Are you looking for the best help desk software for small businesses? You are on the right page. Here, we will discuss some top-notch help desk applications. These support tools are useful if you want to provide an excellent experience to your customers.
Large organizations have multiple hierarchies. However, small companies generally have people at all levels communicate with their clients. But, this one-on-one conversation becomes troublesome once you start growing. The number of email and chat requests increases. Hence, keeping track of all the interactions with all your buyers could be challenging. It’s where a help desk tool comes into the picture.
Features of Help Desk Software for Small Business – How to Choose the Right One?
You should know all the features and in-demand functions of help desk software for small setups. Knowing the functions helps you to pick the right tool. So, use the following point as a checklist when you choose a help desk solution.
- User-friendly interface: Before picking a help desk software for a small business, ensure it has an easy-to-use interface. A simple UI demands a minimum learning curve. Plus, your teammates will not face any challenges while navigating to the options even if they are not from a technical background.
- Multi-channel support: Small businesses should provide support via all the channels. Therefore, one of the best help desk software examples should help you answer queries via live chat, phone calls, SMS, email, and social media platforms. In addition, it should track all these queries and keep a record of all the interactions.
- Shared inbox: A help desk application must have the facility to bring all your customer-facing inboxes into one dashboard. The agents with permissions can access the inboxes, reply to the requests, and see if any other executive is working on the ticket to avoid duplication.
Also, make sure the software has some team collaboration features. Your support executive might need to discuss customer queries with each other. So, team collaboration functions are crucial in a help desk solution.
- Private notes: All the high-grade help desk software for small businesses like Live Agent gives you the facility to add internal notes for clear communication. The comment or feedback helps others to understand what needs to be done on the requests. For instance, if a note says that the client is not available for the next two days, no one will try to contact him or her.
- Canned responses: Canned responses are a perfect way to respond faster. A good support ticket system for small businesses lets you create pre-written responses for different scenarios like new ticket creation, refund requests, order confirmation, and more. You can also personalize these messages.
- Integrations: Pick a help desk application with multiple integrations because it will help you in the future. For instance, if a support tool can be integrated with your CRM, you do not have to use multiple applications to manage your clients.
- Reporting and analytics: A high-quality reporting and analysis system helps you to track the metrics and improve the customer satisfaction rate of your business. Therefore, seamless reporting is also a crucial feature of help desk software. Make sure to get something like Live Agent. It has a Service Level Agreement (SLA) feature to help you set the rules and measure several metrics.
- Support: Try a helpdesk software with 24 by 7 support. Small businesses need urgent guidance otherwise the downtime might result in delay. So, round-the-clock support should be your priority.
- Value for money: Do you own a small business? Then you might know you cannot waste money on unnecessary applications. That’s why you should try one of the best help desk ticketing software available at a reasonable subscription fee. More importantly, you should get the value for money. So, compare the features you get in return for the price you pay.
10 Best Helpdesk Software for Small Business
1. LiveAgent
LiveAgent help desk software for small businesses is the best if you want to offer email, phone, and live chat support to your customers. It could be a perfect choice if your organization has several support executives. Why? Because the internal coordination tools and automated ticket routing features of this software are incredible.
LiveAgent gives you multiple ways to connect with your potential and existing clients. The best is to place its chat or email box on your website and mobile application. You can create several boxes as per your plan.
LiveAgent is very easy to use. It receives communication from several channels. Still, your agents can stay on top of everything because all the incoming requests are organized. You can check the queries with one click. Chats and tickets are also labeled as per their statuses. So, there is no confusion while using this software.
Here comes the good news. LiveAgent offers 24 by 7 support via Messenger, Whats App, and Chat. You can also fill out the contact form in case of any queries. In addition, there is a support portal on the LiveAgent website where you can find support articles and video tutorials. Hence, try it if you need an affordable, efficient, and effective support solution for your buyers.
Pros
- Automatic routing of tickets to relevant executives
- Tags to differentiate between tickets
- Automated spam filter
- Canned response creation for fast replies
- An agent can see what the customers are typing before they send the message
Cons
- Needs improvement in terms of social media integrations
Pricing: Starts at $9 per agent if you buy the annual plan. 30-day free trial period on all the premium editions.
2. Hiver
Hiver is a Gmail-based help desk software for small businesses. So, it could be a perfect choice if your startup uses Google Workspace. This application is also suitable if your team is habitual in using the interface of Gmail.
Google lets you share its inboxes. However, the experience is not up to the mark for your sales team and clients. Hiver takes the Gmail functions to a new level by adding more features to it.
Hiver transforms your Gmail into a multi-channel helpdesk. It brings live chat, voice communication, and a knowledge base inside Gmail. So, you do not have to switch between different tools because you can manage all the communications by accessing your Gmail account.
Apart from multi-channel support, Hiver improves collaboration between your teammates. In addition, it automates repetitive tasks with conditional rules. Hence, this support application saves a lot of your time and effort.
Pros
- Internal notes for better communication
- AI with Natural language processing (NLP)
- Live chat and voice calls
- Knowledge base
- Automation
Cons
- No free trial
Pricing: $9.69 per user per month
3. Freshdesk
Freshdesk is the best help desk ticketing software for small to medium-sized businesses. This application is omnichannel, which means it lets you communicate with your clients using several channels including email, live chat, phone calls, social media, and more. Moreover, you can assign different roles and accesses to your support executives.
You can automate agent workflows with the help of Freshdesk and resolve repetitive questions using AI and chatbot. Its artificial intelligence learns from past requests and provides proactive solutions to your clients. Furthermore, this support application helps your executives to collaborate and deliver top-notch customer services.
Freshdesk could be a perfect choice if you have field agents. It tracks their time spent working on the field via mobile application. So, you do not have to calculate the billing hours manually.
Pros
- Canned responses to send quick replies to your clients
- Parent-child ticketing to resolve complex requests
- SLA management to set deadlines
- Allows your customers to create requests from your websites
- Automatic updates about the ticket updates
- Generates customized reports as per your needs
Cons
- Time-taking customization of report generation
Pricing: Starts from $12.10 (999 INR) per agent per month if billed annually
4. Hubspot
Huspot has a wide range of products to empower your business. Its Help Desk & Ticketing Software could be a perfect choice if you want to improve customer relationships and boost their satisfaction rate. This tool easily integrates with your CRM to track all the requests from your buyers.
As Hubspot ticketing and help desk software for small businesses show all the requests on one dashboard, the executives in your support team can access them without any challenges. It also helps you to keep track of important metrics like volume, response time of your agents, and much more. Hence, this tool is a great assistance to meet the service level agreements.
Hubspot comes with a knowledge base add-on, which helps your customers resolve the issues without talking to your support team. Moreover, its automation and routing features save a lot of your time. What’s more? There are live chat options and the ability to build chatbots.
Pros
- Free plan to check all the features
- Connects with your CRM database
- Organizes all the tickets in one place
- Built-in live chat
- Efficient and effective
Cons
- Overall speed needs some improvement
Pricing: Start from $18 per month
5. Zendesk
Zendesk is a top-notch support ticket system for small businesses. It’s an all-in-one customer service solution integrated with omnichannel abilities. So, your support team can talk to your customers via phone, email, live chat, messages, and social media platforms.
You can configure Zendeks within a few clicks. You do not need a developer to manage it. Moreover, the automation features of this helpdesk application reduce the efforts and time per request. These are some of the reasons why Zendesk is used by more than 100, 000 customers across the globe.
Try Zendesk if you want to build long-lasting relationships with your customers. You can view its demo on the Zendesk website. There is also a free trial, which is available once you sign up using your work email.
Pros
- Automatic assigning of requests to relevant executives
- Creates help center to reduce volume
- Integration with more than 100 business tools
- Provides personalized customer experience
Cons
- The pricing plans are comparatively expensive. Only the Basic Plan is budget-friendly.
Pricing: Starts from $19 per agent per month. A free trial is available with all the premium packs.
6. Help Scout
Help Scout is one of the best help desk ticketing software for small businesses that want to make an impact on their customers. It organizes your support agents and improves the communication between them with the help of a shared mailbox. So, this tool helps your team to work together and perform better as a team.
Apart from that mailbox, Help Scout comes with a live chat function. You can add it to your website and manage the chats via the mailbox chat section.
Are you worried about the volume? Help Scout guide your customers to correct answers before they can contact your support team. Its knowledge base builder can publish all the answers to common questions. This application can also send relevant support articles if your buyer is stuck somewhere.
Moreover, Help Scout helps you create custom workflows. In other words, you can apply conditions and automate repetitive tasks like escalations, assignments, and conversation tagging. Furthermore, this application integrates with several apps and services like project management tools, CRMs, and e-commerce platforms to keep all your teammates in the loop.
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Fantastic tagging system
- Workflows for automation
- Easy to integrate
Cons
- Click outside the box by mistake and all your work is lost
Pricing: Starts from $20 per user per month. 25 users is the limit. A free trial of 15 days is available.
7. ProProfs
If you are looking for affordable and feature-rich help desk software for small businesses, try ProProfs. It’s a pocket-friendly support tool with powerful functions to boost the overall experience of your customers. This application has a free version. So, you can check all its options before you upgrade.
ProProfs manages all your emails at once place using a shared mailbox. It acts as a one-stop for all internal and external support requests. Moreover, this application helps you automate repetitive tasks and assists a lot when you want to make data-driven decisions.
ProProfs is a suitable help desk software for all types of businesses. Apart from small firms, it’s useful for medium-sized organizations, enterprises, B2C/B2B companies, and customer service teams. A lot of big brands like Dell, Cisco, DHL, and Sony are thriving with this tool. So, you can check the features of ProProfs and try this tool if it can be helpful for your business.
Pros
- Shares proactive live greetings with the visitors
- Mobile application to support the clients on the go
- Ticket response time tracker
- Easy to use
Cons
- Integration options are limited
Pricing: $20 per user per month if billed annually. A free trial period is available.
8. HappyFox
Are you looking for the best help desk ticketing software to use in your IT team? This help desk application is incredible for any business, but IT teams can take a lot of benefits from its asset management functions and ability to integrate with remote service software. You can also use other products of HappyFox with this tool, including the Chatbot. But, you need additional subscriptions to enjoy the add-ons.
HappyFox help desk reduces chaos and organizes your support process. It handles all the incoming requests in one ticketing system. So, all the queries get converted into tickets. Hence, you can easily track and resolve them.
HappyFox lets you create workflows to personalize the support experience. You can also outsource complex workflows to a powerful smart rules engine. Apart from that, it accommodates all your favorite apps including Google Workspace, Jira, Twitter, Ring, WhatsApp, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and many more.
Pros
- Shared inbox with several collaboration tools
- Helpful knowledgebase
- Reporting dashboards.
- Asset management.
Cons
Pricing: Starts from $26 per agent per month. You can get a demo, but there are no free trials.
9. HelpDesk
HelpDesk is a user-friendly support ticket system for small businesses. It keeps all your messages in one place. All the requests via email, chat, and contact forms are displayed on one dashboard. Moreover, you can prioritize the important requests with the help of advanced tagging, and sorting features.
HelpDesk comes with several collaboration features that make your support team more efficient. Plus, it has automation features to save you time. You can automate workflows, canned responses, & task assignments to reduce your response time and boost customer satisfaction rate.
Do you own a business related to information technology? Or if you run an IT help desk, then HelpDesk has some specialized IT service team functions to create groups for support executives who can help your customers on certain topics, like sign-up process, purchasing subscriptions, login problems, end-user configuration, and more.
HelpDesk has 24 by 7 support throughout the year. So, you can get support or guidance whenever you need it. In addition, it has GDPR compliance and Privacy-Shield certification. So, your data is safe with this tool.
Pros
- Shows all requests on one dashboard
- Automation to reduce the workload
- Easy ticket transfer
- Lot of options to customize
- High-quality support system
Cons
- Integrations are not easy
Pricing: $29 per month per agent if billed annually. A 15-day trial period is available without credit card details.
10. Heroic Inbox
Heroic Inbox is the best support ticket system for small businesses if you own WordPress websites. It helps you manage all your support tickets from your WordPress dashboard. You can add unlimited inboxes like support, urgent, customer service, follow-ups, and more.
Team collaboration is easy with Heroic Inbox. You can assign specific requests or inbox accesses to separate individuals as per the expertise. Also, you can add comments and notes that can be helpful for your support team.
Heroic Inbox shows all the previous interactions and data of all your clients in the sidebar, which is helpful when you are talking to them. Apart from that, its setup is very straightforward. You can configure this help desk software for small businesses within a few clicks.
Pros
- Knowledge base
- Support widget
- Glossary builder
- Powerful reporting
Cons
- Only works with WordPress websites
Pricing: Heroic Inbox Pro starts from $499.50 per year. But, you can get it as a bundle at $299.50 per year. This premium pack comes with a 100% money-back guarantee within 14 days of purchase if you do not like the product.
FAQs
What is help desk software?
A help desk software is a central location for all communications with your customers. It shows their emails, messages, chats, phone calls, and social media messages on one dashboard. Such applications convert every incoming request into tickets. Hence, you can track all the queries until they are resolved.
The help desk software for small businesses is suitable for start-ups and small teams. They generally come with features like shared inbox, live chat, knowledgebase integration, chatbot building ability, and CRM functionalities. So, such tools are beneficial for several departments apart from your support function.
The sales team can use help desk software to manage their conversations with prospects. Similarly, the internal IT administration team can use it to track and resolve requests from the employees.
Why do small businesses need a support ticket system?
If you own a small business, you might worry that switching from manual communication via different channels to a help desk ticketing software might negatively impact the relationships with your customers. However, the reality is different.
Such an application smoothens your support function and helps your executives provide personalized assistance to your prospects or existing clients. Let’s talk about the benefits you can enjoy by trying one of the best help desk ticketing software.
- Organization: A helpdesk ticketing application collects and shows all the conversations with your clients in one place. So, you can easily check, review, and filter them. Most of these tools come with the tagging function. Hence, you can search the requests based on products, tags, customers, and support agents. You can also see who has talked to your buyers.
- Accessibility: The help desk software for small businesses is generally omnichannel. So, they give you new opportunities to reach and serve your clients. With the help of ticketing software, you can talk to your buyers over the phone, SMS, email, or chat. You can even use social media platforms to answer their requests.
- Collaboration: Your support team can use Outlook or Gmail to collaborate. However, the features of such applications are limited. On the contrary, help desk software for small businesses comes with several features to improve collaboration.
- Automation: Managing customer relations is a challenging task because it involves a lot of tasks. Help desk software streamlines all the processes and automates repetitive activities to save you time and energy.
- Reporting: You cannot track the metrics manually or with the help of workspaces. But, help desk applications are built to track metrics like response time, volume, and more.
- Security: A help desk tool keeps your data safe because all your agents have to log in using their ID and password. Plus, you can assign roles and permissions. So, your data never gets compromised.
Which is the best help desk ticketing software?
You should pick a help desk software as per the requirements of your business. However, Live Agent is the best help desk ticketing software because it brings all your support channels together. It’s an all-in-one support application with a wide range of features to improve your customer relationships.
If you prefer a Gmail-based support ticket system for small businesses. Hiver is the best choice. Freshdesk is also a suitable option, especially if you have field agents. If you do not have any budget restrictions, then you can also try Hubspot, Zendeks, and Help Scout.
How are chatbots used for customer service?
Chatbot is an integral part of modern help desk software. It can extend the live chat ability of your support system. A lot of products we reviewed above come with this functionality.
Chatbot is a first line of defense in a support function. Your clients chatting with a chatbot might think that they are engaged with a human agent. But chatbot is rule rule-based program that uses questions and inputs to discover problems and their solutions. It can also provide a resolution via canned responses, showing alternative resources for information, or triggering a pre-configured automated process.
If the chatbot fails to resolve the query, its next step is routing to a human. So, it sends the client to an individual who knows the concerns. Chatbots are not limited to text messaging. They can also be a voice assistant.
Final Thoughts
Customer service is a crucial factor if your business plans to serve a bigger and wider range of audiences. With help desk software you can automate multiple processes, reduce volume with the help of a knowledge base, track performance, collaborate, and deploy chatbots to improve your customer support system. The software we discussed above is capable of performing all these functions and helps you achieve your business goals.
Live Agent is the best help desk software for small businesses. You can sign up for its trial plan and upgrade if you like the features. The subscription fee of this application is also reasonable, especially if you go for the annual billing plan.
