Helpdesk ticketing software program can present your help staff with wanted options and assist them carry out at their finest. Or it might overcomplicate their workflows and create confusion.
There’s nobody finest helpdesk for everybody. For instance, whereas they’ve quite a bit to supply, ‘enterprise’ options could not converse to the wants of your small enterprise. What your staff requires is an easy-to-use, intuitive platform that feels snug.
On this put up, we’ll check out eight common instruments and talk about what worth they supply. We’ll discuss use instances, scalability, ease of use, and extra – so you could find the best helpdesk ticketing system in your small enterprise.
What To Search for in a Small Enterprise Helpdesk Ticketing System
In case your help staff is trying to swap from a typical mailbox (like Gmail or Outlook), the quantity of helpdesk options on the market can appear overwhelming. What performance do you want, and what’s simply advertising and marketing hype?
There are positively options your help staff can’t work successfully with out, such as a shared inbox. On the finish of the day, nevertheless, nearly all of helpdesks provide comparable core performance.
As for the extra superior options, they’re hardly ever related to your corporation. Helpdesks are sometimes constructed to supply as many bells and whistles as potential, and are designed for the wants of huge firms.
The purpose is that it’s higher to give attention to the intangibles. What’s the perfect helpdesk ticketing system in your small enterprise? The one which gives an intuitive, easy-to-use answer at an reasonably priced value.
With that in thoughts, listed below are a number of facets to give attention to when evaluating any helpdesk ticketing system.
Intuitive Consumer Interface
First ask your self: Is the software program straightforward to make use of?
Any new device would require an adjustment interval. However, it needs to be straightforward in your staff to select up and dive in with out feeling overwhelmed.
How are you going to establish a user-friendly helpdesk ticketing system for small enterprise? Test to see if it meets the next standards:
- The choices your staff is most probably to make use of are straightforward to seek out, clear, and accessible.
- If it’s essential assign a ticket or create a tag, you are able to do so simply from the dashboard.
- The system works shortly and easily – no friction, lag, or unclear navigation.
- You possibly can customise the helpdesk to match your current (or desired) workflows.
- Instruments and sources are built-in into the inbox in a seamless (and well-explained) manner.
Clean Onboarding Course of
A white-glove onboarding course of can get rid of friction, and make adopting a brand new helpdesk easy. It’s vital in your staff to grasp what essentially the most related options and use instances are for his or her wants. They might additionally want help whereas studying the extra complicated elements of the device.
In different phrases, the builders behind the helpdesk you select ought to present a seamless onboarding expertise. That may be uncommon, because it’s not straightforward to do properly. Right here at Groove, we’ve discovered quite a bit over time about how to improve our own onboarding process to provide new customers what they want.
Hold an eye fixed out for easily-accessible sources like:
- In-app walkthroughs that will help you navigate key options and instruments
- Product demos or stay coaching periods
- A number of 24/7 help channels
- Self-serve sources comparable to FAQs and information bases
Third-Occasion Integrations
Integrations may not be mandatory for a enterprise that’s simply beginning out. However as you develop, you’ll probably begin utilizing further instruments to speak, collaborate, report bugs, and observe buyer knowledge.
The necessity to juggle numerous platforms can turn into actual headache. So don’t neglect to check out what integration choices every helpdesk ticketing system gives. It ought to work properly with common third-party apps your corporation makes use of now or could undertake down the street.
Safety and Compliance
Safety is particularly vital for a helpdesk. There’s a variety of delicate buyer info concerned, and that knowledge could should be shared throughout numerous communication channels.
To begin, you’ll need to search for instruments with role-based permissions choices. This allows you to restrict consumer entry the place acceptable – buyer particulars needs to be on a ‘have to know’ foundation.
A high quality helpdesk ticketing system for small enterprise must also provide Two-Issue Authentication (2FA) login, to forestall unauthorized entry. Relying on your corporation sort and placement, you could want an answer that’s GDPR or HIPAA compliant.
Lastly, the corporate behind your helpdesk needs to be clear about its servers and hosting providers.
Reporting and Metrics
Monitoring your help staff’s progress is essential to offering top-quality buyer help. This course of is quite a bit simpler with entry to the best metrics, studies, and survey tools.
Quantitative and qualitative knowledge verifies the standard of your help, and offers you the knowledge it’s essential enhance. So the best helpdesk ticketing system in your small enterprise ought to make key performance metrics straightforward to trace and perceive.
Search for reporting options which can be obtainable in a centralized dashboard. It’s additionally helpful to have automated, customizable studies that may be exported as wanted.
Collaboration Options
Even when there are just a few folks in your help staff, they’ll want collaborative options. Quick and efficient communication makes an enormous distinction. So does the power to assign inquiries to the best locations, and work collectively on complicated points.
A helpdesk that helps communication will present options like:
- Internal note and @mentions, to permit for personal discussions about buyer considerations and potential options
- Collision detection, so staff members can see when another person is engaged on the identical ticket
- E mail templates or on the spot replies that can be utilized to shortly reply to frequent inquiries
- Ticket task to particular staff members, together with auto task based mostly on workflow guidelines
8 Standard Helpdesk Ticketing Methods (And What They Supply for Small Companies)
Selecting the best helpdesk is all about discovering the best match between the software program and your corporation’ priorities. To make that search simpler, let’s take a more in-depth take a look at eight prime helpdesk ticketing options.
Together with the factors we’ve already mentioned, our number-one tip is to attempt it before you purchase it. How a helpdesk feels to make use of issues, so we advocate attempting out your favorites by way of demos or free trials.
1. Groove
At Groove, we place a high value on simplicity and ease of use. So usually helpdesks are complicated, overcomplicated, or just overkill for a lot of customers.
That’s why we constructed our own helpdesk ticketing system for small businesses! Groove forwards emails from a number of Gmail or Outlook addresses right into a shared inbox, so you’ll be able to hold buyer communications organized. It allows your help staff to quickly reply throughout numerous channels, multi function place.
Key Options
- Ticket task, inner notes, customized sensible folders, dialog tags, and open monitoring to see if a ticket has been learn by the recipient
- Automation and workflow options comparable to on the spot replies and rule templates
- Inner notes and @mentions
- AI writing help, electronic mail abstract, sentiment evaluation, and drafts
- Reside chat widget that may be managed straight from the helpdesk
- Name logging straight in Groove, and cellphone name integration by way of JustCall
- iOS and Android apps to handle conversations on the go
- Buyer satisfaction rankings (CSAT) and survey integration
- Customizable studies on key metrics
- 40+ native integrations, with superior choices by way of API, webhooks, and Zapier
Consumer Expertise
Groove is an all-in-one answer, simplifying help with a shared inbox. You possibly can route your whole Instagram DMs, Fb messages, and Gmail/Workplace 365 emails proper into Groove. There’s no paywall for important integrations.
It’s very easy to set Groove up, join your help emails, and get to work. We’ve stored issues streamlined so the adjustment course of is temporary, and your clients received’t even discover something has modified.
There are many automation and workflow options that you could customise to match your most well-liked workflows. More moderen additions like AI writing assistance and sentiment analysis have gotten nice suggestions from our customers.
In a nutshell, Groove makes life straightforward for each your help staff and your clients. You possibly can minimize down on busywork by creating a 24/7 self-serve knowledge base, and use a live chat widget to answer considerations ASAP.
Scalability
Groove is constructed as an reasonably priced small enterprise device. We provide low-cost plans when you’re simply getting began, however we additionally hold scalability in thoughts. A number of pricing tiers allow you to pay for less than what you need, and improve your helpdesk’s capability and have set as your wants scale.
There are additionally plenty of integrations to support your business because it grows and expands, together with Salesforce, Zapier, and Jira. If you happen to want it, you’ll be able to even get advanced API access, permitting for extra high-level customization.
Buyer Assist
In fact, we expect Groove is fairly nice 🙂 However don’t take our phrase for it!
Our customers’ reviews reaffirm the worth we’ve positioned on delivering inclusive buyer help for all customers. You possibly can contact help straight, or try our complete information base for every kind of suggestions and tips.
Feature requests are taken significantly, and we’re all the time making updates and enhancements. From onboarding by way of implementation and long-term use, we’re right here to assist your personal help staff succeed.
Who Is It Finest For?
Groove is designed as a helpdesk ticketing system for small on-line enterprise. It may be the right match when you:
- Handle a help staff at a small on-line firm, and wish a approach to talk and collaborate successfully
- Are at present managing buyer emails by way of Gmail or Outlook, and need a extra devoted device that also feels acquainted
- Are utilizing an over-complicated helpdesk that lacks user-friendly options, and wish one thing extra streamlined and purpose-built
- Have a growth-focused enterprise – Groove can help your staff as it’s now and because it expands over time
We’re biased, after all, however we’re additionally assured that our product speaks for itself. Sign up for a free trial, and see how straightforward it’s to make use of!
2. Hiver
Hiver features as a Gmail extension inside your pre-existing Google workspace. Your inbox turns into your helpdesk – no fuss required.
Because it operates inside a workflow that’s already acquainted (assuming you utilize Gmail), there’s not a lot of a studying curve concerned. Hiver is designed for small-scale companies and favored primarily by startups.
Key Options
- Automated workflows for repetitive duties like assigning emails or tagging them
- Two shared inboxes with as much as ten customers per inbox
- Crew collaboration instruments: collision detection, shared drafts, and cross-team communication
- Rule-based automation for routing emails based mostly on key phrases
- Native integrations: Aircall, Asana, Jira, QuickBooks, Salesforce CRM, Slack, and many others.
- Spherical robin assignments for even workload distribution throughout your help staff
- AI for automated templates and ticket administration
- App for iOS and Android
Consumer Expertise
In the case of ease of use, Hiver does very properly. If you happen to’ve ever used Gmail in any capability, there’s not a lot you’ll have to study.
Then again, it’s a bit restricted by way of native integrations. Relying on the size of your buyer help staff and what instruments you utilize, Hiver may complicate (or restrict) your workflows.
There are some workarounds. For instance, you’ll be able to create a connection between Hiver and different apps with Zapier. Alternatively, customized integrations that your staff wants for particular workflows may be added by way of Hiver’s personal API.
Scalability
On account of restricted third-party help, Hiver may not be the perfect answer for companies that use a number of instruments. Then again, when you’re trying to handle solely electronic mail communications, you’ll discover Hiver much more useful than counting on Gmail alone.
Offered that your corporation is in an appropriate area of interest, Hiver can scale with your corporation because it grows. It gives sufficient options by way of automated workflows and widgets that it doesn’t really feel restrictive. Simply remember that there is an absence of superior reporting options.
Who Is It Finest For?
Hiver is finest for customers who worth simplicity, and who:
- Concentrate on email-driven help by way of Gmail
- Handle simple communications that don’t contain technical troubleshooting or bug monitoring
- Would somewhat keep away from studying a brand new platform
- Are out there for a light-weight and low-cost answer
3. Entrance
Front locations a heavy give attention to optimized buyer communication. It’s a robust device that comes with a fairly steep studying curve.
There’s a primary starter plan, though it’s pretty restrictive. Whilst a startup, you’ll probably have to decide into the Development or Scale plans to get what you want. If you happen to do, although, you’ll be handled to an intuitive and wealthy buyer help device.
Key Options
- Integrations with Asana, Trello, Salesforce, and many others.
- Unified shared inbox for managing multichannel communication
- Name middle administration
- Reside chat perform
- Complete reporting and analytics that may be exported
- AI chatbot widget that sources solutions out of your information base
- Context and overview for electronic mail threads
- AI electronic mail drafts, templates, and tone correction
- Ticket categorization with tags, spherical robin task, sensible guidelines, and macros
Consumer Expertise
There’s loads of reward for Entrance throughout numerous evaluate platforms. Personally, we additionally favored the collaboration instruments, unified SMS integration, and connectivity to instruments like Pipedrive.
After we tried it out, we seen that inner collaboration on tickets felt extra like a stay chat versus ‘leaving notes’. Entrance is a bit like combining your customer support device with a communication platform comparable to Slack.
The truth is, not like with most helpdesks, Entrance actually shines when used for inner communications. Whereas it’s not our focus right here, Entrance is a robust possibility if you’d like a device to prepare and handle conversations between staff members and departments.
Scalability
Entrance is definitely scalable, and gives a powerful enterprise answer for giant organizations that want greater than fifty seats.
A lot of the superior options Entrance gives are restricted to these costlier plans. So it’s much less preferrred for beginning small and build up, and extra worthwhile in case your help staff is already fairly massive.
Who Is It Finest For?
We’d advocate testing Entrance when you’re:
- A rapidly-growing enterprise with a big buyer help staff
- Trying to arrange highly-customized workflows and automations
- In want of a helpdesk-style device for intercompany communications
4. Jira
Jira was designed as a technical help desk for bug monitoring, with visible scripting and clear workflows in thoughts.
As a platform primarily used for subject monitoring in IT departments, Jira can assist your staff ditch spreadsheet and electronic mail communication. It gives centralized ticketing and no-code configurations to unravel inner tech points.
Key Options
- Streamlined IT help internally or externally
- Simple-to-create agile dashboards to trace bugs
- Information extraction for user-specific tickets
- Superior enterprise workflow for software program growth, incidents, or service requests
- Integration with a whole lot of instruments, together with Confluence
- Goal-built templates
- Automation options
- Information monitoring and metric studies that may be exported
Consumer Expertise
Jira permits for efficient real-time job administration and fluid work operations by way of superior subject monitoring, venture administration, 400+ pre-designed type templates, and a customizable calendar. When mixed with different instruments within the developer’s ecosystem, it permits an IT division to completely plan, observe, and develop software program.
Whereas we love the options Jira gives, the software program isn’t as user-friendly as most opponents. Navigating, understanding, and configuring the options takes some follow, and requires leaning on in-depth tutorials or thorough onboarding.
Scalability
Jira is unquestionably scalable as a helpdesk ticketing system for small enterprise, with loads of options designed to help bigger organizations. You possibly can simply observe and monitor ongoing service tickets or inner points.
Nonetheless, we’d advocate it primarily to companies trying to improve characteristic or product growth. It’s extra preferrred for inner communication and bug monitoring than for buyer help.
Who Is It Finest For?
Jira is finest for:
- Giant organizations (particularly when you use or plan to make use of different Atlassian software program)
- IT departments that need an inner ticketing system
- Technical departments that need to observe bugs, tech points and/or product growth
- SaaS companies that have to route buyer considerations/technical points to inner departments and monitor them from one utility
5. HelpDesk
HelpDesk is a web-based answer primarily geared in direction of IT departments and B2B functions. It has essentially the most troublesome helpdesk title to Google precisely – no contest.
As a helpdesk ticketing system for small enterprise, HelpDesk gives superior workflow options that make it suited to complicated use instances. There are many automation guidelines you’ll be able to customise to streamline operations, escalate points when acceptable, and route tickets to the perfect brokers.
One notably good HelpDesk characteristic creates a “VIP” precedence in your finest shoppers’ tickets, and mechanically escalates them. You possibly can then assign success case managers or staff results in monitor decision of these tickets.
Key Options
- Superior AI options, together with ticket summaries
- AI textual content enhancements to optimize tone (well mannered, formal, or informal)
- AI grammar & spellcheck
- Customized automation, with templates to arrange pre-designed workflows
- Automation guidelines based mostly on units of situations and actions
- A/B electronic mail template testing
- Branded electronic mail templates with no coding required
- Macros, ticket task, canned responses, automation guidelines, tags, and customized fields
- Quantitative knowledge monitoring with studies and weekly summaries
- Information-rich ticket particulars, together with buyer relationship and ticket historical past
Consumer Expertise
Total, regardless of its many options the HelpDesk UI is evident and straightforward to navigate. There’s definitely a studying curve concerned, however in terms of high-complexity helpdesks, this one is as approachable because it will get.
The heavy reliance on AI additionally helps. AI options level you in the best instructions, counsel additions to your emails, assist you create self-service articles, and so forth. It’s one of many higher functions of AI expertise that we’ve seen in a helpdesk ticketing system for small enterprise.
Scalability
HelpDesk gives a variety of options centered round scalability. These embody the power to export studies, data-rich ticket particulars, and intensive API docs.
There are additionally Zapier integrations obtainable that will help you construct out a tech stack by way of an inner IT division. It’s greater than you’ll want when you’ve got a handful of help brokers, however when you’re already mid-sized and rising quickly, it’s an amazing match.
Who Is It Finest For?
HelpDesk is designed for:
- Companies and help groups that need to arrange very particular workflows
- Groups that closely depend on automation, tagging, and routing
- Small SaaS companies with complicated use instances that require superior customization and knowledge monitoring
6. LiveAgent
LiveAgent is a cloud-based helpdesk ticketing system for small enterprise with loads of integrations. It’s additionally below fixed growth, with some attention-grabbing new options within the pipeline (comparable to an AI assistant).
This explicit helpdesk goals to strike a steadiness between beginner-friendly design and depth of performance. It guarantees a fast setup, together with entry to over 100 ticketing options.
Key Options
- Automation guidelines for tagging, assigning, and responding to inquiries
- Google Maps API integration to see the place your clients focus geographically
- Data Base, FAQ, discussion board, and make contact with type creation
- Reside chat help integration together with your web site
- Telephone name integration by way of its personal name middle
- Ticket prioritization based mostly on SLAs, mass actions, and customized tags
Consumer Expertise
LiveAgent’s UI isn’t the simplest to navigate. The design can really feel counterintuitive, and the interface is purposeful however not likely constructed with usability in thoughts.
The options are there, but it surely takes a while to determine the way to use them optimally. So it’s not a fast repair for streamlining your help staff’s workflows. However with sufficient time funding, it does have quite a bit to supply.
One characteristic we actually loved was the stay chat widget. Whereas this can be a frequent helpdesk characteristic, LiveAgent’s model is likely one of the most responsive we’ve seen. This platform additionally gives a variety of knowledge that you could dig into and leverage elsewhere, comparable to details about consumer demographics and detailed chat histories.
Scalability
LiveAgent could be very scalable. Sadly, a variety of primary options are locked behind the costlier plans. Experiences, surveys, cellphone name integration, AI help, time monitoring, and social media integration are all restricted.
The pricing system can also be not notably clear. For instance, you’ll be able to mixture inquiries from social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Fb into your help inbox. However doing so prices a further month-to-month price per channel. So it’s finest to do some digging and be sure to’ll get entry to the whole lot you want (or are prepared to pay for it).
Who Is It Finest For?
You may need to try LiveAgent when you:
- Focus totally on stay chat
- Are out there for a helpdesk with a lot of superior options (and prepared to pay a premium for them)
- Need your helpdesk to double as an analytics platform with in-depth details about your customers
7. Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk is a cloud-based helpdesk answer centered on SMBs. One of many good issues about this explicit platform is that it’s able to go proper out of the field. When you’re signed in, it’s straightforward to arrange and has all of the features you want (and anticipate) out of a helpdesk system.
Key Options
- Customized and pre-defined studies that may be exported to CSV, PDF, or XLS
- Customized analytics dashboards
- Response, decision, and FCR dashboards
- Customizable electronic mail templates, macros, workflow guidelines, time based mostly guidelines
- Ticket administration options together with tags, ticket task, overview, ticket historical past, product-based monitoring, and many others.
- Buyer-based SLA
- Auto collision detection
- Spherical-robin ticket task for load balancing
- E mail, internet type, contact type, stay chat, WhatsApp, and social media channels
Consumer Expertise
Zoho has a status for being straightforward to navigate and study, with a clear UI. When giving it a attempt ourselves, we discovered that to be true.
Every thing from managing tickets to making a information base was fairly straightforward and intuitive. Zoho’s personal self-service information base portal could be very useful, and descriptions a lot of the platform’s options in a transparent and in-depth manner.
Scalability
Zoho Desk is scalable, however features finest on the highest-level Enterprise plan. Core incorporates a startup may want entry to (stay chat integration, AI automation) are restricted on the decrease finish of the size.
It’s one other helpdesk the place your expertise on higher- and lower-tier plans can be fairly totally different. If you happen to don’t intend to scale upwards, or when you’re beginning out on the prime degree, this isn’t a difficulty. If you happen to anticipate beginning small and rising over time, alternatively, it’s a much less easy expertise.
Who Is It Finest For?
Zoho Desk is a helpdesk designed for:
- Small companies that need a cloud-based platform that’s straightforward to navigate and study
- Enterprise customers who need a big characteristic set, or SMB customers who simply want absolutely the fundamentals
8. Zendesk
The purpose of Zendesk is to automate help as a lot as potential, permitting your brokers to give attention to extra technical points behind-the-scenes. It does an amazing job of compiling buyer knowledge, and presenting a complete automated overview of tickets in a centralized inbox.
Zendesk has been round for a very long time, and has an enormous characteristic set. Due to this, it might additionally double as a CRM. Then again, what Zendesk gives in customization and superior options is balanced by a much less intuitive ‘out-of-the-box’ expertise.
Key Options
- AI-powered bots to mechanically resolve buyer points throughout all channels
- Generative AI instruments for brokers to develop, summarize, or change tone of textual content
- Automated resolutions (ARs) relying on plan and agent depend
- E mail (limitless addresses), social media integration, internet widget, and stay chat
- Cellular SDKs for native help inside apps throughout iOS and Android
- Personalized views of buyer knowledge and interplay historical past
- Customized workflows with pre-configuration based mostly on finest practices
- SLA administration
- Superior ticket routing
- Macros, triggers, automations, rule evaluation and actionable subsequent steps
- Analytics dashboards, together with real-time stay agent exercise monitoring
Consumer Expertise
Zendesk may be sophisticated to navigate. That’s not because of poor design, however merely a results of its complexity and huge characteristic set. It’s not a ‘arrange fast and get began now’ answer.
When you’re up and working, it’s not troublesome to make use of. You simply should be prepared to speculate time and sources into optimizing it in your particular use instances. With loads of customization choices at your disposal, you will get it to do a variety of issues.
Then again, when you don’t want all that performance, it’s not as streamlined and easy to make use of on a day-to-day foundation. It may be fairly an adjustment when you’ve by no means used a helpdesk earlier than.
Scalability
Zendesk is definitely scalable. Finally, nevertheless, it’s finest for bigger companies with technical departments that may take full benefit of the numerous customization and have choices.
It’s additionally on the pricey facet. However you’re going to get loads of mid-tier options on the low-end plans, such because the AI agent, integration with social media channels, and reporting/analytics. Superior AI options, together with actionable insights and generative instruments, come at a further month-to-month value per agent.
Who Is It Finest For?
Zendesk tends to carry out finest for:
- Giant companies with complicated help wants and a sizeable service staff
- Firms that need to go all-in on automation, taking as many buyer help duties off their human brokers as potential
- Companies searching for entry to a big characteristic set, and desiring to make common use of most of them
Selecting the Finest Helpdesk Ticketing System for Your Small Enterprise
Each enterprise, no matter measurement or area of interest, now has entry to high quality help software program designed only for them. There’s a variety of user-friendly choices on the market, masking nearly each use case you may think.
In different phrases, there is an answer on the market in your distinctive enterprise. You simply must search for it. If not one of the choices on our record swimsuit, there are many alternate options to be discovered.
However when you occur to be a growth-focused small enterprise, and also you’re searching for a platform that balances ease of use and vary of options, we’d encourage you to take a look at Groove! It’s designed and priced with companies in thoughts, and our free trial lets your team test it out to see if it meets their wants.
