Microsoft Parature (Discontinued) vs. WixAnswers.com

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Parature (Discontinued)
Score 5.0 out of 10
N/A
Parature was a self-service customer support platform providing a self-service knowledge base to connect with customers across multiple channels, including email, the web, chat or social media. The company was acquired by Microsoft in January 2014 and reached EOL in 2017. Former users are encouraged to migrate to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service.N/A
WixAnswers.com
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
Wix Answers is a customer support solution that aims to consolidate all support channels in one place—a ticketing system, knowledge management, call center, live chat and built-in analytics. Wix Answers provides: A single view for all real-time and offline support channels No more switching between tabs to resolve an issue Proactive tools for customers across their entire journey Support stakeholders and decision-makers can…
$24
per agent / per month
Pricing
Microsoft Parature (Discontinued)WixAnswers.com
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Self Service
$24
per agent / per month
Call Center
$56
per agent / per month
Multi-Channel
$60
per agent / per month
Unlimited
$80
per agent / per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Parature (Discontinued)WixAnswers.com
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee$80 per user, per month
Additional DetailsThe unlimited package ($80/month per user) includes all support channels in one platform.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Parature (Discontinued)WixAnswers.com
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Microsoft Parature (Discontinued)WixAnswers.com
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Parature (Discontinued)
-
Ratings
WixAnswers.com
9.1
1 Ratings
16% above category average
External knowledge base00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Parature (Discontinued)WixAnswers.com
Small Businesses
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud
Score 8.7 out of 10
Salesforce Service Cloud
Salesforce Service Cloud
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft Parature (Discontinued)WixAnswers.com
Likelihood to Recommend
6.7
(10 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.1
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
2.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
7.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Parature (Discontinued)WixAnswers.com
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
The single element of Parature I've not seen in any other system of this kind is the Download Module. You can post files in the open, or protect them by any number of entitlement methods. The solution is also appealing to those who don't want to manage the back-end/IT needs as it is a hosted solution and has proven to be very reliable.
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WixAnswers.com
We only use it for the online knowledge base, so I can't speak to the rest of the functionality. However, building out the knowledge base works very well and is quick and easy to use.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • Clean/Friendly UI. It was extremely easy to navigate around Parature's menus at a high level, and you could take advantage of the more robust features as you became more comfortable and familiar with how Parature operates!
  • Strong Knowledge Base. Writing KB articles or ticket summaries and making use of the search function within Parature allows for expedient recovery of past ticket information. Being able to search for a fix action, or at least a troubleshooting article that can guide you towards a resolution is extremely valuable.
  • Enhanced Notation Capability. Being able to send/post internal or external updates to a ticket is great! You can leave the wordy technical details for other employees while making sure to communicate the high-points and fix action to the end-user.
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WixAnswers.com
  • Usability - very easy to set up, brand, configure and continue to add new articles ongoing
  • Localization - Connecting with Crowding allows to easily localize articles using AI
  • Article creation - very simple, easy to build, organize and publish.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • Reporting is barebones at best. If you need special reports, we had to go through Parature to have them built.
  • The use of frames on a website is very 1990s. It actually impacts usability of the product, especially when combined with how Parature handled sessions. An engineer could only work one ticket at a time which, honestly, isn't very realistic for a busy support team that is working on several issues at a time.
  • Support was often unresponsive when contacted for unplanned problems.
  • The knowledge base was not very friendly for clients and it provided no real encouragement for it to be used.
  • It took several clicks to do something as simple as edit and assign a ticket or to close a ticket.
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WixAnswers.com
  • Localization - Although this works with crowdin integration, really would be great if it was all built in and more seamless.
  • Insights - very limited reporting, only goes back around 90 days.
  • New features - I haven't really seen any new features or functionality in the 2+ years I've been using it.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
Parature has been the best option for this campus in terms of what we use it for and there is no alternative
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WixAnswers.com
No answers on this topic
Usability
Microsoft
It was bulky, cumbersome, and didn't allow us to handle the volume of cases we received on a daily basis. Many of our issues were highly technical in nature and we would often need to work on 2 or 3 at once. The poor design choices prevented this, which was unfortunate.
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WixAnswers.com
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
They recently had one very extended outage. It was a data center issue - but they were not diversified enough so in the end the system was down for almost 8 hours. There are also periods of time where for no reason the system simply doesn't respond. This small outages are usually short (just a few minutes), and have in fact been occurring less often, so it appears some corrective actions have been taken.
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WixAnswers.com
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
Nothing ever seemed to get resolved
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WixAnswers.com
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
There are services that do bits and pieces of what Parature does. We liked the idea of having one service that meets our needs
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WixAnswers.com
We ultimately selected Wix Answers for the price and that we could localize the platform and articles. WIth WixAnswers the cost is based on users, since our users were low the price was very economical for our needs.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Parature allows for better Customer Service
  • Can follow up automatically for tickets
  • Will automatically close tickets that haven't been responded to.
  • Allows customers to reopen tickets easily and not allow them to be missed.
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WixAnswers.com
  • Online knowledge base was critical for our platform. With the price that we pay for this service, it more than pays for itself.
Read full review
ScreenShots

WixAnswers.com Screenshots

Screenshot of Get an overview of your company's top support issues, by viewing the articles that were linked to calls and tickets, learning which topics repeat themselves most.Screenshot of Use widgets as the main support touchpoints for customers, embed as many as needed anywhere in your product or website.Screenshot of View all the interactions a customer had with you, along with relevant details and history, in one single timeline, to see the full picture and respond in context.Screenshot of Get a real-time overview on your knowledge base performance and put your data in context.Screenshot of Easily create as many articles as needed, to support customers and internal teams. Optimize daily workflows with a clear view of the status of your content, and filter your view based on multiple criteria.Screenshot of Understand the current state of your Call Center, so you can react quickly, reduce wait time, and meet your customers' needs.