Best help desk ticketing system software

Choosing the best ticketing system with features that fit your needs can set your teams up to deliver excellent support—so much so that employees and customers will feel like they won an exclusive, one-way ticket to customer service paradise.

Our guide can help you compare the best ticketing systems and learn more about the tools—like automatic ticket creation, intelligent routing, and AI-powered bots—that can streamline your workflows and supercharge your employee and customer service software. Buckle up and get ready to embark on your ticketing system adventure.

• What is a ticketing system?
• Different types of ticketing systems
• A comparison chart of top help desk ticketing software
• An overview of the 17 best ticketing system software
• Key features of help desk ticketing software
• What are the benefits of a help desk ticketing system?
• Best practices for ticketing software
• How are different industries utilizing ticketing software?
• How to implement help desk ticketing software
• How to choose the right ticket software for your business
• Frequently asked questions
• Try our ticketing system for free

A ticketing system is a software tool businesses use to track, manage, and organize service requests and issues from customers, employees, or internal teams.

Ticketing systems are primarily used in customer service but have applications across departments such as IT and HR. When a user submits a support request or reports a problem, the system generates a ticket that explains the issue and includes relevant information and context. But it can—and should—do so much more.

With the right ticketing software, support teams can:

• Provide support across modern service channels from one location, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, live chat, email, or the phone.
• Personalize conversations at scale.
• Connect it with other systems and software to streamline data.
• Automate workflows.
• Make better business decisions with analytics and reporting.
• Collaborate more easily.
• Collect customer feedback.
• Utilize AI-powered tools like AI chatbots, knowledge management systems, and generative AI.

You might also hear ticketing systems referred to as ticketing software, ticketing support, ticketing management systems, service desk ticketing systems, help desk ticketing systems, and more. The phrasing can vary across industries and organizations.

There are several types of ticketing systems, which you can broadly categorize based on their functionality and the specific needs they address:

• Customer service desk: This is the classic ticketing system for managing customer support inquiries. It allows customers to submit requests through various channels, routes them to the right agent, and tracks progress toward resolution.
• IT help desks: This system focuses on internal support requests from employees. It tackles software, hardware, network problems, or password reset issues, streamlining employee tech support.
• Help desk ticketing systems: Help desk systems are similar to customer support systems but are often more focused on internal support within organizations. They provide tools for managing employee requests, technical issues, and general inquiries.
• Issue tracking systems: These are specialized for tracking and managing bugs, defects, and other issues, generally for software development purposes. They help development teams identify, prioritize, and resolve issues throughout the software lifecycle.

Each type of ticketing system is tailored to specific organizational needs, ensuring efficient and effective management of various requests and issues.

Use the key information provided in this chart to familiarize yourself with these ticketing system providers.

Software	Starting price	Free trial	Key features
Zendesk	$19 per agent/month (billed annually)	14 days	Generative AI bots Omnichannel support Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management AI-powered self-service and knowledge base Workforce management and quality assurance
Zoho Desk	$0 per month (limited features)	15 days	Generative AI bots Omnichannel support Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
Freshdesk	$0 per month (10 agents)	14 days	Generative AI bots Omnichannel support Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
HappyFox	$9 per agent/month (billed annually)	Available	Generative AI bots Omnichannel support Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management AI-powered self-service and knowledge base Workforce management
Help Scout	$22 per user/month (billed annually)	15 days	Generative AI bots Omnichannel support Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting and analytics AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
LiveAgent	$0 per month (limited features)	14 and 30 days	Generative AI bots Omnichannel support Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
KB Support	$74 per year	Unavailable	Ticket management Workflow automation SLA management Knowledge base
Vision Helpdesk	$12 per agent/month (billed annually)	30 days	Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management Self-service and knowledge base
HubSpot Service Hub	$0 per month (limited features)	Unavailable	Generative AI bots Omnichannel support Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
Front	$19 per seat/month (billed annually)	Seven days	Generative AI bots Omnichannel support Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management AI-powered self-service and knowledge base Quality assurance
AzureDesk	$33 per month	14 days	Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting and analytics Self-service and knowledge base
SupportBee	$13 per user/month (billed annually)	14 days	Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting and analytics Self-service and knowledge base
Awesome Support	$0 per month	Unavailable	Generative AI bots Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management Self-service and knowledge base
TeamSupport	$29 per agent/month	Unavailable	Generative AI bots Omnichannel support Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
Jira Service Management	$0 per month (3 agents)	Seven days	Generative AI bots Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
Mojo Helpdesk	$12.6 per agent/month (billed annually)	21 days	Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management Self-service and knowledge base
Hiver	$19 per user/month (billed annually)	Seven days	Generative AI bots Ticket management Workflow automation Reporting, analytics, and SLA management Self-service and knowledge base

Let's break down 17 help desk ticketing software options. Our roundup provides an overview of features, pricing, and free trial information.

1. Zendesk

Zendesk offers an AI-powered ticketing system that can adapt to any use case—including IT, customer service, and HR—and scale to growing business demands. It is also intuitively designed for ease of use to maximize efficiency.

Pre-trained on billions of real support conversations, Zendesk AI is deeply integrated into all aspects of the ticketing system, including the industry-leading Zendesk Agent Workspace. This unified view empowers agents to resolve issues across channels efficiently, providing them with AI-powered tools to enhance the speed and quality of their replies. For example, the Zendesk agent copilot provides real-time suggestions, helping agents resolve customer issues more effectively. It learns from interactions, becoming increasingly autonomous in handling high-volume, routine tasks like order cancellations and status updates without human intervention.

AI agents support customers around the clock, resolving complex issues while providing a personalized experience. Workflow optimization features automatically escalate priority tickets and direct them to the right agent every time.

Also AI-powered, Zendesk quality assurance software automatically scores every customer interaction, identifies areas for improvement, flags customers at risk of churn, and pinpoints where your team excels in real-time.

Finally, data security and privacy controls make our ticketing system a safe and trusted platform.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Unified omnichannel experience
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
• Workforce management and quality assurance
• AI agents
• Agent copilot
• Routing and tagging
• 1,500+ apps and integrations
• Ticket collaboration
• Intelligent routing and triage
• Security and compliance

Pricing: Plans start at $19 per agent/month, billed annually. A 14-day free trial is available.

Explore more Zendesk pricing plans.

Why do users like Zendesk software?

Businesses love Zendesk because it is purpose-built to handle the unique demands of customer support teams. It offers a comprehensive suite of omnichannel ticketing, AI, and workforce management tools, providing a scalable solution that grows with the business. The hospitality loyalty program Accor Plus turned to Zendesk to help it optimize its help center. After implementing AI agents and an omnichannel ticketing system, Accor Plus improved its response time by over 352 percent and its resolution time by 220 percent.

2. Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk’s ticket management system helps customer-facing support teams track requests. It offers omnichannel support, allowing customers to connect with agents via email, social media, live chat, telephony, web form, or social messaging apps. Zoho Desk supports third-party apps and integrates easiest with its suite of native products. Add-ons include Zoho Translate, BugTracker, and Cliq to fill gaps in Zoho Desk functionality.

Collaboration tools like team feeds, @mentions, and shared tickets enable support agents to collaborate on issues to avoid transfers and escalations. Teams can also manage service level agreements within Zoho Desk, so customer support adheres to agreed-upon response times. Zia, Zoho Desk’s AI assistant, provides features like sentiment analysis, anomaly detection, and automated responses.

Other features of Zoho Desk’s customer service ticketing systems include reporting and analytics tools, escalations, and automated workflows. Teams can set automation rules based on pre-defined criteria to handle basic ticket management tasks. Users can also manage multiple help centers with knowledge bases, FAQs, and communities for different brands. Additionally, the CRM integration feeds customer information to the ticketing system.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Omnichannel support
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• AI-powered self-service and knowledge base

Pricing: Paid plans start at $7 per user/month, billed annually. A free plan and a 15-day free trial are available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Zoho Desk integrates with Zendesk and how Zendesk vs. Zoho compare.

Why do users like Zoho Desk software?

Users like that Zoho Desk integrates with social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. This allows businesses to convert social media interactions into tickets, organize them, and assign them to agents.

3. Freshdesk

Freshdesk offers an AI-powered help desk ticket system that helps teams manage and resolve customer requests. The software consolidates all communications into a shared inbox so teams can tag and work on tickets together. Collision detection can prevent multiple agents from unknowingly working on the same ticket.

Additionally, it can automatically convert incoming customer support requests into tickets and route them to the right team or agent. Freshdesk allows you to automate tasks like outbound ticket notifications with status updates, auto triage, and hourly ticket scans to check for action items. The ticketing system can detect when a customer replies to a closed ticket with a thank you message to avoid unnecessarily reopening it.

However, Freshdesk has been described as having limited analytics and requires data to be exported in PDF formats. It also uses different interfaces for ticketing, phone, and chat, which means agents must toggle between each app instead of working from a centralized workspace, creating a disjointed experience for agents.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Omnichannel support
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• AI-powered self-service and knowledge base

Pricing: Paid plans start at $15 per agent/month, billed annually. A free plan and a 14-day free trial are available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Zendesk vs. Freshdesk compare.

Why do users like Freshdesk software?

Freshdesk users can avoid subscribing to monthly plans for occasional users by purchasing day passes. Starting at $2 per day, supplemental agents can log into the system during periods of high ticket volume or when the department is short-staffed.

4. HappyFox

HappyFox is a cloud-based CRM that provides help desk ticketing solutions for support teams. Features include custom ticket queues, ticket tagging, custom forms, sorting functions by category, and self-service options (like knowledge base articles and FAQs). The ticketing system can automatically assign tickets to specific agents based on expertise or workload, preventing more than one agent from duplicating work on the same ticket.

Additionally, the software allows for automated actions based on pre-defined rules. For instance, HappyFox can automatically send an email confirmation upon receiving a ticket or route certain inquiries to the most appropriate department. Other capabilities include applying bulk actions to related tickets, search and filter options to find tickets quickly, and prewritten replies for immediate communication with the customer.

Inflow reports offer insights into customer support volume and trends, allowing businesses to identify peak periods and adjust staffing accordingly. Furthermore, the software integrates work schedule management features, enabling supervisors to create and assign work schedules for support agents. HappyFox also allows businesses to incorporate customer satisfaction surveys to gather feedback on the quality of support interactions.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Omnichannel support
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
• Workforce management

Pricing: Plans start at $9 per agent/month, billed annually. A free trial is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how HappyFox integrates with Zendesk.

Why do users like HappyFox software?

Users like the HappyFox Smart Rules features that allow them to create triggers and automate their workflows. Agents can also add ticket updates that keep teams informed of their progress.

5. Help Scout

Help Scout provides ticket management tools for support teams. Its shared inboxes allow teams to collaborate on issues and manage customer requests from a centralized location. Users can respond to customers with customizable pre-written templates, which are best for answering frequently asked questions. Proactive messaging enables businesses to contact customers at specific points in their journey, like directing them to the next steps during onboarding.

Help Scout AI tools can summarize long email threads, condensing the context for support agents. AI can draft replies for agents that pull information from knowledge base articles and previous conversations.

In addition to its help desk ticket software, Help Scout offers reporting and analytics dashboards and built-in knowledge bases for self-service options. The analytics tools provide reporting on email productivity and agent response times. Admins can add a level of security to the help center, limiting access to authorized users or making it public.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Omnichannel support
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting and analytics
• AI-powered self-service and knowledge base

Pricing: Plans start at $22 per user/month, billed annually. A 15-day free trial is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Zendesk vs. Help Scout compare.

Why do users like Help Scout software?

Many Help Scout customers use the software for its knowledge management tools. Businesses can post help documentation for their customers and internal team members to reference in lieu of asking for assistance.

6. LiveAgent

LiveAgent’s ticketing system for customer service provides a universal inbox for channels like email, social media, and phone. Users can merge tickets that refer to the same issue into a single ticket. Or, users can split a complicated ticket so multiple people can work on different action items simultaneously. LiveAgent’s help desk ticketing system has native integrations for several apps support teams commonly use.

Other features from LiveAgent include basic reporting, agent collision detection, and a seven-day ticket history. Users can also set time rules that perform actions at specific intervals, like clearing spam tickets after 30 days or sending follow-up messages to no-replies.

LiveAgent also has live chat features like a real-time typing view, website monitoring for chat engagement, and proactive chat invitations based on active agent availability. The help desk ticket system automatically converts messages from live chat into support tickets and features internal tickets and notes to help with collaboration. Agents can pause routing tickets to them when they take breaks.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Omnichannel support
• Ticket management

• Workflow automation

• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management

• AI-powered self-service and knowledge base

• Ticket notes

Pricing: Paid plans start at $9 per month, billed annually. A free plan and 14- and 30-day free trials are available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Zendesk vs. LiveAgent compare.

Why do users like LiveAgent software?

Some users are drawn to LiveAgent for its live chat tools. Teams can communicate across multiple channels in real time, customize the chat widget layout, and access chat history.

7. KB Support

KB Support is a WordPress-friendly help desk ticket system for managing support requests and information access. Commonly used in the e-commerce and retail industry, KB Support’s ticketing system for small businesses offers guest tickets that allow anyone to submit inquiries without needing an account.

This basic ticketing system has customizable forms that gather specific details from customers. It also features extensions for custom email signatures, reply approvals, custom ticket statuses, preset replies, and a WooCommerce integration. Managers can also control access to tickets by setting agent permissions.

Aside from its ticketing features, KB Support also has a built-in knowledge base you can use to provide self-service options for your customers. You can even restrict certain articles for logged-in users only. Additionally, automated ticket assignment allows managers to control agent workloads based on the number of tickets already in their name. The SLA tracker lets teams monitor response times and resolution rates.

Features:

• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• SLA management
• Knowledge base
• Guest tickets
• Agent permissions

Pricing: Plans start at $74 per year.

Why do users like KB Support software?

KB Support users like that the software was purpose-built for WordPress, allowing them to add the plugin to their site without knowing how to code.

8. Vision Helpdesk

Vision Helpdesk is a cloud-based help desk ticketing system. It enables teams to automate ticket management with rule-based criteria and consolidate conversations across channels. The help desk ticketing software categorizes tickets in a tree structure and allows users to create custom views to meet agent preferences.

Vision Helpdesk users can establish rules to manage various aspects of the ticket lifecycle, such as defining SLAs and setting target response and resolution time frames. Additionally, businesses can automate escalation rules to trigger specific actions, like notifying managers or changing ticket priority. Ticket assignment can also be automated using a round-robin method, distributing the workload evenly among support agents.

The software incorporates game-like elements such as points, badges, and leaderboards to incentivize agent performance. Ticket rating can contribute to this by allowing customers to provide feedback on their support experience by reporting the quality of the interaction with the agent who resolved their ticket. As an alternative to creating a ticket, the software provides self-service features like community forums, allowing customers to connect with each other and share knowledge.

Features:

• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• Self-service and knowledge base
• Gamification
• Community forums

Pricing: Plans start at $12 per agent/month, billed annually. A 30-day free trial is available.

Why do users like Vision Helpdesk software?

Vision Helpdesk users report being pleased with the length of the free trial that allowed them to test the software and become acquainted with it before making a purchase.

9. HubSpot Service Hub

HubSpot provides customer ticket system software through its Service Hub product. In addition to providing help desk functionality, Service Hub helps customer service agents prioritize tickets, automate workflows, and provide support across different service channels. HubSpot is powered by its CRM database, adding customer history, product details, preferences, and more to tickets.

Its ticketing tools also feature conversational bots, live chat messaging, and customer self-service portals. Businesses can change the portal to match brand guidelines like colors, logos, and fonts. Agents can also use the call tracking software to remind them when they need to make or follow up on a call, plus log the outcomes of their conversations.

The software offers native integrations with its line of HubSpot products and hosts a marketplace of third-party integrations. The mobile app gives users access to support tickets while away from their desks, letting them monitor social media and SLAs. HubSpot does offer a limited free plan with a support ticket system, custom fields, shared inboxes, reporting, and other CRM features.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Omnichannel support
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• AI-powered self-service and knowledge base

Pricing: Paid plans start at $15 per seat/month, billed annually. A free plan is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how HubSpot integrates with Zendesk and how Zendesk vs. HubSpot compare.

Why do users like HubSpot Service Hub software?

HubSpot users like to use analytics to track data from various performance metrics—both in real-time and scheduled reports.

10. Front

Through its shared email inbox, Front’s help desk ticket systems connect your customer service team. A range of companies, from startups to e-commerce and SaaS businesses, use Front to manage their customers’ experience. Its automated workflows let businesses prioritize and manage conversations and tickets across all channels, including email, chat, social media, and SMS.

The shared inbox lets multiple agents work together in the same inbox so inquiries can be addressed and handed off between team members. Front allows agents to collaborate on tickets before responding to customers. The software features a shared draft tool that lets the entire team monitor a ticket’s progress throughout its lifecycle, even when the ticket gets assigned to a single agent.

Teams can save pre-written templates, responses, and greetings to promote consistent customer messaging. AI can summarize tickets for agents and write responses. Front has a number of pre-built integrations, but it also allows developers to build their own to serve unique team needs. These custom integrations also have the option to be shared publicly with the Front community.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Omnichannel support
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
• Quality assurance
• Core API

Pricing: Plans start at $19 per seat/month, billed annually. A seven-day free trial is available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Zendesk vs. Front compare.

Why do users like Front software?

Teams like that Front provides tools that let them collaborate on tickets, stay updated on progress, and leave comments on emails.

11. AzureDesk

The AzureDesk help desk ticketing system features reporting and analytics, ticket management, knowledge base management, and email-to-ticket conversion. The system allows you to use unlimited email addresses so users can convert emails from any address into a support ticket. And agents can create unique signatures that are automatically added to emails.

It helps agents with ticketing support, allowing your teams to categorize issues and route tickets. The system offers features like assigning tickets to specific agents based on expertise or workload and prioritizing urgent issues. Agents can discuss solutions and share images without involving the customer through private notes. Additionally, internal tags allow agents to categorize tickets with relevant keywords to filter within the system later. The search function can pull results from customer and agent comments.

AzureDesk incorporates a self-service portal and knowledge base so customers can find solutions themselves in articles, FAQs, or troubleshooting guides. The software also offers reporting tools that provide valuable insights into team performance, customer satisfaction metrics, and overall support effectiveness. The software also supports pre-built and third-party customer service integrations and apps.

Features:

• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting and analytics
• Self-service and knowledge base
• Multilingual support
• Private notes

Pricing: Plans start at $33 per month. A 14-day free trial is available.

Why do users like AzureDesk software?

AzureDesk users appreciate that the system integrates with other software, such as Microsoft and email tools.

12. SupportBee

SupportBee’s ticketing system software can help customer service teams manage issues and ticketing processes. SupportBee’s centralized workspace facilitates multichannel support and enables agents to collaborate and assign ticket requests. It works like a shared email inbox that automates workflows and allows private comments. It also has a private inbox view so individual agents can see their action items.

The SupportBee customer portal allows customers to submit and track their support requests, view past conversations, and access relevant knowledge base articles. Encryption tools, role-based access controls, and two-factor authentication protect their data. The software includes an audit trail that tracks all actions taken within the ticketing system, creating a chronological record of every message sent, edited, or deleted.

SupportBee’s ticket management software includes unlimited tickets and inboxes. Agents can use snippets—or pre-written text—to insert common information into their replies. Reporting features offer ticket insights and metrics on agent production and efficiency. SupportBee supports integrations with third-party applications, enabling you to customize your workflow, project management, and notification capabilities.

Features:

• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting and analytics
• Self-service and knowledge base
• Response snippets
• Security tools

Pricing: Plans start at $13 per user/month, billed annually. A 14-day free trial is available.

Why do users like SupportBee software?

SupportBee users can control access to tickets at the organizational and individual levels, allowing them to collaborate on issues and protect sensitive information.

13. Awesome Support

Awesome Support is a customer support ticketing system plugin for WordPress. It logs interactions so agents can view the complete ticket history. Users can set up triggers that automatically email ticket updates to customers. Users can also configure ticket automation to assign and route tickets to the right agent to handle a request.

Businesses can set up paid support contracts. If the customer has exceeded their ticket allowance, the system will direct them to purchase additional support. The notification system can alert agents when new tickets are assigned or when agents make replies. Customers can also opt-in for email notifications about the status of their tickets. Awesome Support also allows translating content to localize it for different customer segments.

The ticketing software features ticket forms with customizable fields that allow you to display the key information your agents need to support the customer. Awesome Support offers a free version with limited features and customizable plans with a library of add-ons so you can tailor your ticketing system.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• Self-service and knowledge base

Pricing: Paid plans start at $149 per year. A free plan is available.

Why do users like Awesome Support software?

Awesome Support users benefit from being able to charge their customers for support in monthly, yearly, and quarterly subscriptions. Customers can also purchase one-time tokens to resolve pressing issues.

14. TeamSupport

TeamSupport is a customer support ticketing software solution for companies serving B2B technology customers. In addition to functioning as a ticketing management system, TeamSupport has reporting and analytics features, including pre-built analytics. Teams can use the Customer Distress Index to evaluate if a customer is satisfied or at risk of churning. Plus, teams can send customer satisfaction surveys to follow up after tickets have closed.

The ticketing tool allows you to create your own basic ticket management page with customizable fields. The software’s omnichannel functionality also allows agents to create customer call logs and auto-direct voicemails to tickets. AI can summarize issues into bullet points and adjust the tone of a response, making it more conversational or professional.

TeamSupport also offers external and internal knowledge base functionality and a customer forum. The software also has features like automatic knowledge base article suggestions relevant to a customer’s issue and a product database that tracks customer data and product records to gain insights.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Omnichannel support
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
• Inventory management

Pricing: Plans start at $29 per agent/month.

Why do users like TeamSupport software?

Teams like to use TeamSupport because it enables them to manage customer tickets as well as their inventory in one place. This allows companies in industries like manufacturing and retail to avoid data silos.

15. Jira Service Management

Jira Service Management features ticketing software that helps teams meet specific business needs. Jira provides teams with pre-built templates, ticket tools, and automation options that work right out of the box. Employees can use responsive forms that only include relevant fields based on previous inputs. A single view allows teams to keep track of customer requests and conversations across communication channels.

In addition to traditional request tickets, teams can also manage incidents, problems, and system changes. For instance, teams can receive change requests, send them through approval workflows, create change plans, and schedule them in a shared calendar. Jira also provides automated risk assessments that gauge low and high-risk changes so teams can properly assess their potential impact.

Jira’s ticket system software also enables you to build and manage a knowledge base. The reporting software surfaces metrics for managers, while automation options help eliminate repetitive tasks. The system can passively monitor IT networks and alert agents when communication gaps occur. Additionally, Jira offers integrations so teams can handle tickets, collaborate, and manage tasks and product development in one place.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• AI-powered self-service and knowledge base
• Responsive forms

Pricing: Paid plans start at $650 per year for up to three agents. A free plan and a seven-day free trial are available.

Recommended reading: Learn how Jira integrates with Zendesk and how Zendesk vs. Jira compare.

Why do users like Jira Service Management software?

Jira Service Management has dedicated IT support capabilities that help its users track and manage technical issues. IT teams can track assets, monitor incidents, and map dependencies.

16. Mojo Helpdesk

Centralize communication and automate workflows for employees and customers with the Mojo Helpdesk ticket system. Mojo keeps teams organized by allowing them to automate ticket routing and tagging when a new request comes in. Teams also can merge, track, and assign tickets in a round-robin fashion. Managers can set rules to automatically escalate tickets when the issue calls for it. Plus, managers can restrict agents to specific ticket queues.

The customizable knowledge base provides customers with self-service options. The system can suggest knowledge base articles based on the problem mentioned in the ticket. Companies that subscribe to the Business plan can add a private knowledge base for employees to reference FAQs, how-to articles, and more.

Mojo’s ticket software also features a centralized inbox that gives agents a view of customer information. Users can configure auto-responders and reminders to help agents stay on top of requests. The Enterprise plan allows teams to test new help desk configurations in a sandbox before going live.

Features:

• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• Self-service and knowledge base
• Team sandbox

Pricing: Plans start at $12.6 per agent/month, billed annually. A 21-day free trial is available.

Why do users like Mojo Helpdesk software?

Mojo Helpdesk users like that the software allows them to create customizable ticket forms that include conditional logic. This allows the fields following a question to change based on the user’s answer.

17. Hiver

Hiver’s email ticketing tools help agents handle ticket requests from customers and employees. Hiver’s shared inbox allows your support teams to track tickets from end to end and includes internal notes that enable agents to collaborate in one place. Agents can share email drafts, incorporate approval workflows, and avoid ticket duplication due to collision detection. The ticket tools feature shared labels that let users categorize and share emails with the entire team.

Hiver’s ticketing solution also offers automation options, like automatically responding to emails, removing junk emails from the queue, and routing tickets based on availability and workload. For instance, if an email contains the word “bill,” automation can automatically route it directly to the finance department. Round-robin and skills-based ticket distribution are available, too.

Analytics and reporting features allow management to track key metrics and gather actionable insights. Users can separate reports into conversation, user, and tag data and create custom reports. Hiver also includes SLAs to make sure you handle issues on time. SLA reports allow teams to monitor violations that account for working hours to maintain accuracy.

Features:

• Generative AI bots
• Ticket management
• Workflow automation
• Reporting, analytics, and SLA management
• Self-service and knowledge base
• Mobile app

Pricing: Plans start at $19 per user/month, billed annually. A seven-day free trial is available.

Why do users like Hiver software?

Gmail users like that Hiver was built to manage this specific inbox, allowing them to work in the same platform they’re familiar with rather than learning a completely new system.

Generative AI bots

AI enhances ticketing system performance by taking on and automating more tasks. They can understand natural language, allowing customers to describe their issues freely and receive conversational solutions or guided troubleshooting steps. Since AI bots, like the Zendesk AI agents, integrate with your knowledge base, they can summarize information from articles to provide targeted answers to frequently asked questions.

Omnichannel support

Omnichannel support means meeting customers and employees on their preferred channels to deliver seamless, reliable, and consistent experiences. Employee and customer profiles that contain interaction history, context, and preferences are visible across channels, leading to more personalized service.

Support channels can include email, phone, social media, web, live chat, and messaging apps like WhatsApp for Business and Messenger for business. Users may switch between channels throughout the life of the ticket request, making it even more important to provide omnichannel support options.

Ticket management

A good ticketing system brings order to chaos with features that streamline the management process. When a ticket arrives, the system can automatically assign it to the most suitable agent based on their expertise or workload. It can also prioritize tickets based on urgency or potential impact. If an issue proves too complex for a first-line agent, the system can facilitate escalation to a supervisor or specialist for a swift resolution.

The system should also allow you to create custom views to see tickets assigned to your team, categorized by issue type, or tagged with relevant keywords. This allows agents to quickly find the necessary information and prioritize their work effectively.

Workflow automation

With workflow automation tools like macros, triggers, and ticket notifications, agents can save time and deliver faster service. Automatic macro suggestions provide agents with pre-written responses they can apply to a ticket based on the context of the conversation. Zendesk offers a key workflow automation feature that gathers key details upfront and auto-fills tickets with existing information.

Additionally, you can create a trigger that automatically replies to customers when they create a new ticket, helping you deliver exceptional experiences through automated customer service.

Reporting, analytics, and SLA management

A help desk ticketing system needs reporting features that allow you to gather valuable customer insights. For example, Zendesk provides robust reporting and analytics tools with pre-built and customizable dashboards to track and analyze key customer service KPIs and metrics in real time, such as first response time, ticket volume, customer satisfaction ratings, and agent productivity.

This enables you to act on those metrics quickly and stay agile. You can also use automatic notifications to alert agents when an assigned ticket remains unresolved for a set number of hours so teams can meet service level agreements (SLAs).

AI-powered self-service and knowledge base

A self-service portal empowers users to find answers on their own, but traditionally, creating and maintaining extensive knowledge base requires significant human effort. AI streamlines this process by analyzing past customer interactions to identify frequently asked questions and common pain points. It can then suggest relevant content to populate the knowledge base or even automatically generate draft articles based on existing data.

AI can personalize the self-service experience by tailoring search results and suggesting relevant knowledge base articles based on a customer's specific inquiry. Additionally, AI can track user behavior and identify areas where content might be confusing or insufficient. This allows for continuous improvement and optimization of the knowledge base, ensuring it remains a valuable resource for resolving support tickets.

Workforce management and quality assurance

Workforce management software takes the guesswork out of staffing your ticketing channels. By analyzing historical data like customer traffic patterns and average resolution times, it predicts future demand for support. It can then automatically schedule employees with the right skills to be on staff at those times, reducing the workload placed on managers.

Ticketing systems with quality assurance (QA) tools are crucial for maintaining high standards in customer service. These tools go beyond simply storing interactions; they actively analyze them to identify areas for improvement. QA tools can automatically review interactions based on pre-defined criteria, looking for things like protocol adherence, resolution effectiveness, and overall customer satisfaction.

Areas where agents might need coaching can be flagged for review and discussion. Supervisors can then provide targeted feedback and training opportunities, ensuring agents consistently deliver exceptional service.

Check out these six powerful benefits your team can enjoy with the right help desk ticketing system.

Deliver fast and personalized service at scale with AI

AI-powered ticketing systems elevate customer service by leveraging advanced algorithms and machine learning. They can intelligently sort and prioritize inquiries and even use AI agents to deflect tickets by resolving inquiries before they escalate to a human agent. This allows businesses to swiftly address customer needs while AI personalizes the experience by analyzing past interactions and tailoring responses to each customer's unique situation.

Online fashion company Motel Rocks is a prime example of the benefits you can receive from advanced AI. Deploying Zendesk AI agents helped them reduce ticket volume by 50 percent and improve CSAT by almost 10 percent.

Increase loyalty and retention with omnichannel experiences

Ticket systems help keep teams organized with streamlined workflows and contextual information all in a single place. As a result, agents have the customer data and context they need to deliver the timely and effective service that customers expect. Plus, they won’t need to ask customers to repeat information—a common pain point for angry customers.

When getting support is easy, customers will stick around (and maybe even spread the good word about your brand), which is the simple recipe for building customer loyalty and retention. Bonus: Employees will also be happier with seamless IT support experiences, helping to increase employee satisfaction and retention.

Bikeshare company LimeBike uses omnichannel practices to centralize its communication and achieved a 93 percent CSAT score. Customers can call, text, or email when they need assistance, and the LimeBike team can answer all requests using a single system in Zendesk.

Boost agent productivity and lower burnout

Help desk ticketing software helps boost productivity and efficiency in several ways, including automating low-value, time-consuming activities. By automating tedious tasks, ticketing tools allow agents to spend more time on high-value tasks like serving customers. Additionally, clear organization within the system keeps agents focused, reducing context switching, mental strain, and the demoralizing effects of simple mistakes.

Lower operational costs while maintaining service quality

Improved agent productivity and efficiency means your organization can more easily provide top-notch customer service with fewer agents, reducing costs without impacting service quality. For example, you can use bots to provide 24/7 support rather than staffing a late-night support team. Take a page from Unity’s playbook—the software development platform saved $1.3 million by adding Zendesk automation, bots, and self-service resources

Build customer trust by keeping their data safe

By employing advanced encryption methods, secure access controls, and regular security audits, the system ensures that sensitive information, such as personal details and confidential communication, remains safe from unauthorized access and breaches. Additionally, adherence to data protection regulations and transparent privacy policies further reinforce customers' confidence that their data is handled responsibly and securely.

Data security is especially important in the financial and government sectors. For example, Indigov provides constituent relationship management software to local, state, and federal governments. To comply with government regulations, Indigov uses Zendesk due to its SOC 2 and FedRAMP certifications and single sign-on to add a further layer of protection.

Enhance collaboration between departments

Ticketing software can break down communication silos between teams and increase collaboration across departments. For instance, agents can connect with colleagues via email, Slack, or Microsoft Teams—all within Zendesk.

Tracking all communication in a unified omnichannel agent workspace ensures everyone stays in the loop on issues, conversations, and updates. That makes it easy for a team member to pick up where someone else left off, like when a teammate is out sick or on vacation.

Ticketing software has exciting capabilities, but even the best solutions need the right processes built around them to maximize their value. Here are some of the best practices for help desk ticketing software to help you get the most out of the product:

• Lean on AI to route incoming requests to exactly the right agents for the job: AI can analyze vast amounts of data, including past interactions, agent expertise, and keywords within the request itself. This allows for far more precise routing than manual or basic rules-based systems.
• Conduct thorough agent QA with AI: AI automates repetitive tasks like analyzing call transcripts or evaluating sentiment, freeing human reviewers to focus on complex interactions or coaching opportunities. This delivers a more thorough review of a larger sample of interactions, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of agent performance.
• Simplify scheduling, forecasting, and real-time reporting with AI-powered WFM: AI analyzes historical data like sales trends, customer traffic patterns, and employee performance to predict future workforce needs. It then accounts for employee skills, preferences, and availability to create optimal schedules. Real-time reporting enables you to adjust throughout the workday to adapt to changing needs.
• Use AI to assist agents: AI agent enhancement tools can improve the quality and speed of agent resolutions. For example, AI can summarize detailed tickets, helping agents quickly grasp the issue at hand. It can also refine the tone of their replies, resulting in more professional solutions.
• Use AI-powered bots to deliver 24/7 support: AI agents aren’t susceptible to burnout, so they can work around the clock. Pretrained on billions of real customer interactions, AI agents can process complex requests. And since human agents deal with fewer requests, they can devote more time to matters that require a human touch.
• Choose a trusted partner to ensure you’re setting up your organization for success: An experienced software provider brings in-depth knowledge about ticketing systems and industry best practices. They can guide you through the setup process, ensuring it aligns with your needs and workflows. This level of expertise avoids costly mistakes and streamlines the implementation, saving you time and resources.

These best practices are just a starting point. You should continue to revisit and refine your strategies to ensure you're getting the most out of your AI, WFM, and broader ticketing tools.

Ticketing software proves valuable across a wide range of industries, each leveraging its core functionalities to address their specific needs. Prominent industries that use ticketing systems to serve their customer or employees include:

• IT help desks: Ticketing systems are the backbone of IT departments, managing employee support requests for software issues, hardware malfunctions, and access control.
• Travel and hospitality: Airlines, hotels, and travel agencies use ticketing systems to manage booking confirmations and flight changes and address any issues related to reservations or accommodations.
• Healthcare: Hospitals and clinics can utilize ticketing systems for appointment scheduling, insurance inquiries, and managing patient communication.
• Manufacturing: These systems streamline communication between customer service, production teams, and field technicians for troubleshooting equipment issues and managing warranty claims.
• Education: Schools and universities can use ticketing systems to manage student registration issues, IT support requests, and communication with faculty and staff.
• E-commerce: Online businesses use ticketing software to assist customers with order tracking, returns, and product queries. It also helps them maintain a centralized record of all customer interactions so that agents can provide personalized service.

These are just a few examples, and the possibilities extend far beyond. Ticketing software offers a versatile tool for any organization that needs to streamline communication, track requests, and improve overall operational efficiency.

Follow these seven steps to ensure you properly implement ticketing tools with your help desk software.

Determine your goals

Before rolling out an IT ticketing system, setting clear objectives can help you achieve buy-in with your team and stakeholders. Common goals include faster first contact resolution, lower average resolution time, reduced costs, and higher customer retention. Sharing these goals with your team keeps everyone on the same page and provides a handy roadmap to follow during implementation.

Define your SLAs

SLAs define support expectations for your team and your customers. Details can include your business hours, first reply times, service availability, support channels, and expected resolution times. You can also create operational level agreements (OLAs), which are internal agreements to govern internal expectations.

Add the right support channels

Businesses should incorporate the right support channels into their ticketing system to gain a holistic view of customer interactions. This allows them to identify trends, improve service delivery, and provide exceptional customer experiences. Customers can conveniently reach out through their preferred method when businesses offer channel options like email, phone, live chat, and social media. This can foster better engagement and ensure no inquiry goes unnoticed.

Integrate with the rest of your tech stack

Choosing the right tools, technologies, and APIs ensures that your ticketing system seamlessly connects with your existing tech stack. Third-party apps can extend your ticketing system's capabilities, allowing you to customize your experience to meet your business needs now and in the future. For example, you can improve your customer service quality assurance by integrating your ticketing system with Zendesk QA, which automatically analyzes and scores every interaction.

Plan your workflows

Ticket routing is the core function of IT ticketing systems, so creating your ticketing workflows is fundamental to your software implementation. Traditional ticketing systems allow you to manually configure workflows, like skills-based ticket routing, round robin, or automatic call distribution. You can also leverage AI for the employee experience by implementing intelligent routing and triage to remove manual tasks, making workflows more manageable.

Determine which questions are best for bots vs. human agents

Strategically delegating responsibilities between your bots and human agents maximizes their effectiveness. While human agents excel at de-escalating intense situations and resolving novel issues, bots are perfect for fielding FAQs, order tracking, and troubleshooting. If you’re struggling to determine what to automate next, AI agents can even provide recommendations.

Report on performance

There are always aspects of your ticketing system workflows that you can improve. Customer service analytics can help you spot opportunities for optimization by regularly tracking customer service performance, collecting feedback from agents, and surveying customers. Other help desk metrics to evaluate support include ticket volume, ticket distribution, Customer Effort Score (CES), transfer rate, and more.

Zendesk AI monitors and analyzes vast amounts of data to identify areas for improvement and streamline workflows. This robust reporting and analytics empowers decision-makers to equip agents with better tools, eliminating time-wasting tasks and making their jobs smoother.

Choosing the right ticketing software is crucial because it directly impacts employee and customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and the ability to manage and resolve customer inquiries effectively. To help guide your decision-making, here are some common things to look for in a ticketing tool.

Consider ease of setup and ease of use

Many ticketing systems, especially IT ticketing software, can be complex to learn and challenging to navigate. But Zendesk is intuitively designed with the agent in mind, boasting an interface that's easy to use and quick to set up.

Evaluate AI capabilities

Focus on a ticketing system's core functionalities to assess its AI prowess. Look for features like intelligent routing, which analyzes tickets and assigns them to the most suitable agent based on expertise or workload. Evaluate its text generation capabilities, such as suggesting pre-written responses or composing drafts.

Finally, explore how the AI automates tasks like ticket categorization and prioritization to streamline workflows. By examining these capabilities, you can gauge the potential contributions the AI can make.

Evaluate the level of expertise and support the provider offers

Onboarding support is often overlooked but incredibly valuable when implementing a new system. Choose a provider like Zendesk that offers dedicated account management and customer onboarding support to get you up and running for a faster time to value. Ongoing service can also strengthen your business strategy with expert guidance and best practices.

Ensure the ticketing software enables you to move at the speed of your business

As customer expectations and behaviors evolve, your software must be flexible and allow you to scale your support to meet employee and customer needs. Zendesk is built to adapt to changing demands quickly while keeping total costs low. It works out of the box and is simple to customize and maintain without developer resources.

Prioritize scalability

Scalability helps ensure your new software can adapt and grow alongside your company. As your customer base expands or your product offerings become more complex, a scalable ticketing system can handle the increased volume of inquiries and support requests without compromising efficiency.

This translates to maintaining a positive customer experience even during periods of rapid growth, which prevents bottlenecks and ensures your support team can adequately address all customer needs.

Be mindful of the total cost of ownership

The best online ticket systems offer a low total cost of ownership over the lifetime use of the product. With Zendesk, you get that and more. Our pricing is transparent—there aren’t hidden costs or endless add-ons required to meet your basic needs. Plus, built-in AI helps your IT and customer support teams do more with less.