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Be a Tech Support Hero with Zendesk

On today’s show, we’re going to review how Zendesk can save your time and increase satisfaction with your customer, clients and end users.

Zendesk logoToo many requests on Monday morning from your users?

Have trouble keeping track of computer issues on your network?

Looking for that servererror message from last month?
Zendesk is your no worry, easy to use helpdesk solution for you. Learn how it stacks up against other helpdesk solutions, how it can save you time and money plus I’ll share my personal experience with it.

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What is a helpdesk?

A centralized location to create, track and resolve technology issues submitted by users or noted by IT staff
Bird of another name – issue tracking, helpdesk, ticket tracking

Benefits of using a helpdesk

Less overlap of effort
Reduce data entry
Fix issues faster
Less downtime
Centralize solutions

How IT staff manage requests

Email
Paper
In their head

Problems with existing helpdesk solutions

Lost requests
Incorrect understanding of the problem
Unable to track status
Ineffective communication of status to end user
Unable to reuse solutions

Why are more companies not using helpdesk solutions?

Unaware
Used to doing things a certain way
Perception of complexity
Perception you need to be techie
Helpdesk and ticket tracking software is simply a tool to manage requests

Comparing helpdesk solutions I’ve tried

Kayako
Cerberus
Remedy
RT Request Tracker
Active Campaign
Spiceworks
Various PHP based helpdesks
There are  nearly 80 helpdesk solutions listed at Wikipedia

Features of Zendesk

Send updates to end users
Reopen tickets
Primary company contact can see all tickets
Logic in Macros
TimeTracking
open API
Forums/Knowledgebase
Convert solutions to Forum/Knowledgebase

My Support experience with Zendesk

Fast
Accurate
Expertise
Flexible
Open
Interactive
Active in Social Media
Have a blog

Cost of Zendesk

Starts at $19/month with cost increasing based on number of agents, branding, SSL
30 day trial
They have a free plan with limit of 50 end users

Wishlist

Import tickets / formal export tickets
import users / formal export users
Ability to share a specific solution with multiple Forums
Easier to embed video from hosted video sites using wysiwyg editor
Monthly live QnA where we can tune in, listen to recent development news and ask questions

Related Posts with Thumbnails
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Comments

  • Ted Goldberg
  • @Ted Goldberg,

    What sort of flexibility does Web Help Desk provide that you see lacking in Zendesk?
  • Ted Goldberg
    @Adria,

    Albeit Web Help Desk does offer a SaaS hosted option like Zenny, we kept it in-house with their on-premise license. We needed inventory tracking, customer satisfaction surveys, and more agent ticket routing flexibility.

    Zendesk tended to be a bit more "issue tracking" only. We needed full service desk functionality right out of the box. It's a great little issue track app, no doubt...it just didn't fit our service management offerings like Web Help Desk does. :(

    Cheers.
  • @Ted Goldberg,

    Interesting. I look forward to Zendesk putting up case studies like Google has been doing or the interesting videos that @37Signals shares from their users.

    It's hard to think outside the box on software so storytelling helps!
  • I have tried Zendesk but went back to Spiceworks as it intergrates with a IT inventory which helps track issues with machines as well as users
  • Edward Wong
    I had a chance to test Zendesk, Spiceworks, Web Help Desk and Kayako but none of them were able to suit our company needs like Help Desk Authority.

    We liked that you received both windows and web interfaces and that it integrated with active direcotry.
    Other pluses for us were the built-in knowledgebase, asset management and the fact that the price tag was very reasonable.
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