Freshdesk Changes the Definition of Multichannel
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) October 30, 2013 -- Freshdesk today announced the launch of Freshfone, the integrated voice telephony system right inside its customer support software. Freshfone enables support teams to answer customer calls right from their workstations, forward them to other agents, and even pick up calls from their mobile phones, giving growing SMBs the ability to provide enterprise-class call centers at a fraction of the cost.
While the dominance of phone support has been steadily decreasing, a majority of customers still prefer the phone to other support channels. Research by consulting firm, Fifth Quadrant last year showed 71% of customers prefer call in and talk to a support representative, which despite a 15% drop from 2011, trumps a whopping majority.
Freshdesk already allows businesses to listen in and support customers through email, social media, community forums and even their mobile applications. But the current phone integration is more than an additional channel to add to their crown.
“Till less than a decade ago, customer service was still a purely reactive role. The only way customers could get the attention of companies they did business with was by either calling them in through phone, or shooting them an email,” said Girish Mathrubootham, Freshdesk’s CEO. “Today customers are quick to tweet out their frustrations or share it with the rest of the world on Facebook brand pages.” Girish calls this phenomenon the “Social Power of Customers over Brands”.
Multichannel customer support, a dynamic and evolving landscape:
The definition of “multichannel” in 2005 was just phone and email. By 2009, it had grown to include Twitter, Facebook and other social channels. If you were multichannel in 2010, you’re no longer truly multichannel today.
However, Girish also warned businesses against investing on channels just because they could. Companies need to take a long term perspective when investing in customer support software. They definitely need to be there where the customers are, and provide refreshing experiences at every support touchpoint. But merely investing on channels without focussing on the level or quality of support could do brands more harm than good.
After all, like Girish says, “it isn’t the channels in your support that really matter - it’s the support in those channels.”
Freshdesk is the fastest growing customer support software (SaaS) available in the market today. In just two and a half years, it has emerged the product of choice for over 10,000 customers in 118 countries.
About Freshdesk:
Freshdesk is a cloud-based help desk software that allows organizations to support their customers through emails, phone calls, websites, forums and social media channels. With powerful features, an easy to use interface and a freemium pricing model that makes it essentially a free support software for small businesses, Freshdesk is widely used by companies ranging from startups to enterprises. Freshdesk is headquartered in Walnut, California and has a development center in Chennai, India. For more information, please visit http://www.freshdesk.com, http://blog.freshdesk.com or find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/freshdesk or Twitter: @freshdesk.
Shankar, Freshdesk Inc., http://www.freshdesk.com, +91 9442960803, [email protected]
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