The customer service helpdesk industry is growing rapidly, making the purchasing decision a very hard task for you. However, there are always those best products on the market that guarantee your investment will pay off.

The best customer service software should include the latest tech advancements, have a user-friendly interface, and follow the latest data privacy and security regulations that apply to your business operations area. However, it can be difficult even to find an answer on what a customer service helpdesk software actually does.

To make it easier for you, here is a thorough guide on the best customer service software features. Let’s check them out so you can start improving your customer service results today!

1. Private Cloud

SaaS customer service solutions are available on the market and are used by many companies. Having a shared cloud to store your data is the traditional and most common solution. However, numerous industry leaders have recognized the benefits of having a private cloud over which they have full control.

While using shared server SaaS solutions you have a million data roommates and are at an incredibly higher risk for cyberattacks.  With a private cloud you have your own data house with strong security walls. Thus, the chance for a data breach is minimal.

In the age of increasing numbers of data breaches as well as data policy regulations, you should opt for the most secure customer service software option. You can choose between placing your database on a trusted cloud platform or installing your own hardware.

The best customer service software has the hardware option that will give you the highest security possible today. It may be a pricier solution, but when you compare it to a data breach that could cost you millions of dollars and even a complete business failure, that price is not that bad at all! In fact, the latest IBM study has shown that the cost per stolen record is $242 and the average data breach cost in the United States is about $8,6 million!

2.  Data Policy Compliance

You may have heard about the most recent changes in the data policy compliance world that include the rise of data privacy and protection laws on a global level. Now we have GDPR, CCPA, HIPPA, LGDP, and more to comply with.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulates the data processing of European residents, making sure that companies do it on a legitimate basis. California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is the newest U.S. and Californian law that mandates strict incorporation of company data policies that respect consumer rights. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is responsible for the protection of medical data of U.S. citizens.

Lastly, Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (LGDP), or General Protection Data Law, is a Brazilian data privacy and protection law that shapes the way companies that operate within Brazil  collect, process, and store customer data. All these policies have a specific set of heavy penalties that can cost a fortune.

So how can you start complying with all those data policies out there to avoid those hefty fines and a ruined reputation? First, you need to check the data privacy laws of each country where you sell your products or services. Next, you can start reading the legal documents of those policies.

But that is extremely difficult and requires a serious time investment if you are not a law expert, thus you may consider hiring a lawyer. In addition, according to GDPR, for instance, you are required to have a DPO who will oversee your data policy and security strategy updates. Both options are quite costly.

Now imagine that you can kill two birds with one stone? You can do this by using a customer service software that will tailor its data actions according to the latest regulations. By adding it to your toolkit, there is no need to check each ticket for compliance anymore. With the top customer service software, you can have a service tool, data security, and a law expert all in one!

3. Helpdesk Ticketing

Helpdesk ticketing is simply a must-have for the best customer service software! Being able to categorize and prioritize customer requests gives you a lot of space to deliver exceptional customer service. In addition, you and your agents have a constant overview of ticket progress, which enables everyone to address emergencies quickly and generally resolve issues more efficiently. With the ticket system, you can say goodbye to a traditional ticket backlog that was bringing you many dissatisfied customers.

4. Automation & Triggers

Automation may be the most significant innovation in business technology as of late. Ridding your work processes of multiple exhausting repetitive work tasks that still cost a lot is no longer just a dream. Automating actions in your large customer service department may be the most beneficial of all. Now there is no need to manually repeat sending the same exact response to thousands of customers.

You only need to do it once, and then the system will remember it and repeat it at any time you need it – set it and forget it! You can trigger any behavior, both of your team members and customers, to ensure that your customer service is continuously top-notch!

5. Easy Integration

In the 21st century you shouldn’t have to worry if your app can be integrated with your existing company tools. For example, Helpy uses multiple APIs to allow you to connect with the various multiple business apps you already use.

6. Collaboration

To make the best of your team’s efforts you need to be able to assign specific tasks to your teammates based on their qualifications and experience level. You can even create groups that will be responsible for different sets of topics and customer tasks. The best customer service software will provide you with a group email to ensure that everyone is getting the same relevant information.

If you want to notify your colleague about something you can simply use the @mention option to directly address an issue. The notification system should work in real-time and you have the option to get an alert by email, app, browser, or all of them! Can you imagine now how much a helpdesk software facilitates collaboration?

7. Live Chat

Live chat brings customer personalization to another level! Being able to respond to their questions immediately helps you grow in your customers’ eyes significantly. That means you will need to have agents that are constantly available explicitly for your website’s live chat requests.

If you can afford that, you should definitely go for it. Having a live chat is becoming a matter of a company’s prestige as customers highly value this tool! However, even when you are not able to answer instantly, the question will be sent to your email so you can answer it as soon as possible! In any case, you can collect customer data and get new leads or customer requests that you will get back to.

8. AI Chatbot

There is no doubt that Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the way we deliver customer service. This is another tool that reflects a company’s greatness because if you don’t have it, you are not only not following the latest tech trends, but you’re also not making it easier for customers to contact you.

When you think about how hiring one reliable 24/7 AI chatbot can cut your customer service salary cost by half, why wouldn’t you install it? It can cover all basic questions such as what are your company’s business hours, estimated delivery times, and other similar common queries. You just need to teach it once and then you can sleep easy knowing there won’t be any mistakes or missed customer questions!

9. SEO-Ready Knowledge Base

The latest customer service trend is certainly a self-service page. You may have seen Facebook’s or Apple’s knowledge base with many articles that answer the most common customer questions in any language. This is another way to cut your customer support costs incredibly. It is a passive customer support tool and a product guide at the same time. Sounds great right? Well, it gets only better!

When your knowledge-base is SEO ready and all-devices friendly, you are closer to increasing your website traffic and broadening your customer base daily! It is important to note that today people prefer using self-service tools as they like being able to find answers on their own! Additionally, don’t hesitate to connect your knowledge base with your AI chatbot! This winning combination will cause a surge in positive customer reviews!

10. Omnichannel Support

Today customers are everywhere! And they love being able to contact you using many channels. However, that raises a big problem for you to collect all those requests from different inboxes. Luckily, with the best customer service software, you can have one inbox for your live chat, AI chat, regular email ticketing, and knowledge base! With the omnichannel feature you won’t need one agent for each channel. You will only need to direct your agents to one single inbox where they can find all their work tasks. It is clear why customer support agents love this helpdesk feature the most.

11. Multi-device Use

The diversity of channels and devices has become the norm for today's living. We like using our phones as well as laptops and tablets. What we choose most often depends on the occasion and need. You need to be available for your customers on any device in the same way you meet them in many communication channels. Thus, having a customer service software with multi-device functionality is critical!

And not just customers, your employees would love to  use their phones for work, too. If you have shifted to remote work during the pandemic, this helpdesk feature can be very handy for your agents in terms of constant availability.

12. Analysis and Reporting

To know if your ship is going in the right direction, you need to have some kind of standards and metrics to compare the results and see if you are on course. With an analysis and reporting system you will glean valuable insight into your employee’s performance and request completion which will allow you to better track the overall customer experience. That is how you can keep growing your customer base and your business!