Zendesk Launches Zendesk Suite and Zendesk Connect

Helpdesk software vendor Zendesk today announced ii new products designed to assist companies better serve customers. The first product, Zendesk Suite, will reportedly bring conversation, email, and other customer support channels under i unifying platform. The second product, Zendesk Connect, is designed to assemble client interaction data and apply that information to proactively solve customer service bug. Both products are available starting today.

Zendesk Suite

Perhaps the all-time style to draw the Zendesk Suite is that it's a unified umbrella that integrates email, live conversation, phone, self-service, and well-nigh any other channel you might apply for user or customer service interaction, such as social media. It essentially combines the Zendesk Chat, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Talk, and Zendesk Support products into 1 platform. According to Astha Malik, Vice President of Platform and Product Marketing at Zendesk, Zendesk Suite is designed to permit companies connect to customers through any channel they want.

"I think a lot of companies are trying to come up up with creative means to make serving customers easier, and we've establish that being able to speak to customers in the way that they prefer is really the all-time way to do this," said Malik. Even so, Malik is quick to admit that providing customers with their choice of preferred channels isn't new.

"What'south new here," Malik continues, "is that nosotros have now integrated all of these channels together in one packet. Nosotros retrieve this volition make life a lot simpler for agents, managers, and end users alike. We want our customers to feel more empowered and more than productive. That is the driving force behind why nosotros're launching Zendesk Suite."

Similar to the company'southward other offerings, there are a number of unlike pricing options bachelor. Zendesk Suite's Pro version begins at $89 per user per calendar month (paid annually) or $109 per user per calendar month without a yearly commitment. Information technology offers omnichannel back up as well as reporting and belittling features. The Enterprise version begins at $149 per user per month (paid annually) or $179 per user (paid month to month). For the extra price, you will become the ability to assign roles and permissions to staff, 24/7 support, and multi-make support, among other things.

We've seen other companies announce products with unification in heed. Earlier this spring, RingCentral appear a like production in the form of its Collaborative Contact Middle, which boasts an array of tools that come up in one app designed to aid teams solve customer problems easier. Twilio besides made a play for the space with its proclamation of Flex, a highly customizable customer service platform that lets customers include all sorts of unlike channels into just 1 app.

Then it'due south clear that companies looking for a unified customer service platform have no shortage of options these days. Just Zendesk has the advantage of being a leader in the helpdesk market, so information technology will be interesting to see exactly how much it can leverage that position with Zendesk Suite.

Zendesk Connect

The visitor calls Zendesk Connect its "proactive engagement solution." At its core, Zendesk Connect, which will begin at $180 per month for 2,000 monthly messaged users, blends analytics and automation. The tool uses machine learning (ML) models to anticipate customer problems before they happen. It'southward designed to help companies become ahead of customer needs by gathering and processing all previous customer data, including actions, support history, and preferences. This information can then be used to deliver automated, personalized messages to private customers based on habits and preferences.

"Information technology's all about getting ahead of your customers. If I order something, I'd rather know about a problem with my social club equally it happens before I achieve out to the store," said Malik.

I instance Malik offered was the instance of an online shoe store. If a new visitor to the site is looking at a shoe that a lot of customers accept been returning because its size runs large, Zendesk Connect tin can use the data gathered from previous customers to provide an alert to this new customer. Zendesk Connect could tell customers about the issue every bit they identify the club into their online shopping cart, so they could order the side by side size downward to compensate. Zendesk has been testing scenarios like this with early adopters, such equally online meal company Freshly, for some time, with users reporting noticeable upticks in client satisfaction.