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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Fin

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AFin is an AI Agent for customer service. It automates complex queries, improves resolution times, and delivers consistently high-quality support at scale.

    $0.99

    one-time fee per outcome

    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board

    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Social Squared is a SharePoint Discussion Board App that can be deployed across SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams. Social Squared improves productivity and efficiency by providing structured discussion forums for employee and student discussions. For Microsoft SharePoint Social Squared is a SharePoint discussion board application where users can post questions within relevant forums and receive answers to their questions from subject matter experts. The…

    $2,200

    per year per installation

    Pricing
    FinLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Editions & Modules
    Fin with your current helpdesk
    $0.99
    one-time fee per outcome
    Fin with the Intercom helpdesk
    from $19 + $0.99 per Fin outcome
    per month per seat
    Pro add-on
    from $99
    per month
    Social Squared Discussion Board
    From $2200
    per year per installation
    Social Squared Discussion Board Enterprise Edition
    POA
    per year per installation
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FinLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details90-Day Money-Back Guarantee Fin includes a 90-day money-back guarantee. Customers must use Fin in at least 250 conversations during the first 90 days of their subscription following the trial period. Customers who are not satisfied may request a refund within 90 days of starting their subscription. Eligibility: Available to high-volume customers handling more than 250,000 conversations per month in North America and Europe.Prices stated are minimum per installation for "stock" products. $2.20 per user/year on top of base price. Enterprise editions can be amended to suit business needs if deemed necessary, additional costs incurred and TBD. All packages include free technical support. Free upgrades available to latest versions of tool as they are released.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    FinLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Considered Both Products
    Fin
    No answer on this topic
    Lightning Tools
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    99%
    Would buy again
    424 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    341 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    417 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    230 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    286 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    FinLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Fin and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Fin
    -
    Ratings
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Mobile Access00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Search00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of Fin and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Fin
    -
    Ratings
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Chat00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Notifications00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Discussions00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Fin and Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Feature
    Fin
    -
    Ratings
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Versioning00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Video files00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Audio files00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Document collaboration00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Access control00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    FinLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Sprinklr Service
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FinLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (490 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (21 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (398 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.4
    (11 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.4
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    6.6
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FinLightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Fin
    I can't think of anything off the top of my head regarding less appropriate. However, this product is very customizable. I think with some improvement in reporting it could be better, however, I would recommend due to these types of things. I love the knowledge base and creating those help centers. I would say that it is fairly easy to set up, but once you set it up, not really knowing all the things, it's hard to go back and change, so it would be nice to have an overall idea of guidance prior to the original setup that can just be improved over time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    Their customer service it top notch and always responsive. I struggled in the beginning a little bit because I'm not tech savvy and we had to add it to our SharePoint site but they helped me along the way and even had share screen meetings with me to assist!!
    Read full review
    Pros
    Fin
    • The AI agent can answer our users' questions accurately based on the information available in our Help Center.
    • Ability to set up workflows and procedures helps our team automate repetitive tasks.
    • The inbox layout is clean and easy to navigate, and we can set views to suit our preferences.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    • Organizing Data
    • Opens up discussion, whether publicly or anonymously
    • Easy to setup
    Read full review
    Cons
    Fin
    • I wish I could pull reports on the conversations that have been closed.
    • I wish I could tag fin categories in addition to our live help desk conversations so I can get a good read on the types of questions users are asking.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    • I would love to be able to assign various people as administrators of different topics (this may be an option now but a couple years ago it wasn't)
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Fin
    We have been and will be continuing our journey with Intercom and nothing too concerning has happened that I have experienced or heard of that has us on the edge yet. If it ever happens it will be something along the lines of "Outgrowing" the use of need of the platform.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Fin
    Intuitive is a very accurate descriptor. Features do not seem to be hidden by poor UI. Things are usually where you would expect them to be, and the UI has been designed to make it pleasant to work within the platform. The platform also scales really well. Both small and large organizations can achieve a great return on investment by using it.
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    Our employees really like the fact that they can find things easily with the search feature and add questions and comments as they see fit.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Fin
    always there
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Fin
    Fin is super quick and top notch.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Fin
    I can get help by asking Fin questions about itself. It answers accurately, citing its own Help Center resources with visuals. It can reason and dialogue well. But when it comes to getting human support for Fin, it is not as quick. It can sometimes take a few days. They are polite and well-meaning. Some things aren't their fault (product limitations), but there was one occasion where something took a long time to resolve with lots of back and forth but it was I who found out the error in the end that they missed, so they didn't really help resolve it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Fin
    It was great. We were able to walk through step by step and get our questions answered along the way.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Fin
    The implementation was surprisingly easy but we are having to adapt from our old process to work well with Intercom.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Fin
    Fin far surpasses these other options in platform features and capabilities. Fin allows for side-by-side use by both the Marketing and Support teams, while none of the other similar products did that well. Most platforms are designed for one or the other, not both.
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    Fin
    The product is very scalable and has helped us scale our user base and onboard 10x the users in just one month. We couldn't have done it without Fin
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Fin
    • New role opportunities — Using the “Fin-first” approach has reduced the workload for our Tier 1 team, giving them more time to focus on their own career growth. It’s also opened the door to a dedicated, AI-focused role, where a team member regularly reviews Fin’s answers and makes updates to help it perform even better.
    • Enabling Fin has also reduced our response time and allowed us to meet SLA's.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightning Tools
    • We signed up for a 3 year contract and hope to do another 3yr contract when this one is up. :)
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Fin Screenshots

    Screenshot of Fin handling a complex query. Fin can securely retrieve data and take action in external systems like Shopify, Stripe, and Salesforce.Screenshot of Fin works across phone, email, chat, Slack, and more so every customer receives accurate, personalized responses, wherever they reach out.Screenshot of Procedures to train Fin to handle queries with multiple steps, business logic and third-party systems from start to finish. Natural language instructions can be combined with deterministic controls to create powerful Procedures that follow exact rules when needed.Screenshot of AI powered Insights and QA products, proactively showing you dominant and emergent trends and topics in your customer experience, as well as one-click recommendations to set live and immediately improve Fin's performance.Screenshot of Fin Operator. It spots problems, finds opportunities to improve, and acts on them, for example tuning Fin, keeping knowledge current, and scaling automation as business needs changes.Screenshot of the interface to customize Fin's tone of voice, teach it support knowledge and policies, and configure how it handles complex tasks in over 45 languages.

    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board Screenshots

    Screenshot of MODERN, RESPONSIVE SHAREPOINT DISCUSSION BOARD
Discussion Forums can be created for a variety of different reasons. This example is a Forum Group for the Microsoft 365 technologies such as Teams, Planner, and SharePoint. Forums are then created within the Forum Groups for more specific discussions. Under the SharePoint Forum Group, there is a Forum for SharePoint On-Premises and SharePoint Online. Anyone looking to ask a question regarding SharePoint 2019 for example would be able to post their question under SharePoint On-Premises rather than SharePoint Online. This also allows subject matter experts to focus more on the questions that they can respond to and provide value.Screenshot of SHAREPOINT DISCUSS BOARD – TOPICS VIEW
When navigating into a forum, the topics and discussions that are taking place are shown. Any new topics that not yet read will be highlighted. It also displays whether topics have been answered, their average ratings, how many views and posts are within the topic, and also provides the ability to subscribe to the forum to be notified of new posts within it.Screenshot of READING DISCUSSIONS AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK
Social Squared offers a threaded discussion view with the ability to provide feedback to other users.

Posts can be rated, voted upon, or liked by users in order to give feedback to the user creating or responding to a post. Additionally, replies can be marked as answered or marked as featured, which gives readers of forums assurance that the response they are reading is validated to be the correct answer.

Users also receive feedback through the earning of badges. The more users post or mark posts as answered, the more points are rewarded. This makes it easy to spot subject matter experts.Screenshot of SUGGESTED TAGS
Social Squared provides a rich text editor for creating and replying to topics. The Rich Text toolbar provides functionality such as inserting images, YouTube videos, Stream Videos, Formatted Code Inserts, as well as font formatting.

While typing, suggestions on how to tag a post appear. Selecting an existing tag will provide consistency in the tags used making it easier for other users to discover the post.Screenshot of SOCIAL SQUARED TAG CLOUD VIEW
The Social Squared Tag Cloud view makes it easy to navigate to posts within a specific category even if they span multiple forums. The more a tag appears in different posts, the more prominent it will be in the tag cloud. Users can navigate to posts with the tag in one click.Screenshot of DISCUSSION BOARD WITHIN MICROSOFT TEAMS TAB
Social Squared is a Discussion Board App for Microsoft Teams Tab’s and Microsoft Teams Personal Apps. Social Squared provides information workers the ability to post questions within relevant forums, and receive answers from their team. The Discussion Board layout for posts makes it easier to find answers to questions that may have already been asked before. Through features such as “Mark as Answered”, “Forum Moderation”, “Post Rating”, “Post Likes”, “Post Voting”, users will be assured that the answers they are reading are validated.