, and continuously analyzing support activities, businesses can provide superior customer support and drive continuous improvement.
Benefits of Help Desk Software
Help desk software is engineered to streamline customer support operations, aiming to elevate the customer service experience while boosting organizational productivity. By choosing the ideal help desk software for your requirements, you stand to gain the following advantages:
- Enhanced Customer Satisfaction - Provides timely and effective solutions to customer inquiries. This software ensures customers receive prompt and accurate responses, significantly improving their overall experience and satisfaction. This can lead to higher customer satisfaction levels and a better overall customer experience.
- Increased Efficiency and Productivity - Automates routine tasks and routes inquiries to the appropriate agents. By reducing manual workloads and optimizing ticket management, teams can handle customer issues more swiftly and with greater precision.
- Improved Issue Resolution Times - Enables faster problem-solving with organized ticket tracking and management features. Help desk software streamlines the process of identifying, prioritizing, and resolving customer queries, thereby reducing the time taken to address issues.
- Valuable Insights from Reporting and Analytics - Offers detailed analytics on customer interactions and support efficiency. These insights allow organizations to identify trends, pinpoint areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to enhance service quality.
- Centralized Communication - Consolidates customer support channels into a single platform. This centralization ensures that no customer inquiry goes unnoticed and allows for a cohesive communication strategy across emails, chats, social media, and more.
Investing in the appropriate help desk software can revolutionize how organizations interact with their customers, establishing a robust foundation for exceptional customer support and long-term customer relationships.
If you’re interested in learning more, take a look at our article covering the key benefits of help desk software too.
Cost & Pricing for Help Desk Software
Help desk software is essential for managing customer inquiries, automating support tasks, and providing valuable insights into customer satisfaction and support efficiency. For those new to this software, understanding the various plan and pricing options is crucial to selecting the best solution for your organization. These options range from basic free plans for small teams or startups to more comprehensive, feature-rich packages designed for large enterprises with complex support needs.
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Basic ticket management, email integration, limited reporting, access for a small number of agents |
| Basic | $10-$25 per agent/month | Ticket management, email and social media integration, basic reporting, knowledge base |
| Standard | $25-$50 per agent/month | Advanced ticket management, multi-channel support, performance analytics, automation tools |
| Premium/Pro | $50-$100 per agent/month | Full omnichannel support, advanced analytics, AI capabilities, higher customization, priority support |
| Enterprise | $100+ per agent/month | Custom integrations, dedicated support, unlimited agents, enterprise-grade security, bespoke features |
When selecting a help desk software plan, consider both your current needs and potential future requirements. Opt for a plan that not only fits your budget but also offers the flexibility to scale as your organization grows.
New & Noteworthy Product Updates
Below, you’ll find my take on the latest and greatest help desk software product updates. Discover what’s now possible through feature releases, improvements, and updates on web, desktop, and mobile apps. Learn what’s new, if it’s hot—or not, and why it matters for managing and resolving your customer inquiries more efficiently.
April 2024: Help Desk Software Updates
Zendesk Update Notes
In April 2024, Zendesk introduced a new feature called "Generative AI for agents" for customers with the Advanced AI add-on. This feature includes capabilities such as summarizing, expanding, and tone-shifting comments on tickets. Summarize recaps public comments, expand adds additional language to agent-written comments, and tone shift adjusts the tone of comments to be more friendly or formal. These tools leverage generative AI powered by OpenAI’s Enterprise GPT and are available in any language supported by OpenAI across all channels within the Agent Workspace.
This update enhances the efficiency and productivity of customer support agents. Agents can quickly generate more detailed and appropriate responses, saving time and ensuring consistent communication quality. The ability to tone-shift comments helps in maintaining the desired tone, whether formal or friendly, depending on the context. This leads to higher customer satisfaction and a more personalized support experience. The summarization feature is particularly useful for providing quick overviews of ticket histories, facilitating faster decision-making and issue resolution.
Verdict: Hot! This update solves the pain point of slow and inconsistent ticket responses by enhancing efficiency and communication quality for agents using Generative AI.
March 2024: Help Desk Software Updates
LiveAgent Update Notes
In March, LiveAgent began the migration of all its user accounts to Amazon data centers. This AWS migration promises to enhance the stability, speed, and overall performance of the LiveAgent platform. By moving to Amazon's robust server infrastructure, LiveAgent aims to provide a smoother and more reliable experience for its users. This update is part of a broader effort to ensure that the platform can handle increasing loads and deliver faster response times, which are crucial for customer support operations.
Users benefit greatly from this migration because it significantly improves the reliability and speed of the LiveAgent service. Faster response times lead to more efficient handling of customer inquiries, which in turn can enhance customer satisfaction and retention. The improved stability means fewer disruptions and downtime, ensuring that support teams can operate smoothly without unexpected interruptions. This is particularly valuable for businesses that rely heavily on real-time customer support to maintain their operations and keep their customers happy.
Verdict: Hot! Migrating to Amazon servers can contribute significantly to ensuring a smoother and more efficient user experience.
SysAid Update Notes
In March, SysAid introduced an update to Copilot allowing end users to ask about their recent Service Records without leaving the chat interface. Users can inquire about specific Service Records or receive general or topic-specific overviews of multiple Service Records within the chat. This update is designed to streamline the user experience by keeping all necessary information readily accessible in one place.
Quick access to service record information helps users stay informed and resolve issues faster which can lead to improved user satisfaction.
Verdict: Not! While this update adds convenience, it doesn't significantly enhance the core functionality of the software.
Help Desk Software: Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have general questions about what help desk software has to offer or how to choose the best option for your organization? These answers to FAQs should point you in the right direction:
What is help desk software used for?
Help desk software is a specialized software solution used by businesses to help them manage their internal or external customer service requests in real-time. They act as a central repository for everything related to communication and customer relationship management. This includes external matters, such as sales inquiries or customer service cases, or internal incidents, such as IT problems or HR requests.
These cloud-based solutions help support agents quickly access previous customer conversations, purchasing details, and company policy information in order to create positive customer interactions and speed up their response time to inquiries.
For more details on this topic, see What Is Help Desk Software and How Can It Help Your Business as well.
How does help desk software work?
Help desk software works by centralizing all forms of customer inquiries, questions, and support issues into one user interface for your support team. Each time a customer submits a request, the help desk software creates a ticket for it and assigns it to an agent.
Many systems offer automatic routing rules which you can configure to send specific types of tickets to the best agents equipped to handle them. For example, you may have one or two customer support agents on your team that are great at dealing with refund requests. In that case, you can set up an automatic trigger that detects the word “refund” in the request and automatically routes the request to those agents. This allows businesses to prioritize and manage support requests effectively.
Wondering if help desk software is the right fit for you? This article What is a Help Desk and Does Your Business Need One should help you get to the bottom of it.
How can I choose the best help desk software for my organization?
To help you find the right help desk software for you, follow this 8-step process:
- Clarify your mission
- Determine your budget and target timeframe
- Gather requirements from all stakeholders
- Research vendors
- Make a shortlist of the most promising options
- Request free trials or demos
- Re-group and decide your pick
- Implement and begin onboarding
For more information, read my detailed breakdown of how to choose the best help desk software including tips to make the selection process easier.
What's the difference between help desk software and customer service software?
Help desk software and customer service software are both important tools for CX professionals. While some functions do overlap, they are not the same. Here are some key points to help you differentiate these two systems:
Help desk software:
- Focused on managing incoming customer issues and day-to-date support requests
- Is tactical and typically has an internal ticketing system to log and track customer issues and resolutions
- Ultimate goal is to ensure no customer issues go unanswered
- Collects quantitative data on key metrics like response times and issue resolution rates
- ROI (return on investment) can be measured by your customer retention rate through efficient problem resolution
Customer service software:
- Has a broader focus of understanding and enhancing the entire customer experience
- Typically includes feedback tools, analytics, and links to CRM systems to provide a 360-degree view of the customer journey
- Ultimate goal is to align the customer’s experience with the business strategy and brand promise and understand the “why” behind customer interactions
- Collects qualitative data and insights, measuring the sentiment and satisfaction levels of customer interactions
- ROI can be measured by tracking customer journeys and correlating experiences with purchases and loyalty behaviors
Does customer service software seem like a better fit for your needs? Then this summary of the purpose, benefits, and features of customer service software is a good next step.
How can help desk software help with service level agreement (SLA) management?
A service level agreement (or SLA) is commonly used in the IT industry to define the level of support that a service provider will offer to a customer. The main goal of an SLA is to establish clear expectations between both parties, promote transparency of each party’s responsibilities, and ensure that the service provider satisfies the needs of their customer.
Help desk software can help with SLA management by helping teams track, monitor, and enforce SLA commitments. Here are a few specific ways these solutions can help if you’re in an SLA management situation:
- Advanced SLA tracking and reporting: Help desk software can track key SLA metrics such as response time, resolution time, and customer satisfaction levels. Teams can also take advantage of workflow automations to generate regular performance reports showing their SLA commitments have been achieved.
- Alerts and notifications: You can customize your help desk software to send alerts or notifications if a specific SLA commitment is in danger of being unfulfilled. This can help your team take quick action to avoid any negative impact on the customer relationship.
- Escalation management: Many help desk systems include escalation or incident management tools, which are also useful within the context of an SLA agreement, since some agreements do stipulate turnaround within a specific time frame.
Interested in setting up an SLA with an external company? Take a look at my list of the best customer service outsourcing companies for some solid options to consider.
What key metrics should be tracked for help desk efficiency?
Similar to the performance metrics for call centers, key metrics for help desk includes customer satisfaction (CSAT) score that gets direct feedback from customers about their experience, offering a clear picture of how well your helpdesk is meeting their needs. Also, first response time measures how quickly your team responds to a new ticket or inquiry. Average resolution time takes it a step further by showing how long it takes, on average, to fully resolve an issue, which can indicate the efficiency and knowledge of your team. Lastly, ticket volume trends can help identify peak times and types of issues, enabling better resource planning and potentially highlighting areas for product improvement or additional customer education.
What are the different types of help desk software available?
Here are different types of help desk software you can explore if you’re looking for something tailored to specific needs or organizational sizes:
For more budget-friendly options with fewer features or active-user limitations, look through my list of the best free help desk software too.
What softwares are used in customer service?
To enhance customer service operations, teams often rely on specialized software. Here’s a list of our reviews that have covered popular options:
Find the Right Help Desk Software with these Next Steps
This list contains the best help desk software around. Before deciding which one to choose, I recommend clearly defining your needs. You can then research which products offer these features.
The next step is to test out a few of the services. All tools on this list offer either a free trial or a free product demo. This will give you a better idea of the pros and cons of each solution. If you're running a small customer support operation, you may even be able to get away with using a free plan too (though note, the features will be limited).
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