Dear Zendesk Talk, you’re being held back.

Zendesk Talk vs Freshcaller for customer support. Find out what freedom feels like.

While looking for a Zendesk Talk vs anything phone system, there is an important question you need to ask yourself. Why are you looking for an alternative? It’s important to know where you stand because, while there are many options available in the market, only a few will meet your requirements. So, what’s your ‘why’?

  • Are you seeking a phone channel integrated with customer service or helpdesk software?
  • Or, are you looking for an end-to-end call center software to run your call center operations?

If you’re looking for a phone channel, you are probably looking for a Zendesk Talk alternative to serve your multi-channel customer support function. It should have features like converting phone calls to tickets, missed calls to tickets, call history, etc. Although Zendesk Talk can meet your rudimentary requirements, you have your own reasons to look for an alternative. It could be budget, or it could be a missing feature crucial to your business.

Note: Click here to find out the Zendesk Talk vs Freshcaller for call centers on the cloud if you belong to the second category.

Any good alternative to Zendesk Talk must have customer support in its DNA. This is precisely why Freshcaller fits the bill. Freshcaller hails from an ecosystem that has its roots deep in customer service tech – Freshworks (previously Freshdesk) in this case. It has an airtight integration with Freshdesk, the customer service software and ticketing system from Freshworks. You can use it without leaving the Freshdesk interface as integrated ticketing and phone system. You can also use Freshcaller independently on a different browser. What’s more, Freshcaller was built from the learnings gathered over years from the native phone channel of Freshdesk. All these contribute to why Freshcaller is the Zendesk Talk alternative you are looking for. Before moving to the specifics, let’s set some context.

Checklist of capabilities for a call center support software

In order to help customer support teams to operate smoothly, an effective phone channel or call center software must have the following basic attributes:

  1. Easy setup and configuration
  2. Tight integration with a support desk software
  3. Pricing plans that specifically suit your requirement
  4. No unreasonable limitation on key capabilities that could hamper your operations
  5. Highly customizable call flows to ensure no call is left unattended

The above set of capabilities may seem like an obvious bunch, but they are crucial to your decision-making. Here’s why.

Zendesk Talk vs Freshcaller, the better phone solution for customer support

Before pitching any two tools against each other based on features or functionalities, there are several of these other basic factors that must not be overlooked. And, this is where Freshcaller beats Zendesk Talk, hands down.

1) Easy setup and configuration

Freshcaller is easy and intuitive to set up. From purchasing phone numbers and adding phone credits to setting up a multi-level IVR system and routing calls, all the workings of a call center can be configured in minutes. In fact, here is a video that explains how your entire operation can be set up, in 8 minutes.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iqm-2Us998&w=560&h=315]

An administrator’s guide to setting up Freshcaller

2) Integration with a support desk software

Freshcaller and Freshdesk share a very healthy and mutually nourishing relationship. They are robust by themselves but can also help you forge ahead smoothly, together. On the other hand, you can purchase Zendesk Talk only if you purchase a support plan with Zendesk. Freshcaller comes with no such strings attached. Yes, it is important to have a unified experience at the user level. But that doesn’t mean it has to come with constraints at the buyer level.

Using Freshcaller in Freshdesk isn’t rocket science too. However, we like building product tour videos for our users. 😀 So, here is a detailed look at how an agent can operate the Freshcaller widget within Freshdesk.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtX-HzaqHdQ&w=560&h=315]

A support agent’s guide to using Freshcaller in Freshdesk

3) Flexible and logical call center pricing

The constraints with purchasing and using Zendesk Talk do not end there. Your Zendesk Talk plan depends on your Zendesk support plan. There is no scope for mixing and matching when you want to create a plan tailored for your actual needs. With Freshcaller, you do. The Freshcaller plan that you choose does not depend on the Freshdesk plan you may use. What you pay depends on what you really need.

What’s more, if you have a team of more than 100+ agents, you will have to opt for the Zendesk enterprise plan. Neither Freshcaller nor Freshdesk comes with any such compulsion, separately or together.

4) Key capabilities aren’t kept under lock and key

On the free Zendesk plan, you are allowed to purchase only one phone number for Talk. Freshcaller, on the other hand, comes with unprecedented freedom even on the free plan. You can buy any number of phone numbers and add an unlimited number of agents.  

5) No defaults to setting up rules

Call flows are essential for deciding how much you care about your customers. In Zendesk Talk, calls received after business hours are sent to voicemail, by default. Calls that aren’t answered within the hold time are sent to voicemail, by default. The call center admin simply doesn’t have the option to route calls to a queue or another team of their choice, instead of sticking to these defaults. But Freshcaller has inbuilt smart escalations that let you route these unattended calls to call queues or teams that are less busy or active during that time, so that you can be there for your callers, more.

Apart from these advantages, Freshcaller comes with features that specifically cater to customer support.

Get started with Freshcaller

Key features of Freshcaller as a support phone channel

Freshcaller comes with key call center features like multi-level IVR system, custom greetings, call masking, etc. While they are paramount to your call center operations, here are some of the features that pertain specifically to customer support, in conjunction with Freshdesk or independently.

Converting call to tickets

It’s easy to log emails or texts as support tickets. On the Freshcaller widget in Freshdesk, it’s just as easy to convert calls to tickets. Agents can convert an ongoing call into a new support ticket or add it to an existing ticket. They can edit the ticket then and there, or later, to add more context like notes or contact information.

Converting missed calls and voicemail to tickets

Missed calls aren’t any less important than answered ones. Your caller’s intent to talk to you is just as strong even if you answer the call or not. An agent might not be able to return the call right at that moment. But they can always convert the missed call or voicemail to a ticket and give a call back without having to rely on their memory.

Customer interaction history

During an ongoing call, the agent can browse through recent tickets and calls linked to that caller on Freshcaller, without leaving Freshdesk. This not only helps in saving the time of the customer by setting the context but also helps the agent to give a quicker resolution.

Call transfer

Call transfer is a blessing if an agent knows there’s someone else who is more suitable than them, and also available, to solve a customer’s issue. They can easily transfer the call to an expert or a supervisor and reduce the hold time.

Call recording

Admins can set up call recording on all incoming and outgoing calls on Freshcaller, manually after seeking permission, or automatically after announcing that calls will be recorded. You can always go back to a recording while settling disputes or handling a follow-up. You can also listen to the recordings of your teammates to understand how you can improve or to help them improve the way they communicate with customers.

Real-time dashboard

If you are an admin or a supervisor on Freshcaller, you can access the real-time dashboard to see what is going on in your call center, exactly at that moment. You can see the availability statuses of all your agents, all ongoing calls or calls in a specific queue, callers who are in wait, etc. You get access to powerful features like call monitoring and call barging through the dashboard too.

Real time dashboard on Freshcaller - Zendesk Talk alternative

Real-time dashboard in Freshcaller

All these Frashcaller features make sure that you can run your phone support smoothly without having to jump through the hoops of purchasing and running Zendesk and Zendesk Talk.

Porting a Zendesk Talk number to Freshcaller

If you are an existing Zendesk user, there will be one more concern plaguing you. How do you switch to an alternative without affecting your business and annoying your customers? Of course, number porting is your answer and it’s easy to port your numbers from Zendesk to Freshcaller. All you need to do is drop a mail to support@freshcaller.com and our team will take care of the remaining procedures.

Is Freshcaller the best Zendesk Talk alternative for you?

So there, now you know why your customer support and software purchase teams will love Freshcaller. Of course, it does not have some of Zendesk Talk’s capabilities like voicemail transcription and SMS. But it has all the capabilities to enable your support team to run an end to end call center support system at full throttle. Freshcaller is more than just a phone channel hidden away within a support desk software. It doesn’t need a pair of extra legs to help your business move forward. Sign up for this formidable Zendesk Talk alternative if you are looking for a phone solution at a reasonable price, without unreasonable demands from you.