Customer service and support tools may take many forms. Customer service case-management systems, online forums, automated call-back systems—each are designed to improve the customer-support experience. That said, most customer service tools fall into at least one of the following categories:
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a crucial element in customer service software, offering a range of capabilities that enhance communication and efficiency. With VoIP, businesses can leverage advanced call routing, recording, and monitoring features to ensure calls are directed to the right agents, track and review customer interactions, and monitor call quality for continuous improvement. VoIP also plays a significant role in call metrics and analytics, providing valuable insights into call volume, wait times, call duration, and customer satisfaction. Additionally, VoIP 'click to call' functionality simplifies the customer experience by allowing instant connections with a single click. Integration of VoIP with customer relationship management (CRM) systems further enhances customer service software.
Phone support tools
While the advent of digital communication technologies has given rise to a number of internet-based support channels, the telephone remains one of the most widely used methods for contacting customer support. Phone-support tools, such as call-center software, allow agents to effectively organize and address multiple support cases at once, routing calls to properly skilled agents, automating certain tasks, and still providing knowledgeable, personalized service. Computer telephony integration (CTI) tools are also valuable. CTI makes relevant customer information immediately available to call-support agents, supporting inbound and outbound calls and integrating with existing platforms.
Automated agents
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation have the potential to significantly improve customer support, by resolving customer issues and providing solutions, without always having to involve a human agent. Automated agents can free up support personnel from basic support requests, leading to improved agent productivity and faster issue remediation. At the same time, AI can assist human agents by employing predictive routing to ensure that the right interactions are being sent to the agent who is best suited (and currently available) to handle the task.Whether supporting agents through intelligent routing or handling tasks autonimously to give agents more bandwidth for strategic activities, AI and automation are revolutionizing customer serivce software.
Customer relationship management (CRM)
A logical extension of the shared inbox, CRM functions more as a database of customer information. Agents use CRM software to organize and recall data associated with customers and their history, providing a more consistent and informed service.
Case management software
Case management is often integrated with CRM and shares similar objectives. However, case management focuses more on the cases, or support requests, themselves. Agents can create cases and access all relevant information from a single platform.
Workflow software
Taking automation further, workflow software integrates across disparate systems, routes cases and tasks to the right teams, and automates entire, multi-stage business processes. Workflows optimize customer service interactions and help organizations achieve better, more consistent business outcomes.
Self-service software
Rather than wait on hold for customer support agents—or even automated agents—many customers prefer to look for solutions on their own. Self-service portals are designed to provide customers with access to a searchable knowledge base and other resources a customer can use as an alternative to traditional support requests.