Help Desk Software

Help desk software is a centralized portal where customers or internal team members can submit questions, receive product support, or resolve technical issues efficiently through an automated ticketing system. Most help desk software systems give the customer or team member the option to select the type of support they need and submit their question using menus or free-form text boxes. Once this information is submitted, the system creates a ticket and moves the request into a queue, according to the nature of the request and which department should receive it to provide assistance.

Staff can then work through tickets in order of priority or submission to provide answers and support in a streamlined, organized fashion. All this data is tracked and stored to maintain a record of all the communication and work that took place from the time the ticket was opened until the issue was resolved. 

Owing to its customer-facing capabilities, help desk software is a key component for CX solutions as it serves as a key touchpoint for customers over the web, or via mobile apps. Additionally, integrations can also be sought by ITSM solutions, to ensure sysadmin teams have a complete set of tools to resolve user inquiries in a timely manner.

Key Features of Help Desk Software

• Ticket management: Comprehensive help desk solutions include end-to-end ticket management capabilities, from creating and assigning tickets, all the way to merging, prioritizing and closing them. Advanced features such as ticket automation may also be included, which programmatically assigns tickets to the right agents through custom rule configurations or low-code workflow builders.
• Chatbots/copilots/virtual assistants: Many help desk solutions, either through inbuilt capabilities or via integrations with chatbot solutions can facilitate self-service for users, so common issues can be resolved without having to wait for a human agent.
• Customer profiling: As help desk software is foundational for CX, many leading vendors offer detailed customer profiling capabilities that can track a customer's entire journey with your business. Alternatively, integrating with advanced CRM solutions or CDP platforms can also make this possible, within your help desk software.
• Agent collision detection: Leading help desk solutions, oftentimes with the use of AI, offer real-time capabilities that detect when a ticket has been assigned, alerting all other team members of its status.
• Sentiment analysis: Help desk solutions are prime sources for customer data, and as a result, many help desk solutions offer inbuilt sentiment analysis tools to gauge whether customers feel negative, positive or neutral about a product or feature.