In today’s fast-paced business environment, providing exceptional customer care is paramount. To meet evolving customer expectations and streamline support operations, businesses are increasingly turning to automated solutions. This article delves into a comprehensive list of automated consumer care tools, offering an overview of software designed to empower businesses to deliver efficient and personalized support experiences. We’ll explore a range of platforms, highlighting their key features, starting prices, and trial availability to help you find the perfect fit for your needs.
1. Zendesk
Zendesk provides award-winning automated consumer care tools engineered to enable businesses to deliver rapid and personalized customer support at scale. Agents gain the ability to seamlessly manage customer inquiries across diverse channels from a unified workspace, eliminating the inefficiency of switching between multiple dashboards. This platform offers a comprehensive 360-degree customer view by aggregating crucial details such as past support interactions and integrating with over 1,500 applications. Team collaboration is streamlined through integrations with communication platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams, directly within Zendesk.
Artificial intelligence is deeply integrated into the agent workspace, enabling customer service teams to effectively handle increased ticket volumes while maintaining high customer satisfaction levels. AI functionalities include intelligent ticket identification and categorization based on priority, intent, sentiment, and language, ensuring tickets are routed to the most appropriate agents based on capacity, status, and skill. Real-time AI guidance assists agents with ticket summaries and tools to refine the tone of their responses. Leveraging insights from over 18 billion real-world service interactions, Zendesk’s AI empowers businesses to deliver personalized support from day one. Advanced reporting and analytics provide actionable insights into operational efficiency and evolving customer needs, facilitating rapid adaptation. Furthermore, enterprise-grade security features ensure the safety of customer data. Zendesk is designed for ease of use, maximizing agent productivity and enabling businesses to operate at the speed of their customers. It represents a complete, out-of-the-box automated consumer care solution, eliminating the need for extensive development or third-party consultants, resulting in rapid value realization and a low total cost of ownership.
Pricing: Plans begin at $19 per agent per month. A 14-day free trial is available.
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2. Intercom
Intercom’s automated consumer care solution leverages automation and messaging to enhance internal customer service team efficiency. Intercom Messenger acts as a powerful extension to existing business support infrastructure. Intelligent routing capabilities direct customer inquiries to specialized agents based on skill sets, availability, and customer history.
The platform efficiently generates tickets from Messenger and other communication channels, including email, consolidating them into a shared inbox. Intercom Messenger facilitates live support via chat and offers self-service options, empowering customers to find solutions independently. Intercom’s AI tool, Fin, delivers conversational support by addressing frequently asked questions and providing relevant help center articles. Fin also streamlines agent workflows by summarizing inbox conversations and automatically populating ticket information. The Intercom marketplace offers access to over 350 integrations, extending platform functionality.
Pricing: Plans start at $39 per seat per month. A 14-day free trial is available.
Recommended reading: Explore the Intercom integration for Zendesk and a detailed Zendesk vs. Intercom comparison.
3. Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud’s automated consumer care platform equips agents with an omnichannel workspace for comprehensive customer support management. Agents gain immediate access to relevant context for each ticket, including customer contact information, previous interactions, and purchase history, all within a unified workspace. The Swarming feature facilitates team collaboration by enabling the addition of agents with specific expertise to dedicated Slack channels for efficient case resolution.
Salesforce Service Cloud empowers agents to customize workflows and automate ticket routing to the most suitable support agent. Robust reporting and analytics, featuring pre-built dashboards, enable management to monitor team performance across all channels. Reports can also incorporate Swarming metrics such as top responders and the percentage of cases resolved and currently open. While Salesforce offers extensive capabilities, it’s important to note its complexity, which may require a steeper learning curve for some users. As Salesforce encompasses a broader suite of sales and marketing products beyond customer experience, businesses primarily focused on enhancing customer service may find specialized CX tools more streamlined and goal-oriented.
Pricing: Plans start at $25 per user per month. A 30-day free trial is available.
Recommended reading: Discover how Salesforce integrates with Zendesk and a comparative analysis of Zendesk vs. Salesforce.
4. Front
Front offers an automated consumer care solution that enables users to configure automated workflows and integrate various communication channels into a centralized shared inbox. This shared inbox serves as a central hub for managing customer inquiries, automatically consolidating interactions from different channels and routing messages to the most qualified agent.
Every customer interaction is meticulously logged, providing agents with access to complete customer history for informed and consistent support. Front includes integrated collaboration features to facilitate seamless team communication on tickets. Unified reporting provides comprehensive analytics on team performance and customer satisfaction metrics. Businesses can implement a self-service help center to empower customers with readily available information. Knowledge base administrators retain control over user permissions, determining who can create, modify, and publish content. The help center seamlessly integrates with the live chat system, enabling customers to transition between self-service and direct customer support as needed.
Pricing: Plans start at $19 per seat per month. A 7-day free trial is available.
Recommended reading: Compare Zendesk vs. Front to see which solution better suits your needs.
5. Tidio
Tidio is an automated consumer care platform specifically designed for small and midsize businesses. Featuring a comprehensive help desk ticketing system, Tidio allows users to effectively organize and manage customer requests within a shared inbox. The software efficiently converts emails, live chats, and social media messages into trackable tickets routed directly to the team inbox.
Tickets are highly customizable, allowing users to add specific notes and create custom tags for enhanced organization. Tidio automates ticket assignment to agents and facilitates automatic closure upon resolution. The system can also trigger automated customer satisfaction surveys immediately after interaction completion. Tidio’s live chat tool incorporates pre-written responses, enabling agents to quickly address common inquiries. The chat window provides agents with a real-time view of customer typing, allowing them to prepare responses proactively. Tidio also features Lyro, a conversational AI chatbot capable of providing automated customer support.
Pricing: Plans start at $29 per month. A free plan and a 7-day trial are offered.
6. Bitrix24
Bitrix24 delivers online automated consumer care software, providing a platform for teams to offer omnichannel support and manage customer requests from a single, unified location. The platform is configurable to queue requests based on channel. Further customization options include pre-written responses and configurable wait time rules.
Every customer interaction across all channels is logged within the integrated CRM system. The system automatically collects customer data and generates a new lead profile if a customer profile doesn’t already exist. Bitrix24 also provides both pre-built and customizable activity reporting features for in-depth performance analysis. Bitrix24’s built-in video calling feature enables agents and customers to connect face-to-face for efficient issue resolution. Features like screen sharing and recording allow agents to demonstrate solutions, guide customers through complex steps, and capture sessions for future reference or training. Videoconferencing capabilities further facilitate broader team collaboration, supporting group discussions with up to 48 participants simultaneously.
Pricing: Plans start at $49 per organization per month. A free plan and a 15-day free trial are available.
7. HappyFox
HappyFox is a provider of automated consumer care solutions and help desk management software. It features a robust ticketing system designed to help teams organize requests, alongside a single customer view for streamlined omnichannel support. Through automation, customizable workflows, and AI-powered chatbots, HappyFox automates routine, repetitive tasks, freeing up agent time for more complex issues.
Managers can leverage HappyFox to efficiently coordinate work schedules. They can define team work hours and configure schedules to align with service level agreements. The scheduling feature also accounts for non-working hours when calculating time-based conditions, ensuring accurate SLA management. HappyFox also offers comprehensive self-service options, including an online knowledge base, empowering customers to find answers independently and reducing support ticket volume. Customers can track 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 offered.
Recommended reading: Learn about the HappyFox Workflows integration with Zendesk.
8. Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk provides automated consumer care software equipped with tools and automation features designed to streamline agent workflows. Zoho Desk software delivers omnichannel support through a single-view dashboard, enabling agents to efficiently manage customer issues in one centralized location. The advanced ticket management system allows for organizing tickets based on status, due date, and priority.
Additional key features of Zoho Desk include self-service resources, SLA management, AI-powered functionalities, an advanced response editor, and integrated analytics. The platform facilitates tracking of crucial customer data and generating reports with key performance metrics. Users can also create custom dashboards to visualize and monitor specific ticket metrics. Zoho Desk incorporates Zia, an AI-powered assistant, which can detect customer sentiment based on their language and intelligently route tickets to agents with this contextual information. Zia also provides automated ticket tagging and proactively notifies agents of unusual activity within the ticket workflow.
Pricing: Plans start at $7 per user per month. A free plan and a 15-day free trial are available.
Recommended reading: Explore how Zoho integrates with Zendesk and a comparison of Zendesk vs. Zoho.
9. ServiceNow
ServiceNow is a cloud-based automated consumer care tool tailored for enterprise-level operations. It features a customer self-service portal enabling users to initiate service requests or access help center articles independently, without direct agent interaction. Customers can engage with community forums to ask questions and share experiences, fostering peer-to-peer support.
Businesses can automate workflows to assist agents with repetitive tasks, increasing efficiency and reducing manual work. Users can design automated processes to identify, log, resolve, and close incidents, eliminating redundant data entry. Teams can also develop cross-enterprise workflows providing comprehensive end-to-end visibility. ServiceNow also offers customer service management (CSM) tools incorporating generative AI technology. The Now Assist tool provides AI-powered response suggestions to agents. Additionally, ServiceNow’s AI offers intelligent suggestions to guide agents towards efficient ticket resolution.
Pricing: Contact ServiceNow directly for pricing information.
Recommended reading: Compare Zendesk vs. ServiceNow to understand their differences.
10. LiveAgent
LiveAgent is an automated consumer care tool with a strong focus on live chat functionality. Key features include real-time typing view, customer service website monitoring for proactive chat engagement, and proactive chat invitations triggered by agent availability and status. LiveAgent’s universal inbox aggregates help requests and intelligently routes them to the appropriate agents.
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, and detailed reporting and analytics tools. Businesses can utilize call recordings, establish interactive voice response (IVR) flows, and monitor agent activity in real time. Customers can request callbacks, eliminating the need to wait on hold while preserving their position in the queue. Users can configure LiveAgent’s workflow automation tools using the Rules feature. Rules can automate ticket routing, tagging, and resolution processes. LiveAgent is also highly customizable with a library of integrations to connect with various third-party tools and platforms.
Pricing: Plans start at $9 per agent per month. A free plan and free trials of 7 or 30 days are available.
11. Freshdesk
Freshdesk, a customer service product from Freshworks, delivers an automated consumer care platform enabling support teams to efficiently manage, prioritize, and respond to customer requests from a single, centralized location. Its ticketing system consolidates requests from multiple channels into a unified team inbox. Trend reports provide teams with valuable insights into ticket activity and patterns.
Users can configure ticket fields to automate routing, categorization, and prioritization of incoming requests, streamlining workflows. Custom ticket statuses allow agents to easily track the current stage of each ticket. The system intelligently detects when a customer concludes a conversation with phrases like “Thank you,” preventing accidental ticket re-openings. However, it’s important to note that the Freshworks platform is comprised of three distinct systems: Freshdesk, Freshchat, and Freshcaller. Each system operates within its own workspace, requiring agents to navigate between separate tabs to access complete customer information, which can potentially slow down customer service interactions and increase the risk of agents overlooking crucial details.
Pricing: Plans start at $15 per agent per month. A free plan and a 14-day free trial are offered.
Recommended reading: Compare Zendesk vs. Freshdesk to assess their suitability for your business.
12. Hiver
Hiver is a multichannel automated consumer care help desk specifically designed to integrate seamlessly with Google Workspace. Instead of requiring a completely new platform adoption, Hiver adds essential customer service features to a company’s existing Google infrastructure, including shared inboxes, comprehensive analytics, and SLA management. Businesses seeking to leverage their existing Google communications ecosystem can benefit significantly from Hiver.
Hiver’s shared inbox features customizable views, allowing users to select conversation categories and apply filters to personalize their email displays. The Conversation ID feature enables users to track email threads by assigning unique numbers for easy retrieval and referencing. It also includes notes and @mentions (tagging) to facilitate seamless team collaboration without the need for email forwarding or copying. Furthermore, businesses can build a robust knowledge base to host FAQs, instructions, and troubleshooting guides for customer self-service. Customers can easily navigate articles using an embedded search bar. If customers are unable to find the necessary information, they can directly submit a support ticket from within the knowledge base.
Pricing: Plans start at $15 per user per month. A 7-day free trial is available.
13. ProProfs Help Desk
ProProfs Help Desk offers automated consumer care solutions designed for efficient customer support management. The software empowers teams to manage, track, and resolve tickets effectively. It includes a shared inbox to facilitate team collaboration, providing agents with a centralized view of all conversations. Agents can prioritize tickets, automate routine tasks, and tag teammates directly into relevant conversations for streamlined communication.
Agents can readily access a customer’s complete ticket history and export conversations as PDF documents for record-keeping. Private notes enable users to collaborate internally through side conversations without customer visibility. Collision detection functionality prevents multiple agents from unknowingly working on the same ticket simultaneously, enhancing efficiency. ProProfs’ additional features include a self-service knowledge base, enabling customers to access articles and FAQs independently. Its live chat software allows for real-time support via a website widget. ProProfs also offers integrated 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.
Recommended reading: Explore how ProProfs integrates with Zendesk.
14. Help Scout
Help Scout’s automated consumer care software consolidates comprehensive customer data, interactions, and customer history within a shared inbox, providing agents with crucial context for each customer request. The inbox incorporates features such as private notes for internal team collaboration and collision detection to prevent agent overlap on the same issue.
Help Scout’s AI tools include AI Summarize and AI Assist, enhancing agent productivity. AI Summarize efficiently condenses lengthy email threads into concise bullet points. AI Assist provides intelligent text suggestions as agents type responses. AI Assist can also refine content, adjust tone, and translate text into different languages, expanding agent capabilities. Businesses can administer short-form surveys and gather customer satisfaction ratings directly on their website or within their application. Help Scout also maintains a comprehensive apps and integrations directory offering over 100 integrations across support, marketing, e-commerce, communication, CRM, and analytics categories, extending platform functionality and customization.
Pricing: Plans start at $20 per user per month. A 15-day free trial is available.
Recommended reading: Compare Zendesk vs. Help Scout to determine the best fit for your business requirements.
15. HubSpot Service Hub
HubSpot Service Hub provides an automated consumer care platform featuring a shared inbox that equips agents with readily accessible customer history, ticket information, and queue details. HubSpot Service Hub seamlessly connects with HubSpot’s CRM, ensuring synchronized data flow across its suite of tools. Agents can also utilize a mobile inbox, enabling them to remain active and responsive while mobile.
With HubSpot Service Hub, businesses can create dedicated customer portals and custom feedback surveys. The customer portal empowers customers to view, open, and respond to their support tickets independently. Customers can also access the company’s knowledge base directly from the portal, promoting self-service. Users can automate follow-up responses based on survey results to gather deeper insights into customer feedback. Key performance metrics, including agent productivity, response time, and support volume, are readily available via the comprehensive reporting and analytics dashboard. Each dashboard can accommodate up to 30 individual reports for detailed performance monitoring.
Pricing: Plans start at $18 per month for two users. A free plan is available.
Recommended reading: Explore HubSpot for Zendesk and compare Zendesk vs. HubSpot to understand integration and feature differences.
16. Kustomer
Kustomer is an automated consumer care platform designed to empower support teams in effectively managing customer interactions. It consolidates customer data from diverse sources into a unified timeline view, providing agents with a chronological thread of customer history, preferences, and interactions. Agents have access to pre-written replies, suggested actions, and efficient ticket tagging options for streamlined workflows.
Kustomer incorporates AI tools utilizing natural language processing to accurately detect customer intent. It analyzes conversations and tracks customer sentiment, enabling businesses to identify both satisfied and dissatisfied customers. Support teams can also leverage Kustomer’s AI to intelligently classify and route conversations based on historical customer data, improving efficiency and personalization. The platform includes live reporting and analytics dashboards that display real-time customer service metrics. Kustomer retains data for reporting purposes for up to two years. Users can perform one-time data exports or schedule recurring report exports for ongoing performance analysis.
Pricing: Plans start at $89 per user per month.
Recommended reading: Compare Zendesk vs. Kustomer to evaluate their feature sets and pricing.
17. Gorgias
Gorgias is an automated consumer care software solution providing a help desk with a shared inbox system, enabling support teams to collaboratively manage customer queries efficiently. Gorgias integrates seamlessly with e-commerce platforms like Shopify, granting agents direct access to critical customer details, such as customer data, order information, and order history, within the support interface.
The software offers robust automation features, including AI-powered responses, pre-written responses for frequently asked questions, and customizable templates to efficiently handle repetitive inquiries. AI intelligently scans incoming tickets to accurately identify customer intent. It automatically closes spam messages and provides automated answers to legitimate requests, such as order status inquiries. Gorgias also features a highly customizable interface, allowing businesses to build tailored workflows that automatically assign, tag, and close tickets based on predefined rules. Pre-written responses enable agents to deliver consistent and standardized answers to common customer questions. The system can also accommodate rules to identify VIP customers, ensuring prioritization of their support requests.
Pricing: Plans start at $10 per month. A free trial is available.
Recommended reading: Compare Zendesk vs. Gorgias to assess their suitability for e-commerce focused businesses.
