Provider Overview

Zoho was founded in 1996 in India by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas as AdventNet, Inc. as a solution for network management. They expanded to Japan five years later. In 2005, AdventNet launched Zoho Writer, the first application in what would become the Zoho Suite; in 2009, the company rebranded itself as Zoho Corporation after their popular product. The Zoho Office Suite consists of numerous productivity and business apps, including their CRM, helpdesk solution, app creator and others. Zoho bootstrapped itself and remains privately-held; while their revenue isn’t publicly disclosed, it’s believed to be primarily spent on product development. In 2017, Zoho users surpassed 25 million and they introduced their newest app, Zoho Checkout. Zoho suite product typically include both paid and free versions. Sridhar Vembu remains the CEO.  

Zoho Desk Pricing and Services

Intended Customers Small to Midsized Businesses; Zoho Users

Free Trial 15-Day Free Trial

Features

  • Ticket Management
  • Multichannel Integration
  • Helpdesk Management
  • Customer Self-Service
  • Customer Relationship Management
  • Reporting & Analytics
  • Developer API
  • Security
  • Services & Support

All Available Plans & Services

 FreeProfessionalEnterprise
Pricing   
Billed Annually$0 per agent/month$12 per agent/month$25 per agent/month
Billed Monthly$0 per agent/monthContact SalesContact Sales
Ticket Management   
Ticket MergingYesYesYes
Ticket SplittingYesYesYes
Custom Fields & TagsYesYesYes
Custom Views & Group ViewsYesYesYes
MacrosNo10 per Department/Module20 per Department/Module
Email NotificationsYesYesYes
Ticket NotesYesYesYes
Automatic Ticket RefreshNoNoNo
Agent Collision DetectionYesYesYes
Assume Agent IdentityNoNoNo
Multichannel Integration   
Email Integration1 Email Address10 Email AddressesUnlimited
Facebook IntegrationNoYesYes
Twitter IntegrationNoYesYes
Web WidgetNoNoNo
Mobile AppiPad and iPhoneiPad and iPhoneiPad and iPhone
Call IntegrationNoMultiple Numbers with IVRMultiple Numbers with IVR
CTI Toolkit & IntegrationsNoNoNo
Live ChatNoNoYes
Helpdesk Management   
Translated Agent InterfaceNoNoNo
Light AgentsNoYesYes
TriggersYesYesYes
WorkflowsYesYesYes
SLA ManagementPriority-Based SLA5 per Department10 per Department
Multiple SLA PoliciesNoYesYes
Game MechanicsNoNoNo
Customer Self-Service   
Knowledge BaseYesYesYes
Community ForumsYesYesYes
Language PacksYes (9 Languages)Yes (9 Languages)Yes (9 Languages)
Branded Support CentersYesYesYes
Multiple Unique Support CentersNoNoYes
Customer Relationship Management   
Contacts & Ticket HistoryYesYesYes
Custom Tags & FieldsYesYesYes
Customer Satisfaction RatingsYesYesYes
CSAT PredictionNoNoNo
Reporting & Analytics   
Overview DashboardYesYesYes
Agent & Group PerformanceYesYesYes
Customer AnalysisNoYesYes
Industry ComparisonNoNoNo
Custom ReportsNoYesYes
Export ReportsYesYesYes
Add-Ons & Extensions   
MarketplaceNoNoNo
Developer APIYesYesYes
Security   
SSL EncryptionYesYesYes
Single Sign OnYesYesYes
Two-Factor AuthenticationYesYesYes
WhitelistingNoNoNo
Sandbox Test EnvironmentNoNoNo
HIPAA ComplianceNoNoNo
Disaster RecoveryNoNoNo
Service & Support   
Knowledge BaseYesYesYes
Community ForumsYesYesYes
Email SupportYesYesYes
Phone SupportYesYesYes
Chat SupportNoNoNo
OnboardingNoNoNo
Service Level GuaranteeNoNoNo
Custom ImplementationNoNoNo

Editor’s Bottom Line of Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk is the helpdesk solution in the Zoho Office Suite. Actually there are a few solutions in the Zoho Suite dedicated towards customer service, particularly for tech support, but Zoho Desk is their general customer service online ticketing solution. Like many Zoho apps, there is a free version, though its capabilities are fairly restrained, though useful. You’ll be able to produce and track tickets, prevent agent collision, create a customer portal, knowledge base and community forums. You’ll also be able to export reports on ticket overviews and agent performance. However, you’ll only have one email address to use for tracking tickets, you won’t be able to integrate social media accounts or telephony, and you won’t have any time-based rules or workflows - so there won’t be any automation in the free Zoho Desk account. The paid plans open things up a bit. For $12 per agent/month you’ll gain ticket time tracking, 10 email addresses for tracking tickets, social media and telephony integration, multiple departments for your helpdesk and a limited number of workflows per department and module - specifically, 10. Whether or not this is sufficient for your support department’s needs depends on how much you intend to automate - ticket assignment rules, record updates, and so on. The Enterprise plan expands these limitations further, but still imposes limits - instead of 5 SLAs per department, you get 10; instead of 10 workflows per department/module, you get 20. This is probably sufficient for many SMBs. Both plans get additional reporting dashboards and security controls. For companies invested in the Zoho ecosystem, Zoho Desk provides online ticketing features at relatively low cost in a familiar format. As a standalone platform, Zoho Desk provides online ticketing and the ability to create customer self-service resources. As might be expected, their depth doesn’t go as far as companies solely dedicated to a helpdesk product. If you’re looking for a powerful helpdesk, and are willing to pay for one, you might consider another solution; if you’re interested is a fairly capable and inexpensive solution (in a familiar environment, for existing Zoho users), then Zoho Desk is worth a try.

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