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<\/a><\/p>\nAre you looking for the right help desk software for your team? I\u2019ve got you covered. In this article, I\u2019ve compiled 12 of my favorite help desk solutions to help you make the right choice. But before we get there, let\u2019s talk about what a help desk<\/a> is, how to choose one, and why you should use one.<\/p>\n Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n A help desk<\/a> distributes incoming service requests to support team members and helps them manage follow-up communication on long-term cases.<\/p>\n Help desks come with several valuable features, such as:<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n A knowledge base<\/a> is a self-serve library of information that helps customers find answers to troubleshoot problems without contacting a customer service rep. 79% of businesses<\/a> offer a knowledge base to help customers independently solve their issues.<\/p>\n We have a perfect one here at HubSpot<\/a>, and several of my colleagues contributed to it. We also had an \u201cinternal knowledge base\u201d private to HubSpot support reps, which was invaluable in answering employee questions.<\/p>\n Whether internal or external, most knowledge bases include the following:<\/p>\n Ticket management streamlines customer support<\/a> requests. This feature lets you receive and assign tickets, track their progress, and escalate issues when necessary. You can also organize tickets based on priority, status, and severity, shortening your response time for time-sensitive matters.<\/p>\n At HubSpot, our ticket management system prioritized tickets that had been in the queue the longest. These tickets were assigned to reps first unless there was a critical situation where we needed to act on other cases immediately.<\/p>\n A customer support rep handles an average of 21 tickets per day<\/a>. Ticket automation<\/a> allows you to set up triggers and rules that automatically assign tickets, send notifications, and perform other actions based on specific conditions.<\/p>\n This allows you to streamline your workflow and focus on higher-value tasks, and it can also provide customers with a better frontline experience.<\/p>\n Ticket escalation<\/a> is the process of moving a customer support ticket from an initial representative who isn’t able to resolve the issue to a higher-level rep or manager. Help desk software can help with this process by ensuring high-priority problems get the attention they deserve.<\/p>\n For instance, you can set up automations that prioritize high-severity tickets and route technical issues to more senior representatives. At HubSpot, we would route questions related to payment services to our billing department since they were more equipped to handle these issues.<\/p>\n 56% of customers<\/a> say they have to repeat themselves when they\u2019re handed off to a more experienced rep. Ticket distribution helps get a ticket to the most appropriate service rep the first time. In my opinion, ticket distribution is the foundation of any help desk.<\/p>\n This feature automatically routes tickets<\/a> to the appropriate rep based on their skill set, availability, and\/or workload. Managers can also use ticketing software to monitor ticket distribution, reallocate tickets when necessary, and maintain a balanced workload across their teams.<\/p>\n Help desk software gives customers options when contacting your business. These options range from traditional phone and email support to live chat<\/a> and conversational bots.<\/p>\n Reps don’t have to specialize in one channel, either. When I worked in support, I received tickets from social media, live chat, and email, all in one inbox. The outgoing messages appeared to be coming from the same channel the customer contacted.<\/p>\n Having multiple communication channels available to your customers will help you effectively meet their needs and increase their overall satisfaction.<\/p>\n Customer support analytics<\/a> provide valuable insights into your customer service efforts \u2014 they also let you know as a rep whether or not you’re having a good day.<\/p>\n These features track performance metrics<\/a>, such as knowledge base usage, ticket volumes, response times, customer feedback, etc. This information can be used to improve support processes and identify areas where additional service resources are needed.<\/p>\n If these features aren\u2018t enough, let\u2019s discuss some valuable returns from adopting this software.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n 75% of CRM leaders<\/a> say they\u2019re receiving more support requests than ever, which makes a support ticketing system necessary.<\/p>\n With ticketing systems, your team can manage support requests much more efficiently than you would if you did everything manually. It allows you to receive, track, and assign tickets to individual contributors or groups in one centralized place, ensuring that each request is addressed promptly.<\/p>\n Help desk software automates tedious processes like ticket routing, escalation, task creation, and customer marketing emails. In my experience, this reduces time spent handling routine tasks and gives you more time to focus on deeper, more complex problems.<\/p>\n 92% of CRM leaders<\/a> say AI has improved their customer service response time. Since these systems simplify the organization and management of support requests, your team will have more bandwidth to serve a higher volume of customers in less time.<\/p>\n Additionally, because they allow you to automate many routine tasks, there’s more room to work on new strategies and projects.<\/p>\n A good example? Yours truly. I used my free time to write about customer service. Not only did I parlay that into a career, I generated free marketing content for HubSpot while working in customer support.<\/p>\n A free IT ticketing system can help improve customer satisfaction by streamlining your company’s support process and handling customer issues promptly. Because of the multiple contact options, such as chatbots and live chats, customers have more tools to communicate with support staff about their needs.<\/p>\n 78% of customer support leaders<\/a> say their customers prefer to solve issues independently. Self-service options, like knowledge bases, help customers find solutions to problems independently, reducing the need to contact support staff.<\/p>\n The average customer support professional uses four separate tools<\/a> to support their role. A subscription to each of these tools adds up quickly. Support ticketing systems often combine the tools into one platform.<\/p>\n While free IT ticketing systems may not have all the bells and whistles of a premium version, they will get the job done in a pinch and save you money while you figure out which system is best for your company.<\/p>\n Premium and enterprise-level help desks have additional features to improve your customer experience, although these systems can be pricey. A paid version may not be possible or advantageous for businesses working within a tight budget.<\/p>\n Before you even begin shopping for a customer support tool, you need a plan. Check out this free customer support strategy template<\/a> to get started.<\/p>\n Ready to start shopping for your ticketing system? Let’s take a look at some of the top help desk software and ticketing systems your team can start using for free.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n HubSpot’s Free Help Desk and Ticketing Software is a unified help desk dashboard where all customer requests are stored so your entire team can easily track, prioritize, and manage them.<\/p>\n Staying organized becomes more challenging as you scale your business, making it more challenging to give each customer issue the attention it deserves. HubSpot allows you to monitor each issue and efficiently resolve it.<\/p>\n Key Features<\/strong><\/p>\n Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n Best for<\/strong>: Businesses of all sizes looking to unify information across all internal teams, especially those already using HubSpot CRM.<\/p>\n What I like: <\/strong>I love HubSpot because it unifies all of your customer data so that you can provide a 360-degree customer experience. When I use HubSpot, I have complete visibility into a customer\u2019s history, past tickets, and which representative they have worked with before. Armed with a full customer timeline, I can provide personalized, empathetic support and fully understand the customer\u2019s needs and challenges.<\/p>\n HubSpot\u2019s Help Desk and Ticketing software are just pieces of the puzzle. You can also use its all-in-one customer service software<\/a> to streamline all your service efforts from the same place. For example, you can gauge your team\u2019s performance by monitoring metrics like average response times and close times. You can also deploy and manage feedback surveys and more.<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> Use HubSpot’s Help Desk software<\/a> to track all customer requests, manage tickets, and prioritize and distribute work among reps.<\/p>\n Pricing: <\/strong>You can get started with HubSpot\u2019s Help Desk for free. For more functionality, consider upgrading to the Service Hub Professional tier for $90 a month per seat.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Zoho Desk is a multi-channel help desk ticketing system designed to help businesses manage customer service operations efficiently. It handles incoming service cases via phone, web, email, chat, and social media, making for an omnichannel experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n Key Features<\/strong><\/p>\n Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n Best for<\/strong>: Small businesses, startups, or freelancers seeking a cost-effective help desk system chocked full of features to manage customer queries and tickets on a small scale.<\/p>\n What I like: <\/strong>Zoho Desk offers a widget tool that you can embed on your website. When loaded in a browser, the widget turns into a support form that customers can fill out to request assistance. They can describe their problem in detail and request a preferred communication channel.<\/p>\n This makes it simple for customers to access your support team. It also allows reps to analyze and find solutions for incoming requests easily, significantly improving first-call resolution rates and customer satisfaction<\/a>.<\/p>\n I also like their time-tracking feature, which records how much time you spend doing different things on each ticket. This gives you more insight into the hurdles a rep has to overcome to solve a specific issue.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Pricing: <\/strong>You can sign up for a free 15-day trial of Zoho Desk. After your trial, you\u2019ll need to upgrade to a paid plan. Paid plans start at $7 a month for the Express tier and increase to $40 a month for enterprise-level users.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Of all the options I tested, Groove is one of the simplest and most cost-effective cloud-based help desk software solutions for small businesses. It helps companies personalize their communication with their customers via email, live chat, social media, and phone calls.<\/p>\n Over 10,000 users trust Groove as a simple yet powerful Zendesk and Freshdesk alternative. According to them, Groove\u2019s help desk is easier to use, quicker to set up, and provides a much better customer experience.<\/p>\n Key Features<\/strong><\/p>\n Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n Best for<\/strong>: Small and growing businesses looking to personalize their support ticketing and customer interactions.<\/p>\n What I like: <\/strong>Groove felt like a more cost-effective and feature-rich alternative to companies like Zendesk and Freshdesk. During my 7-day free trial, I liked using the \u201cinstant replies\u201d feature, which produced canned responses to recurring problems. Even more impressive, you could trigger follow-up actions within the help desk after sending the canned response.<\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Groove\u2019s help desk software allows companies to accept, track, and respond to support requests in an organized fashion with ticketing, live chat, knowledge base, self-service portals, SLO management, multiple mailboxes, task management, and reporting.<\/p>\n Pricing: <\/strong>You can try Groove free for 90 days. After your trial, you\u2019ll need a subscription. Subscriptions start at $24 a month for the Standard tier, which allows for up to 25 users and two shared inboxes.<\/p>\n\n
What is a help desk?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Knowledge Base<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Ticket Management<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Ticket Automation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Ticket Escalation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Ticket Distribution<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Multiple Contact Options<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Customer Support Analytics<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Benefits of Free IT Ticketing Systems<\/strong><\/h2>\n
1. They efficiently manage support requests.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. They increase the bandwidth of your support team.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. They improve customer satisfaction.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. They save your company money.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
1.<\/strong> HubSpot Help Desk<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nStart using HubSpot’s Free Help Desk and Ticketing software.<\/a><\/strong><\/h6>\n
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2.<\/strong> Zoho Desk<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n3.<\/strong> Groove<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n4.<\/strong> Spiceworks<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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