Zendesk has proven itself to be extremely valuable
October 06, 2015
Zendesk has proven itself to be extremely valuable
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Starter
Overall Satisfaction with Zendesk
We are currently using Zendesk to support all of our teachers and staff at our elementary school. That is from toddlers all the way up to sixth grade. We are a one-to-one school from grades 3-6 who utilize Google Apps for Education and Microsoft Office 365 for students and staff. Being the only IT staff I use Zendesk with the assistant head of school and our technology teacher to track not only what the current problems are, but what issues are arising based on the data we're collecting. Things that maybe weren't apparent when it was just emails that were being sent back and forth. One basic example that Zendesk showed us is that our response time was between 30-40 hours. Now I am able to work on responding in helpful ways even if I can't get to the problem immediately.
- Zendesk gives everyone involved simple, clear data to track and manage issues or projects. For me the greatest help has been this repository of tasks I can come to everyday without worrying about whether I've forgotten something or not.
- The basic bits of data have proven very valuable. Leveraging even the most basic data about response times, tickets all related to one specific issue, recurring areas of trouble has been and is continuing to be very encouraging.
- Being able to give our staff direction on how they can get support helps everyone feel better about how our time is being used. Going from nothing to Zendesk has taken a lot of stress off of my plate, even with the lowest package, Starter.
- The main functionality of Zendesk that has been apparently lacking to me is when a user creates a new ticket its not clear enough how they can follow along with that ticket specifically. I could see the default automated ticket creation response being focused more on allowing the creator to view that ticket online. A few users will send a new email, thus creating new tickets, before I get a chance to respond to their original ticket.
- The app feels more limited than the website. I'm not sure that it actually is, but because it seems more focused on viewing than taking action I don't use it as much. I do find that when I want to do something from the app it's usually possible, I just feel that it could be simplified in terms of common actions being forefront. More so than the standard tab bar iOS UX/UI mechanism.
- I'm not sure how you would implement this, but intercepting other support members chiming in on completed tickets or adding redundant comments.
- Greater transparency has made me more efficient as others can jump in and help when maybe it was best for them to help rather than I [was] in the first place.
- Users feel better supported. They're happier and in my opinion they are easier to work with.
- At any given time we all feel less stressed because we have a clear picture of where we're at. It makes planning for infrastructure changes and support much more focused because we can refer to relevant data based on real world usage.
I've only used Flow and basic to-do list type apps. Flow felt less geared towards IT and more towards project management. With Zendesk the setup was minimal, simple and I didn't feel any pressure to pay for more than I needed. I was able to start at the bottom, I'm currently evaluating it's usefulness and am very happy.