Top Help Desk Software Features

There are many features available in the Helpdesk CRM Software and in the past two decades evolution is rapid. Spreadsheets are being replaced with advanced software which is the backbone of many help-desk operations around the world. This type of software also empowers agents with a wide range of support. Studies show that 42% of customers expect a reply within an hour. But they don’t just want a reply they expect a correct response to their issues, a business should therefore aim for using a helpdesk for both prompt and accurate response that keeps their customers satisfied and stick to their brand.

Here are some of the top help desk software features:

Must-have features in help-desk software:
Automation of ticketing system –  Contact Center Agents do a lot of small tasks after each call. These tasks although monotonous, are very important for successful follow-up and closure of the customer’s request. Also known as call wrap-up, these activities are time-consuming and while agents are busy doing these tasks, callers keep waiting in the queue, but what if we can automate all or part of it? How exactly can an automated ticketing system save the time and energy of agents while making them more productive? Listed below are a few examples of it

Automatic ticket assignment – The days of assigning tickets to the right people by the “gatekeeper” are over. Now with the help of customer support software and ticketing automation, Best Ticketing System can be created on a customer’s mail, call, chat or through the client portal and can be directly assigned to a specific agent/department/group. For example, if the subject line of a mail contains the word, “delay in receiving order”, an automatic ticket can be raised and routed to the department managing deliveries. It can be further refined so that the ticket is sent to a specific agent in the deliveries team based on the location from where the order had come.

Customer reminder follow-up – A CRM Helpdesk at times also has to remind customers of certain things like an appointment, an unpaid cart, etc. Now in order to keep agents away from these menial tasks, help desk software must be equipped with automation like trigger-based SMS and email delivery or automated robocall to remind of an appointment or confirm an order/address, etc.

Close tickets automatically – Sometimes even after sending reminders multiple times or trying to reach the customer agents fail to make a successful contact. Tickets can’t be kept open forever. In such cases, a trigger feature that automatically closes the ticket after any set number of days and a mail or a combination of mail and SMS get delivered to the customer informing them of the closed ticket.

Alert on urgent tickets – Although every ticket requires immediate attention, there are some tickets that are urgent in nature, for example - an issue from a critical customer who has faced challenges in the past will be a critical ticket. A lot depends on these tickets in terms of customer satisfaction and experience. An important Helpdesk CRM Software feature would be that through automation, internal correspondence can be sent for critical tickets. When the ticket priority is “critical” or other trigger keywords are used on the mail body, the ticket can’t wait until business hours or for a specific agent to log in, it is important that such tickets are addressed right away to keep the customer happy.

SLA (Service level agreement) 

The first thing that should reflect on a ticket is its urgency and it should get automatically prioritized among other tickets. With the help of SLA information in the Ticketing System, it is easier to prioritize tickets and avoid SLA violations.

Customized ticket template

Not all tickets are the same. There should be a system where templates can have commands that can make the response easier. These templates can be combined in case there are multiple issues.

Private/Public communication in a ticket  

All communications in a ticket should not be made public. There must be a section for internal communication.

Ticket deflection  

There are certain issues that can be solved by the customer if knowledge base documents are provided to them which can minimize agent pressure. Customer shouldn’t go to find the link, instead built-in ticket deflection help them to grab right link quickly.

Self-service  

Issues don’t always arise when the customer is at home or the office staring at their computer. It can arise anytime 24*7, late at night, on holidays, etc. The longer they have to wait for the agent interaction, the more problem will percolate.

That is why there should be a 24*7 ticketing Helpdesk CRM with self-service options where agents are not available 24*7. FAQ, forums, easy-to-use ticket submissions,s or similar issues knowledge base, all can add to customer happiness.

Collaborations

There are issues complex in nature that can’t be justified by a standard reply. Customers may stumble upon truly rare/bizarre issues, in such cases collaboration between different departments plays a vital role. A good helpdesk software should have collaboration features that help inter-team communication to solve a problem. The software must also have integration with Omnichannel Contact Center Solution, so the resolution can be shared with the customer across various channels like messaging, social, telephony, email, etc. or the channel of the customer’s choice.

Product data base
If a company sells multiple products, the nature of issues varies in a large way and it may create confusion for agents if they lack product information, especially when new ones are on the bench. Rather than memorizing the entire catalog, instant access to a product database or a knowledge base should be available through help-desk software. This way an agent can view the product information and interact with customers with a lot of confidence.

• Understanding customer satisfaction  
• Customer surveys or C-SAT (customer satisfaction) survey is necessary to understand the pulse of the customer. A good Helpdesk CRM Software should have a mechanism like a DTMF-enabled Call Blast or C-SAT IVR where customers can rate services after getting resolution which can help the company to review a situation.

Omni channel support 

Customer should be able to reach via any channel of their interest viz. email, chat, social media, telephony etc. An omni-channel enabled Help-desk software will allow a business to create and monitor tickets from any channel.

Nice to have features in a help-desk software
Agent assistant 
By using artificial intelligence and NLP, the ticket can be analysed by the bot and provide suggested response. While, this reduces time to respond, it also helps in providing more accurate, type error free response to clients.

Customer Sentiment Analysis 

Again, AI technology enables to detect the sentiment or feelings in the conversation. This along with CSAT score can be very well utilised to analyse the key customer pain points.

The helpdesk software may very well be the most critical tool of your Contact Center Solution suite. It is advisable to evaluate the features of the helpdesk tool well before making an investment decision.