Best Email Ticketing Systems
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PRODUCTS
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BUYER'S GUIDE
Buyer's Guide
By Anjali Gupta, Market Analyst at SelectHub
A recent report by SuperOffice found that 62% of companies fail to respond to customer service emails. That means that potential leads, querying about a product or service they’re considering, aren’t getting answers. Worse, it means that customers in need of help aren’t getting the service they deserve.
When you run a business that receives a large volume of service requests, it’s hard to make sure no one falls through the cracks. That’s where email ticketing systems help. They organize service requests into a centralized, easily searchable database, so you can ensure that every customer gets the attention they need.
Ready to take your help desk services to the next level? Read on to find out how an email ticketing system can help you serve your customers even better.
Executive Summary
- Email ticketing systems consolidate all customer communications in a single, unified interface.
- They store all interactions in a unique ticket thread, even when a customer is transferred to a different agent.
- Agents can collaborate with each other more easily using internal messaging capabilities, transferring and escalating tickets, private notes and more.
- Ask the vendor any questions you have about the software before committing to a solution.
What Is Email Ticketing System?
An email ticketing system is a platform that allows you to convert customer emails into tickets, making communication with customers easier to manage. It sorts and organizes these tickets in a central place, so you can trace conversations, track resolution status and ensure all customer queries are adequately resolved.
Consolidating customer contact into tickets also helps your agents work together effectively. The system can automatically delegate tickets to the most qualified agents. It also provides tools, like internal messaging and private notes, for collaboration, reducing the possibility that a ticket will get held up because an agent is overwhelmed or stumped.
We all know that customer service can make or break a business. Providing excellent customer service is about more than just being present on the other end of the line — it’s also about listening to and learning from customers, so that the same issues don’t come up time and again. Email ticketing systems not only streamline communication, but also provide a way for you to collect, and learn from, valuable customer feedback.
Let’s discuss some of the ways your business can benefit.
Primary Benefits
1. Better Communication
The unified inbox makes it easy to ensure your agents never miss a customer query. Each message creates its own unique thread, with the entire conversation history recorded for reference. This allows your agents to respond to customers more thoroughly, without needing to scrape previous chat records or search in various locations to hunt down relevant information.
2. Efficiency
Email ticketing systems automatically route messages to agents based on predetermined rules, and sort tickets based on priority and query type. That way, you can ensure that the agent receiving your customer’s query is the best-suited to handle it, and that urgent messages receive priority.
3. Happier Customers
A recent report by McKinsey & Company shows that 71% of customers expect personalized experiences from businesses — and 76% are frustrated when they don’t get it. Streamlining your communications gives your employees more time to focus on actually talking with your customers, so they feel heard and understood.
You can also gain greater insight into your customers’ needs using built-in analytics tools, to hone in on and address recurring issues across your customer base.
Key Features & Functionality
Shared Inbox | All incoming emails are stored in a centralized inbox with shared access. Agents can tag emails by priority and topics, respond to threads and collaborate on complex tickets. |
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Email Delegation | Managers can assign incoming emails to specific agents. Agents are notified of assigned tasks in real time. |
Collaboration | Tools like private notes support team communication and allow agents to keep comprehensive customer profiles. These notes appear alongside email threads, making it easier for agents to stay on the same page and handle transferred tickets. |
Automation | Automatically route tickets to the appropriate agents with tags like keywords, query type and priority. For instance, you can assign emails containing the word “accounts” to agents who handle finances. The round-robin assignment feature distributes emails equally among active team members. |
Collision Alerts | This feature prevents agents from sending duplicate or conflicting responses to client queries by notifying them that someone else already responded. |
Email Categorization | Use tags to automatically filter and categorize emails based on predefined conditions, like query type, customer type, department and more. |
Reporting and Analytics | Track key agent performance metrics, like average resolution time, first response time and CSAT score through reporting and analytics. You can also view top performers and identify agents who need additional training. |
CSAT Surveys | According to a recent Customer Service Benchmark Survey Report, “41% of support professionals say CSAT score is their team’s most important metric.” The best way to improve this score is through collecting and analyzing customer feedback. The software allows you to automatically send CSAT surveys to your customers when they’re most likely to respond. A quick, single-question sent at the end of an interaction can help you gather valuable feedback and gain insight into how satisfied your customers feel. |
Email Templates | Streamline how you address the most common queries with email templates. This saves your team time and ensures your customers get consistent, quality responses. |
Software Comparison Strategy
Now you have a sense of the basic capabilities of an email ticketing software. But, when it comes to actually picking a solution, where do you start?
The most important step is to analyze your company’s specific needs. Ask your staff, from agents to upper management, where they think your weak points are. You might also want to consider any customer feedback you’ve collected, to see where your current customer support falls short of their expectations.
You can also look into the solutions your competitors and peers are using, or read online reviews from other companies in your industry to get a sense of what comparable businesses use.
If this sounds overwhelming, don’t worry — we’re here to help! Our comparison report cuts out some of the hard work for you by narrowing down the options and giving you side-by-side comparisons of many leading solutions.
Cost & Pricing Considerations
The biggest factor determining how much an email ticketing system costs is how you choose to implement it. Cloud-based deployment generally comes with ongoing subscription fees, based on the number of users. On-premise options may involve a one-time or recurring license fee, depending on the provider.
Some other factors that may affect cost are:
- Add-on features
- Training
- Maintenance
- Version upgrades
- Customization
- Data migration
The Most Popular Email Ticketing Software
While there’s no across-the-board rule to say what software is best for you, the best place to start your search is with the industry leaders. This list of the most popular email ticketing solutions is a good place to start!
Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a cloud-based solution that centralizes business communications in a single inbox, allowing users to sort, assign and track customer queries in real time. It provides customization tools, so businesses can adjust agent roles, ticket templates and widgets based on specific needs.
A preview of a dashboard. Source
Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud offers omnichannel customer support, ranging from emails to live chat. Its intelligent chatbots can be programmed to emulate brand voice, respond to common queries with pre-written templates and automatically route customers to the right agents when necessary. The software integrates with Dropbox, Mailchimp, GetFeedback and more.
Dashboard preview. Source
Zendesk
Zendesk is help desk software that sorts, tracks and prioritizes support tickets based on predefined, customizable rules. Its built-in intelligent routing helps expedite resolution time, organize ticketing queues and ensure customers are sent to the best agent for their needs.
Customer Spotlight box. Source
Questions To Ask
To help clarify what your business needs, ask yourself guiding questions like:
- What’s our budget?
- How many employees will use the software?
- Where does our current customer support fall short?
- What deployment method works best for my company?
- Do we have any industry-specific requirements?
Use these questions as a starting point for conversations with vendors, to learn more about the vendor and software:
- What communication channels does the software support?
- How well does it integrate with other programs?
- Do you offer 24/7 support?
- How user-friendly is the software?
- Is the software scalable?
In Conclusion
Your customer service is a direct reflection of your business. Your agents are the first people customers interact with — and, sometimes, the last, if they have a bad experience. Email ticketing systems help ensure you always put your best foot forward, by giving your employees the tools they need to address every customer query with care.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, check out our comparison report, and take one step closer to serving your customers even better.
Products found for Email Ticketing Systems
Zendesk
Zendesk For Service is a scalable platform offering streamlined customer and sales support. Agents can resolve problems efficiently, and track and prioritize support tickets. Omnichannel support allows users to centralize customer interactions across phone, chat, email and more. Its built-in intelligent routing reduces resolution time by automating ticketing queues and ensuring an appropriate customer-to-agent fit. Customizable, shareable and pre-built dashboards help users gain actionable insights through real-time data. Teams can leverage the integrated knowledge base management tools to empower customers to resolve issues by themselves. AI-powered bots optimize engagement by providing 24/7 support, answering FAQs, collecting information, delivering chat transcripts and auto-filling ticket fields. Its other offerings include a self-service portal, reporting and analytics, an IT service desk and more.To explore other popular solutions offered by Zendesk, visit our Zendesk company page.
Splunk
Splunk is an affordable analytics solution ideal for businesses of all sizes. It offers a number of common analytics features, including dashboards, plugins, automatic data enrichment, monitoring and alerts. It also provides unique features such as wide-sourcing of data, intel into different company functions and more. With cloud and on-premise deployment available, as well as a lightweight free version, it can serve a range of needs.
ServiceNow
ServiceNow offers a cloud-based suite for managing digital business workflows that ensure improved employee productivity, cost optimization and enhanced customer experiences. IntegrationHub minimizes integration costs and increases IT efficiency. Its other offerings include a UI builder, AI-supported search, process optimization, chatbots and more.
Aspect
Aspect is a contact management solution that supports global inbound and outbound communications across voice, email, SMS and other methods. It improves operational efficiency, ensures compliance and delivers satisfactory customer experiences. Other offerings include inbound and outbound voice support, omnichannel agent, digital self-service and more.
Streak CRM
Streak CRM is built into Gmail, allowing users to manage common sales tasks directly from their inbox. It facilitates pipeline management so users can track leads, follow up, collaborate and close deals. Three different pricing tiers make it useful for both individuals who need basic functions and companies that require more advanced capabilities. In addition to managing a pipeline, users can also leverage it to manage projects, foster business relationships, run fundraisers, provide customer support and execute other projects that require tracking details.
Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer service solution that ensures increased satisfaction and engagement. It simplifies ticketing with customization options for agent roles, ticket forms, portals and more. Users can manage identity and information access for improved data security. It offers field service modules that include omnichannel customer engagement, quick query resolution, automatic appointment management and a map view that lets users track dispatches in real time. Android and iOS support allow field employees to plan, monitor and track appointments, updates and customer communication conveniently. Its other offerings include widget customization, scheduled and customized reports, intelligent ticket assignment and more.
Bitrix24
Bitrix24 facilitates the execution of the customer journey. It supplies organizations with tools for marketing, sales and customer service activities such as lead generation, marketing automation, campaign management and call center support.It comes with a free edition for companies with less advanced needs or a smaller budget. Deployment is available in the cloud and on-premise. It’s suitable for smaller businesses as well as enterprises with up to 50,000 employees.
ConnectWise Manage
ConnectWise Manage is a PSA tool for businesses in the IT sector that are seeking to develop consistency across the organization. It also enables users to manage accounts and other service-oriented tasks efficiently. The program contains centralized data as well as account information to increase internal visibility and to reduce duplicate work.It aims to streamline elements such as billing, client communications, procurement and project management. It’s available to IT businesses of all sizes and can be deployed either on-premise or cloud-based.
Spiceworks
Designed for IT professionals, Spiceworks is a cloud-based platform that offers on-the-go ticket management for Android and iOS devices. It offers omnichannel customer support while monitoring IT incidents and tracking updates. Other significant attributes include a customizable user portal and seamless integration with Active Directory for automated ticket management.
LiveChat
LiveChat is a customer service chat app that allows companies of all sizes to more easily connect with website visitors and supports the efforts of sales departments as well. It offers capabilities for complete communication and measurement via chat, agent monitoring, ticketing, e-commerce, engagement and reporting. It can be deployed across multiple websites and used on mobile, desktop and web-enabled devices.
Agile CRM
Agile CRM is an all-in-one cloud platform that enables companies to handle all activities and tasks across the customer lifecycle. With integrated modules for marketing, sales and service, it provides capabilities such as contact management, a deal pipeline, lead scoring, project management, email marketing and campaigns, service automation, and live chat.Targeted primarily at small businesses, it allows users to maintain visibility into contacts, boost results with sales enablement, engage web users and deliver comprehensive support. Free and premium versions are available.
HelpDesk
HelpDesk provides customer support capabilities to businesses of different sizes that allow them to deliver quality customer experiences and increase satisfaction and engagement while maximising sales and issues resolution. It allows users to streamline workflows with centralized ticketing, which simplifies customer support activities. Its other major offerings include automation, team collaboration, analytics and reporting, personalization, and more.
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk provides improved customer experiences by managing and prioritizing customer interactions across multiple communication channels. Its AI-powered tools help deliver exceptional customer service. Its other significant capabilities and services such as ticketing management, issue tracking, a live-chat widget and many others.
Help Scout
Help Scout is an online platform company providing an email-based knowledge base, customer support platform and embeddable search widget. Users can work across departments and seamlessly manage multiple applications from one account. It eliminates duplicate tasks and keeps everyone on the same page with tools such as collaboration and automation. Some essential capabilities include reporting and statistics, customizable branding, live chat and multi-channel communication.
Kayako
Kayako is a fully integrated, cloud-based customer service platform that helps simplify customer interactions. Agents can offer 24/7 support through various communication platforms, including email, Facebook and Twitter, and in multiple languages. It also offers self-service options, a visual timeline of customer interactions, integrations and more.
GreenRope
GreenRope, a cloud-based CRM software, consolidates and optimizes email marketing, social media, sales, event and project management simultaneously. It bridges the gap between sales and marketing to make data and processes easily accessible and transparent. Its all-in-one operations modules simplify business processes to deliver optimized omnichannel customer experiences.
Track-It
Designed for small and medium-sized businesses, Track-It offers an centralized, holistic view of incidents, problems and change requests from customers. It automates and streamlines IT support processes to ensure faster issue resolution and improved customer experiences. Its major attributes include a self-service web portal, a mobile app, change management, ticketing management and more.
LiveHelpNow
LiveHelpNow provides omnichannel support solutions to make customer interactions smooth and convenient for agents. It offers real-time customer service communications over email, Facebook messenger, live chat and SMS. Customers can benefit from its self-help knowledge base. Other notable attributes include ticketing support, instant language translation, analytics and reporting, tracking and more.
BeyondTrust
BeyondTrust offers administrative and remote assistance to help businesses standardize technical aspects of support services. Identity management and group policies are available for multiple-agent teams. Custom integrations with CRM, ITSM, SIEM and others are also available.
FreshService
Freshservice is a cloud-based IT service management offering from Freshworks that tracks and manages IT and digital assets. It also provides an IT service desk, reporting, IT asset management and IT project management. It maintains records of contracts, hardware, software and other assets from the time of purchase to the point of expiration. It also helps automate and streamline processes through the lifespan of an asset. Suitable for companies of any size, it can assist financial, HR, marketing and facility teams.
HappyFox
HappyFox is a ticket management and customer support software that integrates with the user's website and email accounts to collate customer requests. It helps agents organize, track and respond more effectively. They can also assign emails to appropriate persons. The ticketing lets agents solve customers' issues productively while streamlining the customer support workflow. It also has a built-in knowledge base, end-user support portal and community forum.
Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud offers omnichannel customer support ranging from emails and live chat to voice complaints. It automates procedures and keeps a check on the budget for customer support. With a 360-degree view of customers, it helps improve efficiency. Integrations with MailChimp, Dropbox, GetFeedback and others are available. Its other offerings include drag-and-drop customization of workflows, creation of a public Q A, chatbots and more.
Front
Front is a customer communication platform offering tailor-made services at scale. With the simplicity of the email inbox combined with the insights and automation of CRM, it helps agents work to provide world-class support and send professional replies faster. It allows users to keep conversations organized across channels while maintaining a personal touch, efficiency and quality.
TeamSupport
TeamSupport is a B2B customer support solution allowing organizations to build stronger customer relationships through ticket management, omnichannel experience and more. It streamlines support issues and facilitates seamless internal team collaboration while allowing agents to deliver and help customers consistently. Its capabilities enable users to consolidate customer interactions while getting deep insights into clients’ sentiments and identifying critical opportunities and issues.
Creatio
Creatio is a low-code suite that simplifies marketing, sales and services efforts for seamless business functionality. Users can utilize customer service management and take consultation from leading experts in the industry. It unifies a BPM engine and CRM functionalities to power operational tasks. Key features include contact and lead management, email marketing, pipelines, dashboards, project management, SLAs and a contact center.It offers mobile access for Android and iOS devices that can be used for updating and adding contact, account and opportunity information, making calls, and sending SMS messages. An API supports customization, and users can build complex integrations and custom modules and apps. SaaS and self-hosting are available.
LiveAgent
LiveAgent is an online communication platform that supports personalized, multilingual customer service. It provides in-suite and standalone offerings for live chat, online self-service portals, ticket management, change and license management, and more. It offers all-in-one helpdesk support by combining all communication channels, including email, live chat, phone calls and social media, in a single company inbox. LiveAgent offers additional services through third-party companies to provide CRM, including sales and marketing automation. Users can analyze helpdesk performance and generate multiple reports to reward high-performing support agents and track customer satisfaction.
Jitbit
JitBit is a multilingual support system with basic capabilities such as ticket routing, a knowledge base, ticket filters and categorization, canned replies, an auto-responder, reporting, file attachments and asset tracking. It has native iPhone and Android programs for tablets and smartphones. The grid view shows the status of all ongoing and new cases. It also offers automation rules to define custom actions triggered by certain events. Group, merge, assign, categorize or tag tickets and add tags such as, "review," "feature request," or more.
Comm100
Comm100 is a live chat solution that offers real-time, personalized customer engagement. It supports multilingual services with a flexible ticketing and messaging system, automated chatbots, a self-serve knowledge base and security measures for data protection. The product connects via third-party integrations such as CRMs, eCommerce, social media and website content management channels with a systematic API. Live chat lets users engage with customers in real time using text, routing, audio, video, co-browsing, file transfer, auto-translation and more. Reports help evaluate team performance, chat expertise and overall service efficiency.
HubSpot Service Hub
Hubspot Service Hub is a customer service software offering flexible support, seamless onboarding and strengthening relationships with clients. It delivers end-to-end and efficient service improving customer satisfaction first-time resolution rates. Its capabilities include conversational tools, knowledge base functionality, help desk automation, reporting, client feedback surveys and more. These functionalities are CRM-powered, providing businesses a unified view of each interaction.
Agendize
Agendize is a versatile appointment scheduling and customer engagement platform used by businesses across various industries. It offers a range of key features, including robust appointment scheduling, multi-channel integration, and automation, which streamline operations and enhance customer experiences. Users appreciate its user-friendly interface and customization options, along with responsive customer support. Agendize is known for its cost-efficiency and mobile accessibility, making it accessible to a broad user base. Users believe that Agendize holds its own against similar products, citing its strengths in appointment scheduling and multi-channel integration. However, some note limitations in terms of customization and pricing when compared to other offerings in the market. Pros Efficient Scheduling Detailed Analytics Client Management Cons Limited Customization Integration Challenges Lack of Advanced Features
Talisma
Talisma is a sales and marketing technology solution that adds value to customer engagement and increases productivity. It helps companies empower, enable and engage with their customers through Formal Technical Review (FTR) to deliver quality-controlled activities. Users can identify customer characteristics and utilize upselling and cross-selling for maximum success. It also offers industry-specific domains, cloud deployment, integrated lead management, flexible business modeling, domain management and more to make digital marketing easy.
Teamwork Desk
Teamwork Desk is a ticketing system that manages customer questions in a central location while ensuring exceptional customer experience. It offers all the help desk features required to exceed customers’ expectations and answer questions with context. Some of the unique capabilities deliver a more personal and productive response and improve transparency across teams include customer history, customizable branding, document storage, email management, email template and interaction tracking.
EngageBay
EngageBay is a customer relationship management platform that helps businesses engage and convert leads, acquire customers and nurture existing relationships. Key features include SMS marketing, automation, web analytics and live chat.
CRMnext
CRMNext leverages integrated technology to create an easy-to-use interface for financial institutions. It simplifies work, drives growth and delivers results with features such as sales force automation, service management, lead management, forecasting, an autoflow designer and workflow management.It also provides real-time integration, a business decision engine, sales planning, cross-selling intelligence, machine learning, analytics and more. It’s easily customizable and suitable for users without much technical knowledge. SaaS, private cloud and on-premise deployment are available.
SALESmanago
SALESmanago is a complete AI-powered solution that delivers configurable, personalized experiences across a range of native and integrated marketing execution channels. It accomplishes this by combining advanced analytics and AI automation. Users can deliver enhanced customer experiences and improve metrics and KPIs. Capabilities include web push, website personalization, social proof, live chat, predictive analytics, advertising, a data management platform, A/B/X testing and optimization, loyalty programs and more.
BMC Helix ITSM
BMC Helix ITSM is a predictive service and asset management suite that offers an inherent mobile-first client experience. It helps product managers improve organizational productivity, shrink overall service management costs and more, all through a single source. It offers service management modules that use cognitive automation capabilities to transform ITSM effective principles from NextGen Remedy. It can be deployed via the cloud.
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