The art of Zendesk.
September 27, 2018
The art of Zendesk.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Enterprise
Overall Satisfaction with Zendesk
Many departments across my company use this product, including IT, IS, and HR. We use it to track ongoing projects and who has spent how much time on them, new-hire onboards, desktop support tickets, and much more. Using it cuts way down on email and IM usage, which can be a nuisance while trying to concentrate and easy to de-prioritize once the alert from a new message has been cleared.
- Tracks tickets, time, and organizational leaderboards so you know how time is being spent.
- They provide a pretty phenomenal mobile app that makes it easy to keep track of assigned issues even if you've stepped away from your computer.
- Built-in chat and phone calling make it simple to connect with others without needing to switch apps.
- There are a couple items in the UI that are a little confusing, namely the "Play" button. From what I can infer after attempting to use it a few times, it appears to take you through your active tickets one by one and allows you to read or update them in some order (maybe last touched?). Hard to say if that is useful or not.
- It could be easier to get into the administration area. As of now, if you are an admin in Zendesk, there are additional controls and menu that appear across the page, rather than in one central menu. Without context, you have to go through each icon and determine which of them are for end-users and which are for admins.
- I have not figured out how the system decides what ticket to display when you hit the next (>) button. To me, it seems like my next active and assigned ticket should appear--if there are none, then that arrow should go away. What ends up happening is that I enter a view, look at the list, click the top ticket, and click the arrow. Sometimes I end up on the next ticket in my view, but more often I end up in some other view or queue. Tool tips would alleviate this issue altogether.
- Saves an enormous amount of time by centralizing communication based on issue, rather than having to lean on users to pay close attention to email AND phone AND chat services that your company may use. It feels like a one-stop shop for help, rather than sending a request into the abyss and waiting to see if someone hears you.
- Provides multiple options for connecting with users through chat, phone, or screen share (with app plugins like TeamViewer). This keeps tickets focused and helps users contextualize the troubleshooting, which generally makes for quicker resolution time and quicker response time.
- Simple to understand leaderboards and metrics allow higher levels of analysis for team efficiency, individual contributions, and trending issues. This helps teams create documentation on common problems to store in the end-user knowledge base and identify pain points across the user base.
There is no comparison between SysAid and Zendesk. They occupy the same space in terms of what function they serve, but they could not be more different in terms of usability. SysAid does not allow you to use the back button in any browser, but instead forces you to use the UI controls or else risk breaking your view and having to restart. While SysAid does have some light project management features, it is ultimately not as user-friendly as Zendesk is across the board, whether those users are end-users or administrators.