Zendesk alone is already a huge asset for many businesses that rely heavily on maintaining a good relationship with their clientele but if this is complemented by an equally powerful VoIP system, then not only can business-customer interactions be made more efficient but employee workflow is further streamlined.
Why Zendesk and landlines don’t match
Although cloud-based phone systems are undoubtedly the best choice for businesses since they provide a straightforward and inexpensive way of dealing with callers, it’s still possible to keep and use the old phone system alongside Zendesk. However, this approach isn’t recommended at all because no matter how convenient it might seem to stay with a landline, it gravely reduces the efficiency of the business’s customer support.
Zendesk already automates tasks like directing clients to particular staff members based on their skills, availability, and workload, or adding incoming support tickets to customers already present in the database. But if calls are still being handled by a traditional phone system, then these tasks have to be done manually.
In other words, the only way to ensure that employees can handle enquiries by phone and enjoy the benefits of Zendesk is to have a cloud-based phone system and use it in tandem with the CRM.
How to make VoIP work with Zendesk
Even though switching to VoIP and setting the new system up isn’t a lengthy or complicated process at all, it still has to be integrated into Zendesk to make sure that users don’t have to jump between the CRM and the phone system manager. And yes, there is a good reason why we talk about integrating VoIP into Zendesk and not the other way around. Where VoIP service providers barely support integration with third-party apps, Zendesk offers a wide variety of apps that can communicate with the CRM and even perform certain actions automatically when executing a command in Zendesk.
However, despite being able to work with over 100 telephony and instant messaging solutions, Zendesk directly integrates with only two of the best-known VoIP service providers, RingCentral and Nextiva. It is also possible to hook up Vonage with Zendesk, too, although in this case users either need to rely on the Chrome-only gUnify add-on or subscribe to yet another service, CDC Software. And to complicate things even further, Zendesk requires users to be subscribed to the Support and Zendesk Talk Partner Edition services or opt for a Zendesk Suite that includes the features of the Talk plans by default.
Integration with Nextiva
What VoIP integration adds to Zendesk
Admittedly, pairing Zendesk with a VoIP solution is a bit complicated, but once the link is established it becomes a breeze to keep in touch with customers by phone and manage their support tickets. The most noticeable change is that Zendesk will be upgraded with a softphone add-on that pops up every time a client’s call is directed to one of the CRM’s users, meaning that there is no need to exit Zendesk’s interface to handle calls.
When a call comes in, users have the option to decide what to do with that call – just as they would ordinarily – but this action is always followed by the automatic creation of a support ticket within Zendesk. What’s most impressive, however, is how these VoIP add-ons are intelligent enough to offer the option to add the support ticket to an existing customer profile should the caller already have been in contact with the business previously.
Interestingly, this client recognition feature works the other way around, too, as all it takes to reach an existing customer is to click on the their phone number and the call is directed to the nearest phone, whether that is the add-on’s softphone, a desk phone, or the user’s mobile device. The fact that advanced solutions like RingCentral’s Zendesk add-on can also display call logs and even the availability of users is just the icing on the cake.
Zoltán G.
Adam B.
