12 Best help desk software for small businesses

Help desk software for small businesses can be what you were looking for to help you create a faster and more efficient customer support system, automating tasks and optimizing your teamwork productivity. It will make it easier to track customer interactions, and your agents will find several tools to aid them. 

What is help desk software?#

The help desk is a sector of a company that is responsible to offer technical assistance to help users, customers, or even employees from other areas to solve their doubts.

Phone calls used to be the main way to get in contact with the help desk team, but nowadays, it's possible to set other channels of communication such as live chat and email, which many users prefer.

Help desk software has been developed to allow companies to automate several processes in this area. It also provides tools that are useful to the help desk staff in different tasks, such as managing interactions, keeping track of every conversation, setting and analyzing metrics. 

How can help desk software benefit your company?#

Customers and agents are kept updated#

When the customer gets in contact with the help desk, a ticket is generated, and the customer can follow up the process by using the ticket number that is given to them. The software makes this process easier by storing each ticket on a single platform. You can program to send updates to the client through email.

It also saves the agents time since they will count on a centralized platform to manage the tickets, and follow up on each customer’s interaction. This way, your team is able to analyze what is the best way to help and avoid being repetitive by suggesting actions that have already been tried. 

Besides, it's possible to add alerts and notifications in order to remember them to send an answer, and which are the next steps that need to be concluded. 

Increases efficiency and productivity#

The help desk software has functionalities focused on improving efficiency and productivity, for example, add-on tools such as priority manager. With it, the agent can organize which tasks should be prioritized.

This way, you can prevent having customers waiting a long time for an answer, which certainly can make them feel frustrated and diminish your company's credibility.

It's easier to access the customers’ information when they send their questions, by having everything centralized, and to quickly repass the issue to the sector that can solve it, if necessary. 

Another advantage is the possibility to create an automated workflow where each agent can easily identify which tasks are assigned to them. They can also see the points that require improvement by checking performance statistics and recurring client issues. 

Avoid errors#

Using help desk software is a solution to prevent losing track of tickets and leaving customers without being answered. Mainly in times where the number of requirements is too high, it gets easier to lose messages, but they will be stored on the platform, and the team will be notified about them.

You can also avoid the contrary situation when the same person is contacted by multiple agents, each one with a different answer, which can cause a lot of confusion in the conversation. Many help desk software has features where each agent can see if someone is already answering one ticket. 

Both of these situations can give the idea that your company and employees aren't reliable, causing the loss of customers. Also, they can write bad reviews or discourage people from buying from your brand, which can considerably affect your brand's image. 

Facilitate remote work#

Help desk software that is cloud-based allows employees from all around the world to have access to the same platform using multiple devices, and work remotely. Many of them provide a mobile app, so you can check it whenever you need it, and wherever you are. 

Multi-channel integration#

Being available in several channels of communication for your customers is a requirement in the digital world, where people are looking for personalized experiences and fast responses. Many of them don't want to make calls and prefer solving their doubts through a live chat, for example. 

Providing different options shows that your company is accessible and updated. You will encounter help desk software that counts on a system to integrate your means of communication, for example, phone, email, live chat, and social media. Making it possible to manage everything on a single platform. 

Customers feedback#

Receiving feedback from your customers is one of the best ways to understand what they expect from your business, which are their demands, and to define what needs to be done to improve, focusing always on delivering an amazing customer experience. 

With help desk software, you can integrate a real-time feedback system where the customer is asked to evaluate the assistance received, right after it.  But, it's necessary to implement ways to analyze the feedback received, for example, creating reports, and establishing goals towards what has to be altered. 

Reports and analytics#

By implementing a help desk software, you are going to have access to different metrics, which enables managers to evaluate the work of their team in many aspects, such as the time taken to answer each customer and the effectiveness of ticket resolutions.

Not only that, the data gathered, centralized in the help desk software, allow you to visualize how the entire sector is performing. It becomes easier to have insights and invest in strategies focused on the pain points detected. 

12 best help desk software for small business#

1. JivoChat#

With JivoChat, you have the opportunity to offer multiple channels of communication for your customers, and your agents can manage everything in a single platform. 

You will be able to integrate to your help desk, live chat for website, telephony, email, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram,  and Apple Business Chat. Your clients can decide how they want to send their doubts, and you have the opportunity to become closer to them.

Your agents will receive all chats, emails, and calls in the JivoChat app, without the need to change between different windows, saving time and improving efficiency. 

The agents will count on several tools to facilitate their work, such as CRM integration, detailed visitor info, real-time visitor monitor, and e-mail chat transcripts. You can also integrate JivoChat with other software like Wix, WordPress, and Shopify. 

Highlighted features:

• Use different channels of communication
• Manage all the contacts in one platform
• CRM integration
• Detailed visitor info
• Offline lead generator
• E-mail chat transcripts
• Translator
• Integrates with popular services

2. Freshservice #

By using Freshservice, you can be available on different platforms for your customers, for example, WhatsApp, Facebook, and LINE. To enable more effective phone conversations with clients, agents will count on a 360-degree customer view and guided resolution. 

Freshservice also has a ticketing system that was designed to improve team collaboration and agent productivity. It provides collision detection, which prevents more than one agent from answering the same person, canned responses, and activity log. Besides, the agents are notified when there are any updates about the tickets. 

The platform offers automation features as well. You can set it to automatically prioritize specific tickets and assign them to the right teams. The AI will learn from previous tickets to suggest ticket fields and automatically categorize them.

Highlighted features:

• Collision detection
• Canned responses
• Smart notifications
• Activity log
• Auto-assign tickets
• Auto triage

3. Zendesk #

Zendesk has developed features focused on help desk software for small businesses by providing a platform that is easy to use and customizable, so you can adapt it to your company and team needs. 

Using a centralized workspace, your agents will find tools that enable them to work faster, reach more customers, and be more efficient. 

Your customers can reach out to you through different channels of communication, chat, email, and phone, for example. You are also going to have access to valuable metrics, allowing you to analyze how to improve productivity. 

Zendesk is thought to give you the possibility to escalate without any problem, so you can expand your help desk as your company grows. Your team is going to encounter many tools to help them as well, including a unified workspace, and integrated knowledge management. 

Highlighted features:

• Customizable
• Agent workspace
• Collaboration tools
• Knowledge management
• Analytics tools

4. Zoho Desk #

Zoho Desk will make it much easier to manage customer conversations across multiple channels by using a multi-channel ticketing system and organizing all the messages in a single interface. You can set assignment rules to automate the task of directing the tickets to the proper department. 

It's also possible to view all your customer information on the same platform, including their ticket history and context, and integrate with Zoho CRM. You are going to have access to a live dashboard as well, where you can see important metrics like ticket traffic, most threaded tickets, and customer happiness ratings. 

Another advantage is that you can integrate the help desk software with other apps such as G Suite, Salesforce, Trello, and Shopify. 

Highlighted features:

• Multichannel ticketing system
• Ticket assignment automation
• CRM integration
• Live dashboard with metrics
• AI-powered
• Smart integrations 

5. HubSpot Service Hub #

HubSpot Service Hub is a help desk software that provides several functionalities focusing on aiding companies to provide efficient customer support and deepen customer relationships. As a small business dealing with a high level of demands, having few employees can be challenging.

Service Hub will facilitate the work by unifying the help desk tasks in one platform and giving you the option to integrate with the Hubspot CRM platform.

You will count on a ticketing system to record, organize and track all of your customer's issues, and have access to metrics such as agent response time, and ticket volume. 

To save your agents' time, you can automate many processes, like ticket routing, escalation, and task creation, eliminating unnecessary manual work, which enables your agents to focus on solving important issues. 

Highlighted features:

• Keep track of tickets in one place
• Automate processes
• Knowledge base
• Conversational bots
• Built-in reporting tools

6. LiveAgent#

LiveAgent is an all-in-one help desk software that allows you to connect with your customer using a big variety of channels, which includes chat, email, contact forms, and Facebook, for example. Your team will be able to manage all clients’ messages through one app, and automate repetitive tasks too. 

They will count on a ticketing system as well, which will gather customers’ inquiries from all the communication channels you have available and organize them into one inbox. This will prevent agents from losing messages, avoiding leaving customers without an answer.

You will have the possibility to automate tasks such as ticket distribution, and set rules to trigger actions. Besides, Live Agent also has mobile apps for Android and IOS, so your agents can access the platform out of the office, on their smartphones or tablets, if necessary. 

Highlighted features: 

• Multichannel communication platform
• Ticketing system
• Knowledge base
• Automated ticket routing
• Built-in CRM

7. Wix Answers#

Wix Answers provides help desk software for small businesses that's easy to use, has data-driven decision-making tools, and can scale as your company grows without compromising the quality of customer assistance. 

With agent-centric technology, the platform focuses on how to aid agents to improve their work with the belief that happy agents equal happy customers. To do that, Wix Answers counts on an intuitive user interface with a unified workspace that's AI-powered.

There is no need to switch between platforms to answer customers’ inquiries. In a single timeline, every agent has access to the interactions and information needed about each client, saving time and helping to solve problems with more efficiency. 

Highlighted features:

• Agent-centric technology
• Intuitive UI
• One system for all support channels
• 360 degrees view of customers
• Scale smoothly

8.Cayzu #

Cayzu is a cloud help desk software that makes it easier for small businesses to deal with multiple languages and timezones, manage too many tickets, prevent from opening unnecessary tickets, and avoid errors. 

All conversations (email, social media, voice, chat) are centered in one platform, which has an intuitive interface, and enables you to develop workflows and automate tasks by setting rules. You can also integrate Cayzu with other apps, and have access to metrics reports. 

Highlighted features:

• All conversations in one place
• Intuitive interface
• Automated rules and workflows
• App integrations
• Reporting/Analytics

9. Happy Fox #

With Happy Fox, you can convert the customer contacts you receive through multiple channels, email, chat, social media, and web requests, into tickets, and organize them in a single platform. 

The ticket system is easy to use and counts on several features like creating ticket categories and private notes for collaboration, which enables you to ask for help from your team to solve a ticket. 

To simplify customer assistance, it's possible to set canned responses and quickly answer commonly asked questions. When there are tickets that require more attention, you can organize them into tasks, inside the tickets page. 

Happy Fox also allows you to have help desk software for small businesses integrated with popular SaaS applications, such as Slack, Twitter, and Jira. 

Highlighted features:

• All-in-one help desk ticketing system
• Easy to use
• Canned responses
• Task management
• Knowledge base
• AI-powered chatbots

10. Team Support #

Team Support is a help desk software that is focused on B2B customer support. It provides an omnichannel experience, which enables you to offer multiple channels of communication to your customers and to answer their questions using one platform. 

To offer a better experience to all the customers that get in contact through the help desk, you can see the history of the tickets and track additional information about each one of them. Besides, the software counts on a ticket management system where it's possible to automate repetitive processes.

Another important feature from Team Support is the Customer Distress Index (CDI) through which your team can monitor customer satisfaction. The CDI evaluates each customer based on variables such as average ticket resolution time and the number of tickets they have.

Highlighted features:

• B2B customer support solution
• Ticket management
• Integration with other apps
• View customer details
• Customer Distress Index
• Complete customer and contact database

11. ManageEngine Service Desk #

The ManageEngine Service Desk is a help desk software built for IT teams, aiding to deal with issues in this area, and ensuring you can provide the solutions your customers need. Through the platform, you can offer multi-channel support to end-users to manage and track all incidents.

It's possible to set the software to automatically assign tickets according to the technician expertise that it requires. This way, it's going to be quickly directed to the person or team that can give a resolution to the problem.

The customers will also be able to follow up on the processes if you activate the feature to send automatic notifications to them when there is any progress. Besides, it's possible to send user surveys regularly to get feedback and detect where your team should improve. 

Highlighted features: 

• IT help desk software
• Incident management
• Self-service portal
• Automation tools
• Knowledge base

12. Kayako #

To offer the best solution to each one of your customers, Kayako allows you to have a complete picture of their journey, so the agents can give personalized assistance to them. With the shared inbox tool, your team will be able to easily manage the conversations and automatically assign them. 

Through Kayako, you can create a Help Center where customers will be able to help themselves by answering their questions and accessing the material you put available, such as videos and FAQs. 

You can also integrate the platform with other apps, like Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier, create canned responses, track your agents’ performances and produce customized reports with the metrics provided by the help desk software. 

Highlighted features:

• Context-driven customer service
• Shared inbox
• Customer self-help knowledge base
• See real-time customer activity

Elements to look for in a help desk software#

Multi-channel support#

Nowadays, it's essential to provide your customers with more than one communication channel to get in contact with your company. The omnichannel approach is a strategy that has become more popular because customers are looking for personalized experiences.

It includes being able to start a conversation with your brand in the way they prefer. It can be by making a call, sending an email,  or accessing your live chat, for example. With that in mind, help desk software for small businesses must offer multi-channel support.

What does it mean? That, your agents should be able to manage all the communication channels in a single platform. This will save their time, and prevent errors such as answering the same ticket twice or losing a message.

Automation#

Several daily tasks in a help desk department can be automated, eliminating repetitive work, and giving your agents the chance to use that time to focus on questions that really matter. 

That's why help desk software for small businesses must give you the possibility to automate some procedures. For example, it's important to count on features that automatically assign tasks and prioritize tickets. 

Intuitive interface#

Your agents will use the help desk software every day, so it needs to be easy to navigate through and adjust settings. When choosing the best help desk software for small businesses, pay attention if it provides an intuitive interface with all the most important features quickly accessible. 

Pick the help desk software for small businesses that suits your needs better#

When selecting help desk software for small businesses, first, make a list of what are your company's priorities, and which features are essential to enhance your agents’ work and provide the best customer service. 

After that, it's also important to analyze your budget and keep in mind the return on investment that implementing the software can give you.

You will see how a help desk can become much more efficient with a platform to manage all communication channels, automating tasks, and analyzing through metrics what has to be improved.