20 Best Customer Service Tools in 2024

Meeting modern-day customer’s demands can be challenging for any customer service team. In fact, more than 80% of organizations now agree that customers aren’t satisfied with traditional experiences anymore. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has also increased customers’ expectations when it comes to more empathetic, more responsive customer service from businesses.

In addition to these challenges, customer experience professionals also have their own obstacles to face when it comes to improving the customer experience. For instance, siloed customer data continues to be a problem for 26% of CX practitioners.

What’s great is that the right customer service tools can be used to get past many of these challenges. So we’ve gathered 20 of the best such tools on the market to help businesses make the right choice. Many customer service platforms on the list below, for instance, offer features for centralizing customer data and contacting customers across multiple channels such as social media and chat.

20 Best Customer Service Tools in 2022

1. Freshdesk

Freshdesk is an omnichannel customer service platform that supports businesses in engaging customers more meaningfully. Through the platform, customer service professionals can simplify the customer experience and get in touch with customers in their channel of choice. The software also offers various automation features to help customer service teams focus on more important tasks.

One of the most important features of Freshdesk is streamlined ticket management. The platform comes with a built-in Team Inbox where teams can manage incoming support tickets from multiple channels. Meanwhile, canned responses ensure that agents can quickly respond to frequently asked questions. The software can also help prioritize and route incoming tickets through a ticket field suggester feature.

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Freshdesk also ensures easier collaboration through its advanced ticket management capabilities. For instance, the platform lets users link related tickets to manage widespread, complex issues more efficiently. The software also automatically assigns tickets to agents based on keywords, current workload, or skills. The same automatic routing capabilities can be applied to emails, chats, and calls, as well.

As you consider Freshdesk pros and cons, an important factor to consider is that the platform also comes with robust analytics features. Managers can monitor real-time helpdesk performance through dashboards and curated reports. You can also schedule default and custom reports to get these delivered right to your inbox.

2. Zendesk

Zendesk is designed to be a complete customer service platform for businesses of all sizes. Through the software, agents get the tools they need to provide conversational support on a wide variety of channels. The platform also makes it easy for businesses to set up knowledge bases and self-service help centers.

Specifically, one of Zendesk’s core features is the Agent Workspace. Through this workspace, agents can provide support on multiple channels from one dashboard. This feature eliminates the need for customers to repeat information or for agents to switch between dashboards. Agents also get access to a customer interaction history and a chat visitor path so they can add context to customer interactions and resolve issues faster. Moreover, agents receive live updates about incoming messages so they can respond in real-time, whether on email, chat, messaging, or phone.

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Aside from the Agent Workspace, the platform also allows businesses to add messaging to their websites, mobile apps, and social channels. As a result, customers get direct access to customer support teams. Businesses can also set up an Answer Bot for when reps are unavailable. This AI-powered bot comes in handy for low-priority tickets. Once an issue becomes too complex, the bot turns the customer over to a rep.

Zendesk also makes it easier for businesses to set up a smart knowledge base, which is one of the most important features of customer service software. The platform’s Team Publishing feature also lets businesses use agents’ expertise for article and guides to commonly asked questions. Agents can also update the content as needed so the articles remain relevant to customer’s needs.

3. Freshservice

Freshservice works as a unified solution to help businesses streamline customer service management and IT service management (ITSM). The software serves as an integrated platform to help businesses avoid data silos and boost agent productivity. The tool’s automation capabilities also help in eliminating manual, repetitive tasks and workflows.

Classified as one of the best IT service management software, Freshservice comes with built-in service desk features. Even without in-depth training, users can reach support and create tickets through email, phone, or a dedicated self-service portal. Through AI, the platform can also automatically categorize tickets based on historical ticket data, impact, and urgency. Load-balancing and round-robin assignment options also ensure that no ticket falls through the cracks.

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To further speed up issue resolution, businesses can also build comprehensive knowledge bases for their end-users and service teams. Such knowledge bases work as self-service portals that provide in-depth solutions to common incidents. These knowledge bases also come with smart-suggest features to make it easier for service teams to find the solutions they need even without the help of technicians.

More importantly, Freshservice also provides increased visibility into the figures behind service desk performance. Users get access to pre-defined reports for incidents and changes as well as tailored reports for other relevant metrics. A data visualization engine also helps users to turn numbers into easily digestible, interactive visualizations.

4. HubSpot Service Hub

As one of the best customer service tools today, HubSpot Service Hub helps businesses build deeper relationships with customers while improving the productivity of customer service teams. The platform accomplishes this through reliable features such as a shared inbox, conversational tools, and a customer portal that supports faster issue resolution. The software also readily integrates with other HubSpot products such as Marketing Hub and Sales Hub.

To help businesses provide improved customer service levels, Service Hub provides features such as customer portals, omnichannel messaging, and live chat. Through a secure customer portal, for instance, customer service reps and customers can ensure the continuity of ticket-related conversations and work together to resolve issues.

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Meanwhile, omnichannel messaging capabilities allow reps to get in touch with customers on all channels, right from a unified inbox. This is crucial especially since the latest customer service statistics stress the importance of an omnichannel presence. The platform also supports reps in providing real-time assistance by enabling live chat on websites.

Aside from these features, HubSpot Service Hub also comes with built-in help desk and ticketing capabilities. The system automatically routes tickets to ensure that critical issues are prioritized. The help desk also ensures that all customer issues can be tracked on a single dashboard, which helps improve customer data management.

5. NICE CXone

NICE CXone is a cloud-hosted contact center software designed to support businesses in delivering a seamless, frictionless customer journey. The platform is designed to streamline entire customer service workflows, from spotting initial customer touchpoints to viewing customer service metrics to improve strategies. The software also comes with various tools that empower agents in resolving issues more efficiently.

An important feature of NICE CXone is that it allows businesses to easily meet customers wherever customer journeys begin. For instance, the platform supports conversational AI bots for chat and voice. These bots provide customers with personalized assistance and collect important information to aid agents. The technology also helps agents focus on higher-value interactions.

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Artificial intelligence also ensures that the software supports highly personalized interactions with customers. For instance, automatic contact distribution and AI routing capabilities ensure that customers are connected to the most qualified reps available. The platform also offers a predictive dialer that improves outbound call productivity by reducing hang-ups.

Lastly, NICE CXOne also provides tools that ensure reps are ready to provide improved customer service. Through performance analytics, actionable agent feedback, and coaching, managers can help reps improve key customer service skills and meet performance targets. Features such as live supervisor monitoring also help improve the effectiveness of coaching processes.

6. Vivantio

Vivantio is another customer service tool that’s more geared towards IT service management. The platform is designed as a flexible service management solution that empowers teams in providing the highest levels of customer service and improving the customer experience. To help businesses achieve these goals, the platform provides features for incident management, service automation, self service, and business intelligence.

The platform’s incident management features help service teams organize and plan their work. In this way, service teams and reps work on the right projects and requests and critical issues receive the attention they need. As an ITSM tool, Vivantio also allows businesses to customize service level agreements, whether by customer, service, or ticket type.

Vivantio also supports businesses in providing self-service options for empowering customers in issue resolution. For instance, through the platform, teams can create knowledge bases and publish guides and tutorials on a self-service portal. Customers will also be able to track the status of the tickets or service requests they submit and attach documents and screenshots to these requests if needed.

For added convenience, businesses can create multiple portals for different customer segments or even different internal teams. Roles and permissions can also be set on a user level, so the platform can be configured to allow only managers to access or monitor service requests. This ensures the security of customer data.

7. ManageEngine ServiceDesk

ManageEngine ServiceDesk is an IT help desk software that helps businesses gain improved visibility into ticketing workflows and streamline the delivery of efficient customer service. The platform comes with various features, including incident management and IT problem management. The platform also comes with built-in service catalogs to help businesses offer improved SLAs and expand their service offerings.

As a help desk software, many of ManageEngine ServiceDesk’s features focus on incident management. For instance, the platform provides customers or end-users various options to create tickets: a self-service portal, email, or phone calls. Managers and reps can easily track incidents, from creation to completion, by using custom statuses if needed. The platform can also automatically assign tickets to technicians or groups based on expertise to ensure timely issue resolution.

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The platform also helps businesses provide better service availability through a problem management module. Technicians and reps can be more proactive in identifying and fixing issues before users report problems. Through the module, teams can also document symptoms and study the impact of IT problems to minimize risk.

Moreover, ManageEngine ServiceDesk makes it easier for businesses to improve their catalog of IT and business services. Teams can use a drag-and-drop feature to create templates for different services. Workflows, approval processes, and tasks can also be associated with services to help boost the productivity of service desk technicians.

8. Vision Helpdesk

Vision Helpdesk is a comprehensive help desk platform designed to help businesses provide improved customer support and properly manage IT resources. With its features, the software allows businesses to deliver 360-degree customer service by responding to incident or service requests. The software also centralizes all customer interactions in one platform for easier data management.

One of the most important features of Vision Helpdesk is that it serves as a multi-channel help desk tool. Through the software, requests made through email, phone, chat, or social media channels can be automatically converted into requests on one centralized help desk. The platform also comes with various automation capabilities, making it easier for businesses to apply SLA rules to tickets, automatically escalate tickets, and configure round robin settings to balance workloads for technicians and reps.

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Additionally, Vision Helpdesk also comes with a private collaboration tool to facilitate efficient communication among reps. Through this collaboration tool, agents can share files and presentations and collaborate on various ticket issues. Agents can also exchange information without worrying about compromising customers’ privacy and data safety.

Aside from help desk software, Vision Helpdesk also offers satellite help desk and service desk capabilities. Through satellite help desks, businesses can provide customer support help desk services to multiple companies or brands through one platform. Meanwhile, with a service desk, businesses can benefit from features like knowledge management, release management, and service catalogs.

9. LiveAgent

LiveAgent is an award-winning customer service tool that provides businesses with help desk and ticketing capabilities, along with cloud phone support and live chat widgets. Aside from a shared company inbox and unlimited ticket history browsing, this platform offers over 180 help desk features and nearly 200 integrations. All these capabilities help boost agent productivity and encourage customer loyalty.

The platform provides a wide variety of robust ticketing features wrapped in an intuitive interface. Through the software, businesses can combine requests from channels such as email, chat, calls, and social media into one platform. These requests can also be automatically converted into tickets and distributed to the right customer service rep for easier ticket management. Tickets can also be viewed through various filters, including by status, tags, or source.

In addition to help desk features, LiveAgent also comes with live chat capabilities. The platform provides a live chat widget that makes it easier for agents to get in touch with website visitors and improve customer engagement. These widgets also allow customer service teams to respond to customer queries in real-time. The widgets’ chat buttons and windows can also be customized to fit company branding.

Aside from help desk and live chat features, LiveAgent also provides built-in call center capabilities. These capabilities include smart call routing, unlimited recording, and HD video calls. The software also offers IVR features and supports call-back requests. Furthermore, agents have the option to connect unlimited call devices and phone numbers and route incoming calls to personal devices.

1o. ConnectWise Automate

ConnectWise Automate is designed as a remote monitoring and management tool and ITSM software that supports small to medium IT teams. With the platform’s features, IT teams get all the tools they need to provide improved service to end-users. In this way, businesses can also maximize their ITSP revenue streams and help IT teams focus on higher-value projects to improve ROI as well.

For instance, one of the most important features of ConnectWise Automate focuses on the remote monitoring of end-user or client endpoints, including computers and networks. The platform comes with all the tools IT teams need for workflows such as remote session auditing, agent and agentless monitoring, and virtual machine monitoring. The platform also serves as a centralized source of remote session data, including details on session duration and team members who participated in the remote connection.

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Moreover, the platform offers various features for IT automation. For instance, the software comes with out-of-the-box script functions and other features for streamlining desktop and server management. The software also lets users automatically delegate administrative tasks such as running SQL queries, generating passwords, and emailing reports.

The platform also helps IT teams improve the security of clients’ managed networks through features such as asset discovery. Through the asset discovery feature, IT professionals can easily scan and catalog connected assets and devices through a single dashboard. The platform can also help automate agent deployment to endpoints, if needed.

11. CloudTalk

CloudTalk is a cloud-hosted contact center software designed to help businesses deliver improved customer service. The platform also offers over 160 national phone numbers, so it can help small and medium businesses grow their reach beyond local territories. The software also readily integrates with a wide variety of third-party applications, including CRM platforms and help desk tools. These integrations ensure that agents can easily access customer data to be more productive.

As a contact center software and also one of the best customer service tools around, CloudTalk comes with various advanced call center capabilities. For instance, through the software, users can set up customized call queues and configure rules for incoming calls. These rules help ensure that calls are routed to the right group. The platform also records all calls it facilitates and makes these recordings available for listening through internet browsers.

For added convenience, the platform gives businesses the choice to use a variety of numbers. For instance, businesses can choose to use green toll-free 0800 numbers or 0850 blue numbers so customers can contact the business for free or at low rates. Businesses can also use international numbers, local phone numbers, or even short numbers that are easier for customers to remember.

Other advanced contact center features include intelligent call routing, which ensures calls are always routed to the right agent. This call routing feature takes into consideration agents’ skill levels and workloads, so customers always get the support they need from agents. You can also set up VIP queues so calls from important customers are prioritized.

12. Wix Answers

Wix Answers works as a unified help desk solution that centralizes various customer support channels into one platform. Its modern, intuitive interface and extensive selection of features make Wix Answers a great choice for support teams that regularly handle a high amount of users on different channels. With the platform, agents can manage support requests from a single workspace and improve their productivity.

For instance, an important feature of the platform is that it provides access to a one-tab workspace. This workspace contains all the information and tools that agents need to efficiently respond to customers’ queries and drive customer satisfaction. This workspace also lets agents manage all support requests from a single location. This ensures that all tickets get the attention they need. Agent-customer interactions can also be viewed on convenient timelines so agents can easily track ticket history.

Moreover, Wix Answers helps reduce call volume by allowing businesses to create knowledge bases. Through these self-service centers, businesses can publish articles, guides, and other content to help customers resolve issues on their own. Managers will also be able to view which team members are working on articles. Users can also add a help widget anywhere on their website. This widget provides customers with access to articles in the knowledge base.

The platform also comes with various features for supporting live chat between agents and customers. Through the software, chats can be automatically routed to support agents based on factors such as customer location, subject, and time. This feature ensures that agents can resolve customer issues as quickly as possible.

13. Genesys Cloud

Genesys Cloud is a cloud-hosted contact center software that provides agents and customers with a unified experience across multiple channels, including chat, email, phone, text, and social media. To achieve this, the platform provides a wide variety of features, including voice services, artificial intelligence, and workforce management capabilities. For added convenience, the system also comes with pre-built integrations with CRM systems and other third-party productivity tools.

The platform allows users to set up various self-service options for their customers. For instance, Genesys Cloud comes with speech-enabled interactive voice response features. The IVR system is powered by natural language understanding technology and multilingual capabilities. In this way, customers can interact with the system in the way that feels most natural to them. AI-powered voicebots and chatbots also provide customers with 24/7 self-service assistance.

Moreover, the platform helps users streamline support workflows on various channels. Through Genesys Purecloud, agents can use live chat to resolve customer issues in real-time and offer assistance even before customers ask for it. Users can also set up email auto-responses and configure email routing rules based on agent workloads and content analysis. Aside from email and chat, agents can also interact with customers on social media right from the platform.

Businesses can also monitor key customer service metrics in real-time through dashboards. These dashboards display up-to-the-second analytics on metrics such as resolution rates, customer satisfaction, and service levels, while historical reporting allows users to add context to customer service performance.

14. Velaro

Velaro serves as an enterprise-grade live chat software that helps businesses improve engagement with customers. With the software, businesses can easily integrate live chat into their customer service workflows. As a result, customers get a direct line of communication to support agents. The platform is also designed to be flexible, users have the option to take advantage of every advanced capability the software offers or just the features they need.

With Velaro, users can open chats with customer service agents with just a few clicks. The convenience of this click-to-chat feature goes a long way in improving customer satisfaction and increasing the likelihood of conversion. These click-to-chat windows and their calls to action are also completely customizable to ensure consistent branding.

To help businesses deliver improved customer service, the platform also provides a 360-degree view of every website visitor. Agents will be able to view the visitor’s page history as well as how they got to the website. Chat history also becomes accessible to agents, making it easier to add context to customer interactions and speeding up issue resolution.

Like many of the customer service tools on this list, Velaro also comes with skills-based chat routing capabilities. As a result, the right questions are always routed to agents with the appropriate skill level. Users can also set up multiple customer service tiers to more finely control the flow of chats through a customer service team. These tiers can also come in handy in escalating chats or setting up overflow plans for situations where agents are unavailable.

15. Squaretalk

Squaretalk provides an ecosystem of communications products designed to help businesses build better connections with customers. The platform offers four main modules or products—Axiom, Matrix, Express, and Lynx—and provides all the tools a business needs to streamline customer service processes and build customized workflows.

For instance, Axiom is designed to be a flexible, efficient contact center software for delivering highly personalized customer service. The software comes with an IVR system and automatic call distribution features so calls can be routed to the right agents based on factors such as language, skill, and location. Routing rules can also be based on customer-specific data such as customer lifetime value and customer tier. All these rules ensure that customer issues are resolved efficiently, in a timely manner.

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Meanwhile, Matrix works as a cloud-based predictive dialer powered by artificial intelligence. The software predicts which contacts are most likely to answer calls and pairs these contacts with the support agent that can best respond to customer queries. The software also comes with intelligent features for targeting and scoring leads from sources like affiliate campaigns, third-party vendors, or PPC campaigns.

On the other hand, Express allows users to send SMS to customers whenever they complete an action, like placing an order or booking an appointment. These messages can be sent consistently from one number, whether a local or international number. For added convenience, customers will also be able to interact with these messages for workflows like confirming appointments or agreeing to terms and conditions.

16. Salesforce Service Cloud

Salesforce Service Cloud helps ensure that businesses deliver customer service that’s integrated across all channels. The platform also makes it easy for businesses to connect with customers through advanced messaging features and chatbots. Users can also set up self-service help centers and communities to speed up issue resolution.

The platform helps businesses provide consistent support through channels that their customers most often use. Users can automate routine requests on SMS, WhatsApp, and even Facebook Messenger through Einstein Bots. Customer service professionals can also be more proactive in customer engagement through chatbots. Triggers for these chatbots include customers’ activities on your website, so you can provide context to customer interactions.

For added convenience, Salesforce Service Cloud also enables businesses to offer AI-powered customer service. AI-powered chatbots, for instance, guide customers through more complex processes like checking claims and modifying orders. The software also provides contextual, personalized recommendations for the next best actions to take.

Lastly, Salesforce Service Cloud makes it easier for businesses to provide self-service options, like a self-service help center and personalized help centers and communities. These self-service options empower customers to resolve requests themselves, which help ensure that issues are resolved in less time.

17. TeamSupport

TeamSupport is a comprehensive customer support suite made especially for B2B companies. As a result, TeamSupport supports agents in handling low-volume but high-complexity issues while ensuring that they can easily collaborate with stakeholders. Customer support teams can also work with external departments such as sales and marketing to ensure streamlined workflows across the organization.

For instance, a core feature of TeamSupport is that it offers a wide range of features for customer management and ticket management With the platform, users can collect all client interactions in one system. This feature allows agents to gain deeper insights into customer sentiments to identify and resolve critical issues. The platform also collects information on customers’ ticket history, so businesses can easily identify which clients have submitted to most requests or tickets to your customer support team.

TeamSupport’s help desk ticket management system also helps agents become more productive. The software automates repetitive, manual processes so agents can focus on higher-value tasks like engaging customers. Agents also get the ability to talk to customers through the platform’s web-based help desk interface, so there’s no need to waste time switching between windows.

Moreover, the platform comes with functionalities for setting up user groups. Tickets can be automatically assigned to user groups depending on ticket type, keywords, or conversations. The software also comes with various task management capabilities to ensure more efficient collaboration between individual users and teams.

18. Jira Service Desk

A part of Jira Service Management, Jira Service Desk is one of the better-known platforms for help desk and service desk functionalities. Through the software, businesses can easily set up efficient service desks to support agents in providing quick fixes to customer issues and ensure that requests are properly organized and prioritized. The platform also improves collaboration not only within IT teams but also among different departments such as operations and customer support.

For instance, Jira Service Desk is designed to improve the productivity of customer support and IT teams. The platform allows businesses to set up various service desks to meet the unique needs of different teams. You can also create intuitive knowledge bases and self-service portals to empower agents and customers in quickly finding solutions to issues.

More importantly, Jira Service Desk offers advanced service desk features for customer service and IT support teams. The platform enables conversational ticketing to make it easier for agents to collaborate on Slack and gain access to detailed customer information on the service desk. Users can also ensure proper triage and routing for incoming tickets and requests by applying queueing and SLA rules.

For added convenience, the platform also comes with a built-in tool for collecting customer feedback. In this way, businesses can easily gain insights into service desk performance and customer satisfaction. Easily digestible reports and dashboards also help support teams track relevant performance metrics.

19. Samanage

Samanage, which was acquired in 2019 by Solarwinds, is another popular service desk and ITSM software. This platform comes with enterprise-ready features such as self-service portals, knowledge bases, and SLA management. The software also allows businesses to set up service catalogs to streamline service request and fulfillment workflows.

Incident management comprises an important part of the platform’s many capabilities. The platform simplifies ticketing systems and ensures the efficient management of tickets from multiple channels such as email, phone calls, chat, and mobile apps. Samanage is also flexible enough to allow employees to submit tickets wherever they are, whether they’re at the office or working on the go.

Through this help desk software, companies also ensure that the service request becomes as smooth and productive as possible. For instance, a self-service portal allows employees to easily submit requests and track the progress of tickets. The portal also stores all information technicians need to promptly fulfill requests. Meanwhile, additional resources such as knowledge bases also make it easier for employees and customers to resolve issues on their own.

Moreover, Samanage comes with various asset management features. These features work for both software and hardware assets, so IT teams can easily monitor devices and programs used within the organization.

20. vcita

vcita is a business management and customer service tool designed specifically for service providers, such as SMBs and professionals such as accountants, consultants, and photographers. With vcita, these professionals also get a platform for managing clients and calendars, online scheduling, and billing and invoicing.

Core features of the platform include an online client portal. Through this user-friendly online portal, clients can view upcoming appointments, pay bills, and share files online if needed. Customers also get a direct line to professionals through this online portal, which ensures more efficient communication. For added convenience, the client portal’s logo and colors can also be customized to match company branding.

To help deliver improved customer service, vcita also allows users to set up an intuitive online scheduler. Through this scheduler, professionals can display available dates and services and clients can book appointments on their own. Clients can also purchase package deals for services and get paid immediately for these purchases. The platform also lets clients schedule appointments on various channels, including Facebook, websites, and landing pages.

Furthermore, vcita comes with various contact management features. The platform collects and stores data on customers and leads in a single system to streamline data management. Professionals also get a bird’s eye view of client history, including invoices, payments, conversations, and appointments.

What is the best customer service tool for your business?

Customer service tools serve as valuable additions to any company’s tech stack, but it can be challenging to find the right software for your organization’s needs. Like we said earlier, you won’t find a shortage of customer service platforms aimed at helping businesses deliver the best possible experience to customers.

Most of the tools on this list offer similar capabilities, including ticket management, self-service portals, and streamlined communication and collaboration. While many of these tools can be used for general customer service needs, others are also geared towards ITSM and facilitate more technical workflows such as asset management and change management. It’s all a matter of finding a customer service tool that best fits your organization’s specific requirements.

If you’re also interested in other tools for improving business productivity, check out our guide to the best marketing tools for 2022.

By Louie Andre

B2B & SaaS market analyst and senior writer for FinancesOnline. He is most interested in project management solutions, believing all businesses are a work in progress. From pitch deck to exit strategy, he is no stranger to project business hiccups and essentials. He has been involved in a few internet startups including a digital route planner for a triple A affiliate. His advice to vendors and users alike? "Think of benefits, not features."