In today’s competitive market, providing exceptional customer support is paramount. Equipping your customer care center with the right tools is essential for efficient operations and customer satisfaction. This comprehensive Customer Care Center Tool List highlights some of the best software solutions available, offering features, pricing, and trial information to help you make an informed decision and elevate your customer support strategy.
1. Zendesk
Zendesk stands out as award-winning customer service software designed to empower businesses to deliver rapid and personalized customer support at scale. Its strength lies in enabling agents to seamlessly manage customer requests from various channels within a unified workspace. This eliminates the frustrating need to toggle between different dashboards. Agents gain a holistic 360-degree view of each customer, accessing past support interactions and leveraging over 1,500 readily available integrations. Collaboration is streamlined with built-in integrations for platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams, facilitating teamwork across departments directly within Zendesk.
Artificial intelligence is deeply integrated into the agent workspace, enabling customer service teams to handle larger ticket volumes while maintaining high customer satisfaction levels. Zendesk AI intelligently identifies and categorizes incoming tickets based on priority, intent, sentiment, and language, as well as agent availability and skills, ensuring tickets are routed efficiently to the appropriate agent. Furthermore, AI provides real-time guidance to agents, offering ticket summaries and tools to refine the tone of their responses. Powered by analysis of over 18 billion real-world service interactions, Zendesk’s AI offers sophisticated customer service insights from day one.
Robust reporting and analytics capabilities provide crucial insights into operational efficiency and evolving customer needs, enabling businesses to adapt proactively. Moreover, enterprise-grade security features ensure the safety and confidentiality of customer data. Zendesk emphasizes ease of use, maximizing agent productivity and enabling businesses to respond at the pace of their customers. It’s a comprehensive customer service solution designed for immediate value, eliminating the need for extensive development or third-party consulting, leading to rapid implementation and a low total cost of ownership.
Pricing: Plans begin at $19 per agent per month. A 14-day free trial is offered.
Explore Zendesk pricing plans in detail.
Start your free 14-day Zendesk trial or request a personalized Zendesk demo.
2. Intercom
Intercom provides a customer support solution centered around automation and messaging to enhance internal customer service teams. Intercom Messenger functions as a complementary tool, integrating with existing support systems. Intelligent routing capabilities enable businesses to direct customer inquiries to specialized agents based on their skills, availability, and customer history.
The platform efficiently generates support tickets from Messenger and other communication channels, including email, consolidating them into a shared inbox. Intercom Messenger facilitates both live chat support and self-service options, empowering customers to find solutions at their own pace.
Intercom’s AI tool, Fin, delivers conversational support by addressing frequently asked questions and suggesting relevant help center articles. Fin also streamlines workflow by summarizing conversations within the inbox and automatically filling in ticket details. The platform further offers a marketplace with over 350 integrations, expanding its functionality.
Pricing: Plans start at $39 per seat per month, with a 14-day free trial available.
Further Reading: Explore the Intercom integration for Zendesk and a detailed comparison of Zendesk vs. Intercom.
3. Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud’s customer service platform equips agents with an omnichannel workspace for comprehensive customer support. Agents benefit from a unified view of each ticket, accessing relevant context such as customer contact information, previous interactions, and purchase history directly within their workspace. The Swarming feature promotes team collaboration by enabling agents to invite colleagues with specific expertise to dedicated Slack channels for complex cases.
Salesforce Service Cloud allows agents to tailor workflows and automatically route tickets to the most appropriate support agent, enhancing efficiency. Additionally, robust reporting and analytics, featuring pre-built dashboards, empower management to monitor team performance across all channels. Reports can also include Swarming metrics, identifying top responders and tracking the resolution rate of cases.
It’s important to note that Salesforce, while powerful, can be complex and may require a longer learning curve for users. As Salesforce is not solely focused on customer experience but offers a broader suite of sales and marketing products, businesses prioritizing streamlined customer service may find solutions specializing in CX to be more directly aligned with their goals.
Pricing: Plans start at $25 per user per month. A 30-day free trial is available.
Further Reading: Learn about Salesforce integrations with Zendesk and a comparison of Zendesk vs. Salesforce.
4. Front
Front is a customer service solution designed to enable users to configure automated workflows and integrate diverse communication channels into a unified shared inbox. This shared inbox centralizes customer inquiries, automatically consolidating messages from various channels and intelligently routing them to the most qualified agent.
Each customer interaction is meticulously logged, granting agents access to complete customer history for informed and consistent support. Front incorporates built-in collaboration tools, facilitating seamless team communication on tickets. Unified reporting provides analytics on team performance and customer satisfaction, offering valuable insights.
Businesses can build a comprehensive help center to empower customer self-service. Knowledge base administrators have granular control over user permissions, designating content creators, editors, and publishers. The help center seamlessly integrates with the live chat system, allowing customers to effortlessly switch between self-service resources and direct customer support.
Pricing: Plans begin at $19 per seat per month, with a 7-day free trial available.
Further Reading: Compare Zendesk vs. Front to understand their differences.
5. Tidio
Tidio is a customer service platform tailored for small and medium-sized businesses. Featuring a help desk ticketing system, Tidio empowers users to efficiently organize and manage customer requests within a shared inbox. The software seamlessly converts emails, live chats, and social media messages into tickets that are routed to the team inbox for streamlined management.
Tickets are highly customizable, allowing users to add detailed notes and create custom tags for enhanced organization. Tidio can automate ticket assignment to agents and automatically close tickets upon resolution, improving workflow efficiency. The software can also automatically send customer satisfaction surveys upon interaction completion, providing valuable feedback.
Tidio’s live chat tool includes pre-written responses, enabling agents to quickly answer common questions and improve response times. The chat window displays real-time typing from customers, allowing assigned agents to prepare tailored responses even before the customer sends their message. Tidio also incorporates Lyro, a conversational AI chatbot, which can provide automated support to customers, further enhancing self-service capabilities.
Pricing: Plans start at $29 per month. A free plan and a 7-day trial are available.
6. Bitrix24
Bitrix24 offers online customer support software that allows teams to provide omnichannel support and efficiently manage customer requests from a single, unified location. The platform can be configured to queue requests based on channel, ensuring organized handling of diverse communication streams. Further customization options include creating pre-written responses for common inquiries and setting up wait time rules to manage customer expectations.
Every customer interaction across all channels is automatically logged into your CRM system. The system intelligently collects customer data and creates a new lead profile if a customer does not have an existing record, enriching your CRM database. Bitrix24 also provides pre-built and customizable activity reporting features, offering valuable insights into customer service operations.
Bitrix24’s integrated video calling feature enables agents and customers to connect face-to-face for efficient issue resolution. With screen sharing and recording capabilities, agents can demonstrate solutions, guide customers through complex steps, and record sessions for future reference or training purposes. Videoconferencing is also available for broader team collaboration, supporting group discussions with up to 48 participants simultaneously.
Pricing: Plans begin at $49 per organization per month. A free plan and a 15-day free trial are offered.
7. HappyFox
HappyFox provides a customer service solution and help desk management software. It features a robust ticketing system that helps teams organize and prioritize requests, offering a single customer view for streamlined omnichannel support. With automation, customizable workflows, and AI-powered chatbots, HappyFox automates routine tasks, increasing agent efficiency.
Managers can utilize HappyFox to effectively coordinate work schedules. They can define team work hours and configure schedules to align with service level agreements (SLAs). The scheduling feature also accounts for non-working hours when calculating time-based conditions, ensuring accurate SLA management.
HappyFox enhances customer self-service with options like an online knowledge base, empowering customers to find answers independently, reducing support ticket volume. Customers can also track their support tickets, participate in community forums, and access help center articles and FAQs – all within a unified self-service portal.
Pricing: Plans start at $29 per agent per month. A free trial is available.
Further Reading: Explore how HappyFox Workflows integrates with Zendesk.
8. Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk offers customer support software equipped with tools and automation options designed to streamline agent workflows. For example, Zoho Desk provides omnichannel support with a single-view dashboard, enabling agents to manage customer issues efficiently in one central location. The ticket management system organizes tickets by status, due date, and priority, ensuring efficient handling.
Additional Zoho Desk features include comprehensive self-service resources, service level agreements (SLAs), AI-powered functionalities, an advanced response editor, and built-in analytics. The platform allows users to track crucial customer data and generate reports with key performance metrics. Users can also create custom dashboards to visualize and monitor specific ticket metrics, providing actionable insights.
Zoho Desk incorporates Zia, an AI-powered assistant, which can detect customer sentiment based on their language and intelligently route tickets to agents with relevant context. Furthermore, Zia can automatically tag tickets and notify agents of unusual activity within the ticket workflow, enhancing proactive support.
Pricing: Plans start at $7 per user per month. A free plan and a 15-day free trial are available.
Further Reading: Discover how Zoho integrates with Zendesk and a comparison of Zendesk vs. Zoho.
9. ServiceNow
ServiceNow is a cloud-based customer service tool tailored for enterprise-level organizations. It features a customer self-service portal that empowers users to create service requests or find solutions in help center articles without direct agent interaction. Customers can also engage in community forums to ask questions and share their experiences, fostering peer-to-peer support.
Businesses can automate workflows to assist agents with repetitive tasks, improving efficiency and reducing manual effort. Users can design processes to efficiently identify, log, resolve, and close incidents, eliminating redundant data entry. Teams can also create cross-enterprise workflows, providing end-to-end visibility and control over service processes.
ServiceNow also offers customer service management (CSM) tools enhanced with generative AI technology. Its Now Assist tool provides AI-powered suggestions for agent responses, accelerating response times and consistency. Additionally, ServiceNow’s AI offers intelligent suggestions to guide agents toward efficient ticket resolution, improving overall support effectiveness.
Pricing: Contact ServiceNow for pricing details.
Further Reading: See a comparison of Zendesk vs. ServiceNow.
10. LiveAgent
LiveAgent is a customer service tool with a strong focus on live chat functionalities. It includes features such as real-time typing view, customer service website monitoring for proactive chat engagement, and customizable proactive chat invitations based on agent availability and status. LiveAgent’s universal inbox centralizes help requests and intelligently routes them to specific agents based on predefined criteria.
Beyond its robust chat tool, LiveAgent’s help desk includes integrated call center software with both inbound and outbound call capabilities, a comprehensive ticketing system, a knowledge base for self-service, and reporting and analytics tools for performance monitoring. Businesses can utilize call recordings for quality assurance, establish interactive voice response (IVR) flows for efficient call routing, and monitor agent activity in real time. Customers benefit from callback request options, eliminating hold times while preserving their place in the queue.
Users can configure LiveAgent’s workflow automation tools through its Rules feature. Rules can automate ticket routing, tagging for categorization, and ticket resolutions based on predefined conditions. LiveAgent is also highly customizable, offering a library of integrations to connect with various third-party tools and extend its functionality.
Pricing: Plans begin at $9 per agent per month. A free plan and free trials of 7 or 30 days are available.
11. Freshdesk
Freshworks’ customer service product, Freshdesk, provides a centralized platform for support teams to efficiently manage, prioritize, and respond to customer requests from a single, unified location. Its ticketing system consolidates requests from various channels into a team inbox for streamlined management. Trend reports offer valuable insights by helping teams analyze ticket activity patterns.
Users can customize ticket fields to automate routing, categorization, and prioritization of incoming requests, improving workflow efficiency. Users can create custom ticket statuses, providing agents with clear visibility into the current stage of each ticket. The system is also intelligent enough to detect when a customer concludes a conversation with phrases like “Thank you,” preventing accidental ticket reopening and ensuring efficient ticket closure.
It’s important to note that the Freshworks platform consists of three distinct systems: Freshdesk, Freshchat, and Freshcaller. Each system operates within its own workspace, requiring agents to navigate between individual tabs to access all relevant customer information. This separation can potentially slow down customer service workflows and increase the risk of agents missing crucial contextual information.
Pricing: Plans start at $15 per agent per month. A free plan and a 14-day free trial are available.
Further Reading: Compare Zendesk vs. Freshdesk to see which fits your needs.
12. Hiver
Hiver is a multichannel customer service help desk specifically designed to integrate seamlessly with Google Workspace. Instead of introducing a completely new platform, Hiver enhances existing Google programs by adding essential customer service features, including shared inboxes, comprehensive analytics, and service level agreements (SLAs). Businesses that prefer to leverage their existing Google communication infrastructure can benefit significantly from Hiver’s integration.
Hiver’s shared inbox offers customizable views, allowing users to personalize their email display by choosing conversation categories and filters. With Conversation ID, users can efficiently track email threads by assigning them a unique number and easily resurfacing them on demand. It also features internal notes and @mentions (tagging), enabling seamless team collaboration on customer issues without forwarding emails or copying team members into lengthy email threads.
Furthermore, businesses can create a knowledge base within Hiver to house frequently asked questions (FAQs), instructional guides, and troubleshooting resources. Customers can easily navigate through articles using an embedded search bar. If customers cannot find the information they need, they can conveniently submit a support ticket directly from within the knowledge base, ensuring seamless access to support.
Pricing: Plans start at $15 per user per month. A 7-day free trial is available.
13. ProProfs Help Desk
ProProfs offers a help desk solution designed for efficient customer support. The software empowers teams to effectively manage, track, and resolve support tickets. It includes a shared inbox for seamless team collaboration, enabling agents to view all conversations in one centralized location. Agents can prioritize tickets based on urgency, automate routine tasks to improve efficiency, and tag teammates directly into conversations for collaborative issue resolution.
Agents gain access to a customer’s complete ticket history and can export conversations as PDF documents for record-keeping or offline review. ProProfs also features private notes, allowing users to collaborate internally through side conversations without customer visibility. Collision detection helps prevent multiple agents from unknowingly working on the same ticket simultaneously, ensuring efficient resource allocation.
ProProfs extends its functionality with additional features like a knowledge base for customer self-service, providing customers with access to articles and FAQs to resolve issues independently. Its integrated live chat software enables real-time support through a web widget embedded on your website. ProProfs also includes surveys to help teams gather valuable customer feedback and track customer satisfaction (CSAT) metrics.
Pricing: Plans start at $19.99 per operator per month. A free plan and a 15-day free trial are available.
Further Reading: Learn how ProProfs integrates with Zendesk.
14. Help Scout
Help Scout’s customer care software consolidates customer data, interactions, and customer history into a shared inbox, providing agents with essential context for every customer request. Its shared inbox also offers valuable features such as private notes for internal team collaboration and collision detection to prevent agents from simultaneously working on the same customer issue.
Help Scout incorporates AI tools, including AI Summarize and AI Assist, to enhance agent productivity. AI Summarize helps agents quickly condense lengthy email threads into concise bullet points, saving time and improving information absorption. AI Assist provides intelligent text suggestions as agents type replies, further accelerating response times. AI Assist can also refine content, adjust tone to match customer sentiment, and translate text into multiple languages, improving communication effectiveness.
Businesses can easily administer short-form surveys and collect customer satisfaction ratings directly on their website or within their mobile app, gathering valuable feedback. Additionally, Help Scout offers an extensive apps and integrations directory, providing access to over 100 integrations spanning support, marketing, e-commerce, communication, CRM, and analytics, extending platform capabilities.
Pricing: Plans start at $20 per user per month. A 15-day free trial is available.
Further Reading: See a comparison of Zendesk vs. Help Scout to help you decide.
15. HubSpot Service Hub
HubSpot Service Hub offers a shared inbox that provides agents with instant access to customer history, detailed ticket information, and queue details, enabling informed and efficient customer interactions. HubSpot Service Hub seamlessly integrates with HubSpot’s CRM, synchronizing data across its suite of tools, ensuring consistent customer information across departments. Agents can also utilize a mobile inbox, enabling them to stay active and responsive while on the move.
With HubSpot Service Hub, businesses can create dedicated customer portals and custom feedback surveys to enhance customer engagement and gather valuable insights. The customer portal empowers customers to view, open, and respond to their support tickets independently. Customers can also access the company knowledge base directly from the portal, promoting self-service and reducing support ticket volume.
Users can automate follow-up responses based on survey results, enabling proactive engagement and gathering deeper insights on specific topics. Comprehensive key performance metrics, including rep productivity, response time, and support volume, are readily available through the reporting and analytics dashboard. Each dashboard can accommodate up to 30 customizable reports, providing granular performance visibility.
Pricing: Plans start at $18 per month for two users. A free plan is also available.
Further Reading: Learn about HubSpot integrations for Zendesk and a detailed comparison of Zendesk vs. HubSpot.
16. Kustomer
Kustomer is a customer service platform designed to help support teams effectively manage customer interactions across channels. It consolidates customer data from diverse sources into a unified timeline view, providing agents with a chronological conversation thread containing customer history, preferences, and past interactions. Agents have quick access to pre-written replies for common inquiries, suggested actions for efficient issue resolution, and ticket tagging options for categorization.
Kustomer incorporates AI tools that utilize natural language processing (NLP) to accurately detect customer intent from their communications. It can analyze conversations and track customer sentiment in real-time, enabling businesses to identify both satisfied and dissatisfied customers proactively. Support teams can also leverage Kustomer’s AI to intelligently classify and route conversations based on the customer’s historical data, ensuring efficient handling and personalized support.
The platform includes live reporting and analytics dashboards that display real-time customer service metrics, providing up-to-the-minute performance visibility. Kustomer can retain data for reporting purposes for up to two years, offering long-term trend analysis. Users can perform one-time data exports for ad-hoc analysis or establish regularly scheduled report exports for automated data delivery.
Pricing: Plans start at $89 per user per month.
Further Reading: See a detailed comparison of Zendesk vs. Kustomer to help you choose.
17. Gorgias
Gorgias is a customer service software solution that offers a help desk with a shared inbox system, enabling support teams to collaboratively manage customer queries efficiently. Gorgias integrates deeply with e-commerce platforms like Shopify, granting agents direct access to crucial customer details, including customer data, order information, and comprehensive order history, all within the support interface.
The software provides powerful automation features such as AI-powered responses for common inquiries, pre-written responses for frequently asked questions (FAQs), and customizable templates to streamline handling of repetitive inquiries. AI intelligently scans incoming tickets to accurately identify customer intent, further automating workflows. It automatically closes spam messages, reducing agent workload, and efficiently answers legitimate requests, such as order status inquiries.
Gorgias features a highly customizable interface, allowing businesses to build tailored workflows that automatically assign tickets to appropriate agents, apply relevant tags for categorization, and automatically close tickets upon resolution. Pre-written responses enable agents to provide standardized and consistent answers to common customer questions. The system can also accommodate rules that identify VIP customers, ensuring their requests are prioritized for enhanced service levels.
Pricing: Plans start at $10 per month. A free trial is available.
Further Reading: See a detailed comparison of Zendesk vs. Gorgias to assist in your decision.
