Provides fast setup and useful dashboards but needs better customization and formatting options
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Zendesk is providing support for customers. I use Zendesk to support my customers when they open tickets because they are having issues with the applications we support. For example, if something on the application isn't working well, then they open tickets through Zendesk.
I sometimes use Zendesk for extracting a few reports and some statistics from it, but that is the only different use case that I have for Zendesk.
What is most valuable?
One of the best features Zendesk offers is the dashboards. What I appreciate most about the dashboards in Zendesk is that the tables come in a data frame format, which is visually easy to understand. The dashboards generate data from the tickets automatically, and they are easy to configure as well.
The positive impact of Zendesk on my organization is the cost. Zendesk is way cheaper than other ITSM platforms such as ServiceNow, providing a good platform at a lower price so we could offer good support with a low budget for the license.
Zendesk has an API feature which you can use for extracting data from it, but I don't use it too much, so there isn't much I can say about the API.
What needs improvement?
Zendesk could actually support HTML on the tickets so we could format our text better than the current options such as size, bold, italic, or underscored, because the text processing is too simple. Zendesk could allow us to personalize our text with way more features, such as different text fonts or using HTML tags for creating tables.
I chose a rating of seven out of ten because, as I mentioned, it doesn't support HTML on the text formatting, and the windows are not well customized. Sometimes a few windows take more space than is necessary, and it doesn't let us customize our home page and a few other things, which makes me believe Zendesk is missing out on a few things compared to ServiceNow.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Zendesk for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Zendesk is stable and performs quite reliably.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Regarding Zendesk's scalability, we haven't had to scale up or down because we don't have many tickets that need scaling. For now, Zendesk is handling our payload quite well.
How are customer service and support?
I have never had to interact with Zendesk's support team.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used ServiceNow, Co-Common, and GLPI.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is easy to understand and straightforward. It was easy to buy and to license.
What was our ROI?
I have a sense of the return on investment. To be honest, I don't have the data, but I feel that Zendesk helped us set up our platform for providing support way faster than other platforms due to its easy configuration.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Zendesk, we actually evaluated ServiceNow as an option, as we do have ServiceNow for a few teams. However, Zendesk is cheaper, so we couldn't license ServiceNow for all agents. For a few of them, we used Zendesk.
What other advice do I have?
I cannot estimate how much we have saved due to the lower cost and good support from Zendesk since I don't have direct access to the data, but I know that we saved a lot.
My advice to others looking into using Zendesk is that if you are looking for a tool that is cheaper than others but provides a good solution, I would let them know that Zendesk is the best option. You will save costs and provide good support with easy configuration and many features for a lower price.
I was offered a gift card for this review.
I don't have any additional thoughts about Zendesk before we wrap up. However, they could change the layout of Zendesk a bit to look more like ServiceNow, as ServiceNow actually has a good-looking layout. If Zendesk changed to look more like ServiceNow and allowed users to customize their layout, I believe Zendesk could be better, but it's good already for the price. I gave this review a rating of seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Effortless Setup and Smooth Launch Experience
What do you like best about the product?
Easy set up, was able to fully launch without any assistance
What do you dislike about the product?
Sometimes a delay of response and alot of back and forth. Would prefer a phone call or immediate reply
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
The amount of triggers and automations needed to make things work
Comprehensive Help Center and Documentation Enhance Our Experience
What do you like best about the product?
We appreciate that it includes a help center and internal documentation. The template responses are also very useful.
What do you dislike about the product?
It can require a significant amount of time to set up and get the team fully trained.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Responding to customer from different sources in a timely manner
Automated Replies Are Great, But Some Drawbacks
What do you like best about the product?
The automated reply capability exceeds the capability of other tools
What do you dislike about the product?
The setup can be a little cumbersome to utilize all the features, but I admittedly haven't completed all the setup yet so if it's fully-automated once it's done, it might be justified
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Automating the replies has saved the need for customer support representative time
Great Support Community, But Frequent Issues Disrupt Workflow
What do you like best about the product?
I like most the fact that it has a wide support system in the software as well as in the user base, so oftentimes issues can be solved quickly. Several integrations across CRMs and other software like Monday, Gainsight, PowerBi are used at my company and I find most of them work well enough that record keeping and managing projects is made relatively easy.
What do you dislike about the product?
I get notified of issues daily. About 50% of them actually affect my usage, but it always means a slowdown and lots of refreshing will be needed that day.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Zendesk makes timelines of client communications easy to read and allows team queues to be created in a way that makes interdepartmental resolution handling easier than a constant stream of messaging in Teams. Anyone working on an issue can hop into one ticket and read to understand what's going on.
Challenging Setup, But Promising Features
What do you like best about the product?
I appreciate how Zendesk Support Suite helps us organize our tickets effectively. It allows us to automatically assign tasks based on tags that we've created, equipped with specific names and triggers, thus enhancing our efficiency. The user-friendly and intuitive web UI layout stands out to me as it simplifies navigation, making it easier to manage various tasks. This software aids in better time management for our help desk support staff and facilitates quick escalation of issues, which significantly benefits our team. Once fully set up, the omnichannel routing capability promises to be highly useful, especially by enabling routing to different groups, further streamlining our processes.
What do you dislike about the product?
I find the setup process of Zendesk Support Suite incredibly challenging. The salesperson had mentioned it would be simple, but it took me over six hours just to set up the mailbox ingestion part due to complications like needing individual mailboxes instead of a shared one. This involved changing DNS settings, DKIM settings, and several other technical adjustments which were time-consuming. I'm still working on other aspects like teams, email, side conversations, triggers, tags, and groups. I also think that managed services or a technical CSM for setup should be included with the purchase, instead of just focusing on initial goals. Additionally, the help links keep redirecting to other pages, and I would appreciate a straightforward onboarding document without needing to follow multiple links.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Zendesk Support Suite helps us organize tickets and automatically assign them based on tags, improving efficiency, time management, and enabling quick escalation.
User-Friendly Interface Makes Tasks a Breeze
What do you like best about the product?
The easy to use interface. I love how quickly I can execute a ticket from start to completion.
What do you dislike about the product?
I am pretty new to this software platform, so far I have not yet ran into anything that I'm not satisfied with.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
ZenDesk takes time off my schedule allowing me to focus my time on other tasks to run my business. It has a very intuitive process walkthrough for managing customer support.
Robust Features, Steep Setup Curve
What do you like best about the product?
I find the Zendesk Support Suite incredible for maintaining an active, easy-to-update knowledge base that allows users to self-serve for their basic, 101-level questions. This significantly cuts down the number of support tickets, which is essential for our operations. Additionally, I appreciate the quick and easy routing capability for support tickets, allowing us to efficiently manage inquiries and direct them to appropriate departments like legal, technical, or product support. The internal linking of knowledge base articles within support tickets provides a seamless experience that expedites ticket responses and keeps our processes organized. The extensive compliance documentation and the mature, reputable history of Zendesk were crucial for gaining internal support and buy-in from our infosec team, showcasing its reliability and security. Despite initial setup challenges due to numerous features, I appreciate the complexity for its flexibility and growth potential this offers. The tools and functionalities that facilitate routing and managing complex tickets ensure our processes are clean and compliant, making it an indispensable tool for our customer support operations.
What do you dislike about the product?
{"I find setting up Zendesk Support Suite quite challenging due to the depth of options available. It can be daunting for small teams or those without previous Zendesk experience, as the platform is built to support potentially large-scale customer service operations and global compliance needs.","The knowledge base software feels outdated compared to modern standards. The editing suite does not match what I would expect from more current platforms like Google Docs, Notion, or Confluence. The process of structuring categories, articles, and topics is unintuitive and not visually dynamic, lacking features like drag-and-drop functionality."}
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Zendesk Support Suite helps us maintain an easy-to-update knowledge base, reducing support tickets by enabling self-service. It also allows efficient ticket routing, enhancing our response speed and organization by linking support tickets with knowledge articles.
Efficient Ticket Management, But Can Get Cluttered with High Volume
What do you like best about the product?
I like that Zendesk Support Suite brings all customer interactions into one place. It’s easy to use, helps manage tickets efficiently, and makes communication faster and more organized.
What do you dislike about the product?
Sometimes Zendesk can feel a bit slow or cluttered when handling many tickets, and setting up automations or views can take time to get just right.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Zendesk solves the problem of scattered customer communication by centralizing emails, chats, and calls in one platform. It helps me respond faster, stay organized, and deliver a better overall support experience.
Absolutely Love This Software!
What do you like best about the product?
The ease of use is fantastic, you can learn quickly even if you are a new user and customer and it integrates perfectly.
What do you dislike about the product?
To be honest, I haven't found any issues so far. Everything has been perfect up to this point.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
The support suite has solved the problem of needing to personally return to client support tasks or having to pay an employee to manage them. Now, I can handle everything directly from my laptop, and the AI can take over as well.
