Cool New Help Desk From Google - It's Free :)

Thanks for posting this in such detail!

I'd actually been kicking around the idea of implementing some sort of support desk mostly because I get so many spam emails that are mixed in with real emails from customers that I am afraid I might miss something important!

Plus I would like to be able to organize each "ticket" as you have outlined above.

This sounds like a great solution - gonna give it a try!

Lee

Cool new perspective on a way to use an existing service

Most of all it comes without the need for an installation and additional learning curve.

I use labels too, but mostly to organize my mails.

best,

Sounds like quite a bit of hassle when you can just install one of many open source helpdesk applications such as osTicket:: Open Source Support Ticket System

Here's a few others worth checking:

Crafty Syntax Live Help
Help Center Live
PerlDesk
PHP Support Tickets
Support Logic Helpdesk
Support Services Manager

Your Gmail setup is cool, but Kayako is the industry support desk product for good reason, it really is an outstanding product.

As an owner and user of Kayako for 3-4 years, the main advantages for me are the pre-defined replies and knowledgebase. It makes answering those repetitive emails a breeze and has cut down on a huge amount email.

Good post Big Mike. Very informative, I will try this out, thanks.

Big Mike that's a great idea... there's so much you can do with Gmail - I like to integrate it with Google Calender and get reminders when important things come up

Nice report, BIG Mike. The only possible problem I see with your system is that it's dependent on Google, who could potentially change the "rules" at any time. For example, they could implement aggressive spam filtering that could block some support requests from getting through. Of course, if it quit working for you, you could always switch to another system, but a few customers could fall through the cracks along the way.

Overall though, very clever! I guess I'm just leery of using too many outside services for core business functions.

Mike,

Very innovative use of Gmail.

I've used lots of help desk software including Trellis Desk, 3 Pillars, Hesk, OSTicket and Kayako. I can say without a doubt that Kayako is absolutely amazing. The Rolls Royce of help ticket systems. OSTicket is my best in the "free" arena.

My main concern with email support has always been customer satisfaction. Specifically, how many times must an email go back and forth before it's answered? Also, 1-Click answers are not possible via email unless I use a very long auto-responder.

Let me elaborate...

When creating a Department in Kayako, I can setup a custom submission form for each department with specific team members assigned.

So if someone wants product support, you can setup fields that requires OS, Browser Version, Software Version, etc before they can submit the ticket. This prevents 2 extra emails from being sent back and forth requesting the information and increasing customer (and vendor) frustration. It also means faster resolution for both sides. Faster resolution equals happier customers and smaller tech support payrolls.

On another note, if someone wants download help, I can capture Paypal Transaction ID, Paypal Email, etc before the ticket is even submitted. That means I can immediately respond and fix the issue in one shot.

Not just that, while they're typing their problem, Kayako will identify keywords you've pre-selected and show FAQ's...which could prevent the email altogether and provide immediate resolution.

A final note to others...this particular solution works well for Mike because he provides the same form of product and support to all customers. Lost serial keys...installation issues...It's a transparent business to his support staff. It's not really a complicated business model. So Gmail is a perfect fit.

What happens when you need to receive different, more private support emails? Or topics you don't want viewed by specific team members? Do you open another email account? So keep this in mind when choosing a solution.

In my humble opinion, email support can only scale so far...even with Gmail's killer labeling system. I'm happy with OSTicket for now...but I've got my eye on Kayako.

Way to think out the box Mike. The only problem I see is the amount of Spam you'll eventually get to that Gmail account. Especially since you made a live link to it in this thread.

Seems like a drawn out way to do something that a proper support desk will do faster, easier and more efficient.

The other problem I see is that customers may not receive the replies due to the deliverability issues of sending email. At least with the help desk, they can refer back to a ticket online if they don't get your email.

Sounds like you've found a winning solution Mike. I'm not 100% convinced to switch over, but I'm sure your post has helped a lot of people.

Great Post Big Mike Thanks !

Can I come and work with you please Mike!

Althought the helpdesk packages mentioned by some of the other guys look like pro solutions, I'd bet your way of doing things results in increased customer satisfaction from being prioritised instead of just 'ticketed' and from being dealt with by a real person and not an autoresponder (as well as a healthy 'team ethic' which you've alluded to...)

I don't know if it's possible to maintain that level of personal service as an operation moves up the food chain... That would be a cool company!

I'm nowhere near the point of needing any of this and not even sure I'd want to move in that direction but, this was an interesting insight into how some kinds of IM projects scale up to the point of needing teams and department level tracking etc.

Cheers!
Oh!... Yeah Mike... about that job...

so, it is based on gmail? does gmail allow multiple logins (using the same id/pw) from different locations? i think it does not. then, it means while you are checking the emails, you maybe logined out because another guy login. also, the correct procedure depends on the label is correctly labelled. what if someone lablled it wrong? there is no way to track.

I think it will work if the team is small and only has reliabled workers. but for a more formal environment, investing in a helpdesk software seems will be a better idea. just my 0.5 cent,


david

Actually, Big Mike is right - Kudos Mike, I wouldn't have shared this info.

Our team uses Gmail for sharing tickets, but we also have set our ticket desk to send the mails to our gmail account in order for this to work.

It's a little complicated to explain in a way that others would understand, but it sure as darn well works.

I've run a cs system myself, here are 2 suggestions for improving your system...

both FREE options

1) use hostedsupport (dot) com,
pretty good setup for cataloguing and filtering tickets to different departments, first rep account is free additional ones cost, but you can have all CSRs login into the same account, mainly good for ebay sellers, cause it handles both ebay messages and email, it has a decent 'template response' system, so you won't have write responses from scratch

2) use Google Apps instead of Gmail
many people don't know that the standard version is free and very powerful, no need to upgrade,
firstly you can setup any (or all of) your domains with google apps, which makes them run on the Gmail platform so it's service @ yourdomain.com - much more professional
secondly you have user accounts now, so tom, jack and jill get their own email address (ex. jack @ yourdomain.com) which makes assigning access to google docs more convenient, plus you can have shared calendars for assigning tasks, etc

not sure if it was mentioned, but with gmail you have 'canned responses' addon which lets you save and retrieve 'template responses' and there's a firefox plugin called 'Clippings' which organises template responses via a handy right click menu (the only downside to that one is that it's not shared (AFAIK), so every one would have to setup the templates once)

if you're happy with gmail's simplicity (and don't do ebay) I'd probably go with the google apps option, works very well

Thank you Mike for your very detailed explanation of what is working for you. While I have been using Kayako for a few years for one of my clients, a new client has decided to use Gmail for their support.

It's only been a month and the support issues are not that many, but I did have some concerns about the effectiveness of using just Gmail, instead of a help desk software like Kayako.

Your well-thought out explanation gives me great hope that I can implement what you've done so that I can make Gmail work better for me in providing support for this new client.

BTW, really like your avatar, are you a former Marine? If so, thank you for your service, and Semper Fi (on behalf of my son).

I agree with how Help Desks increases customer support and easy filtering of ongoing, solved or unsolved tickets/emails and it's good to know Gmail has already been utilized for that kind of support. Although for such a long time now, I've been using Hesk to automate my ticket support system needs and so far, everything works perfect as well.

Here's Hesk's review for everyone to know:

HESK review

This is a GREAT Idea Mike, Thanks.

When I do it I'm going to add one more thing. I will add another gmail account that only I can check. I will create a filter on the "common" account that forwards a copy of all incoming mail to the second account. That way I have a back up of all problems just in case someone deleted something I should have been aware of.

Thanks for the tip.

George Wright

Let me give you some feedback from the point of view of someone who has very recently (i.e. this month) used Incansoft's support system via Gmail.

In short - I loved it. It seemed very straightforward to me, very familiar, and I didn't need to jump backwards and forwards to find a ticket number, navigate to a website to see the latest answer etc.

I also liked that I could easily read the whole communication between Incansoft and me in one place. I think we ended up with 19 emails between us. As it happened, it was Big Mike who was dealing with my issues and somehow corresponding via email made the whole process seem more personal. A Help Desk often makes me feel like just a number in a big, impersonal system where no-one knows my name or even cares.

Anyway, I wasn't bothered at all that the whole thing was done via gmail - although I didn't need to give out any confidential details.

If I had needed to provide passwords or similarly sensitive information, I would have appreciated knowing that you delete completed support queries. Is that something you routinely tell customers, Mike?

Do you also tell people that you are closing the support query when you believe it to be answered? That would be a good move, too.

In my case, for instance, since I may (or may not) need a refund (due to computer gremlins at my end more than likely) but I'm still trying to work things out - I'm not actually sure whether you would have deleted my support thread or not.

Generally, though, from a customer perspective, using gmail was a very positive experience.

Debbie