Zendesk

Eduardon

Zendesk Inc. is a global customer service software company headquartered in San Francisco , California, USA . [1] It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ZEN symbol and is a constituent of the Russell 2000 Index . [2] Founded in 2007, the company now has over 2,000 employees and serves 114,000 paid customers in 150 countries and territories. [3] [4]

History

Zendesk was founded in 2007 by Mikkel Svane, Morten Primdahl, and Alexander Aghassipour, who had experience with customer service software. . [5] The company was started in Copenhagen , Denmark . [6] In June 2008, it received US $ 500,000 in funding from Christoph Janz. [7] In 2009, following a $ 6 million series B funding from Charles River Ventures and Capital Benchmark , [8] the firm moved to San Francisco . In April 2014, it acquired ZopimTechnologies Pte Ltd, a Singapore -based provider of live chat software,[9] which eventually became Zopim Premium Live Chat. [10] In May 2014, the firm became a publicly-traded company, debuting with an IPO price of $ 9 per share. [11] On October 13, 2015, the firm acquired for $ 45.0 million We Are Cloud SAS, [12] the maker of BIME Analytics software, the technology that Zendesk now uses to power its platform. [13]

Products and technology

Product families

Zendesk’s family of products [14] represents the shift from a single customer service product to a unified suite of products focused on improving customer relationships. [15] The products have a common user interface, and are able to provide a single login and a shared customer data platform. The family includes: Support, Guide, Connect, Explore, Help Center, Chat, Talk, and Message. [14]

The software is written in Ruby on Rails , and can be integrated with many content management systems , customer relationship management tools, and web apps . [16] [17] The platform is available for mobile and tablet. [18] In 2011 the firm founded the Networked Help Desk initiative to create an open standard for sharing information between separate customer support applications. [19] In December 2013, the firm announced integration with SurveyMonkey and MailChimp to support surveys and email campaigns from within the program. [20]

Support

Zendesk Support is a system for tracking, prioritizing, and solving customer support tickets. [21] It puts everything in a place where everything is in a single location. [22] [23]

Zendesk Guide provides machine learning powered, self-service customer support, using a combination of the Zendesk API, Web Widget, and Mobile SDK as Zendesk Embeddables The program features the Answer Bot (an AI assistant) and the Knowledge Capture App (an agent- focused content creation app). [24]

Connect

Zendesk Connect is customer intelligence software designed for proactive campaigns and proactive engagement. [25] Providing services to customers by collecting data from the Zendesk family of products and providing a complete timeline of events and conversations.

By creating segments of customers based on behavior or profile, identifying trends, or triggering targeted campaigns, it works to get the right message to the right customers. As a result, use of the software can build loyalty and trust. A pro-active heads up about issues or they need it. Zendesk CEO Michael Svane stated, “it provides predictors of where a relationship might move.” [25]

Explore

Zendesk Explore, formerly BIME Analytics, provides analytics to measure and understand the entire customer experience. [26] T

Chat (Formerly Zopim)

Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) is an online marketing, live chat support and web analytics product that is offered as a SaaS (Software-as-a-service) model. The product enables companies to chat with visitors in real-time on their websites. [27] A website owner must embed the Zendesk Chat widget into their website’s HTML code. Then they can chat with their visitors via the dashboard control panel. [28]

Zopim was founded in 2008 by Royston Tay, Wu Wenxiang, Yang Bin Kwok and Lim Qing Ru. [29] The idea for Zopim live chat came from the founders at Stanford on the NUS Overseas College Program in 2008. [30] In 2010, it was a private company and launched its freemium pricing model. They also received funding from the Media Development Authority’s (MDA) i.JAM program, SPRING Singapore and NUS. [29] [31] At that time it was listed in Asia’s Top 10 Apps at Accelerate 2010. [32] In 2014, it was acquired by Zendesk Inc. [33][34] [35]

In February 2015, Zopim moved to a new office in Singapore that also functions as Zendesk’s Asia-Pacific Headquarters. [36] [37]

In March 2015, Zendesk formed a partnership with Facebook’s new Businesses on Messenger product. [38] Zopim live chat was the technology powering Businesses on Messenger. [39] [40]

In April 2015, Zopim introduced a premium plan that offers support team leaders workforce management tools on top of the regular chat reports and metrics. [41] Later It was named Best Live Chat Software in the Cloudswave Awards 2015. [42] Also in October 2015, TalentLMS HAS released an update to the Learning Management System That allowed for integration entre les two. When integrated, Zopim is on the road to communication between the learners and the instructional designer [43] On October 26, 2016, Zopim was renamed to Zendesk Chat, aligning with the Zendesk family of products. [44]

Talk

Zendesk Talk is a cloud-based call center software that puts customers in touch with a company representative via any Internet-connected device. [45] The program offers flexible IVR , group routing, and real-time tail monitoring to avoid bottlenecks . It enables businesses to create numbers and forwards calls to customers’ devices, for the need for physical call centers. [46]

Message

Zendesk Message is a messaging software that connects to familiar messaging apps, like Facebook and Twitter. [10]

Inbox

Inbox allows Zendesk customers to collaborate with other companies, or to increase the number of times they use email. [47]

Embeddables

Embeddable allows companies to build support for mobile and web applications. [48] This includes a Mobile Software Development Kit , which provides self-service via Help Center. With embeddable users are able to chat with a Help Center representative through their preferred mobile apps or online sites. This eliminates the need for a third party help center. [49] The tech support process is part of the native experience on the site or application. [50]

Relate

Relate is Zendesk’s online publication, with editorial content dedicated to customer service and business relationships. . [51] Relate has also been adopted as the branding name for Zendesk conferences, which specializes in customer service case studies, brand relationships and commitment, and industry changes. [52] [53]

Accolades

  • 2017 – Zendesk was recognized by DestinationCRM as a 2017 CRM Service Leader
  • 2016 – FastCompany ranked Zendesk 5th on its list of Most Innovative Companies in Enterprise Software [54]
  • 2016 – Svane included in the Inc. Founders 40 list [55]
  • 2015 – Winner of the Most Innovative Use of Big Data at the UK Cloud Awards [56]
  • 2015 – Svane, Primdahl, and Aghassipour were included in the Business Insider Silicon Valley 100 [57]
  • 2015 – Svane was included in Inc. Magazine’s Top 40 CEOs to watch [58]
  • 2015 – Zendesk ranked first among Bay Area technology companies for high percentage of women holding director roles and high-paying positions [59]
  • 2015 – Rachel Delacour, CEO of BIME Analytics, won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year for Business Products with 11 or more employees [60]

Philanthropy

Zendesk Neighbor Foundation

Zendesk’s headquarters is located in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco and has several philanthropic initiatives and charitable donations to the area. The Zendesk Neighbor Foundation, a nonprofit organization started by Zendesk, launched $ 1 million in funding for local charities working on social issues. [61] In 2015, Zendesk Neighbor Foundation donated $ 100,000 to St. Anthony’s Tenderloin Technology Lab. [62] Since then, the Foundation has also expanded to the communities of Melbourne, Australia; [63] London, England; [64] and Madison, Wisconsin, [65] where the company has made $ 100,000 + donations per community to Boys and Girls Clubs, Public Libraries, Employment Workshops, Autism Organizations, and other local non-profits.

Link-SF, Copenhelp and Link-Dane

Aside from monetary contributions, Zendesk has also used its technology to develop Link-SF. Link-SF is an app that helps homeless people find shelter, food, medical care, technology access, and hygiene services. [66] [67] [68]Subsequent to Link SF, Zendesk launched two similar apps: Copenhelp (for Copenhagen) [69] and Link-Dane (for Madison, Wisconsin). [70]

Other Initiatives

Zendesk joined over 100 companies in filing an Amicus Brief Opposing Executive Order 13769 . [71]

Rentals

Zendesk has offices worldwide in London , Madison , Taguig ( Manila ), Copenhagen , Dublin , Tokyo , Montpellier , Berlin , Melbourne , Singapore , and Sao Paulo . [72]

References

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  47. Jump up^ Zendesk Inbox
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  60. Jump up^ “2015 Stevie Award Winners” . Stevie Awards . Retrieved 9 May 2016.
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  66. Jump up^ Homeless Mobile SF
  67. Jump up^ Here and Now
  68. Jump up^ SF Tackles Homelessness With Smartphones
  69. Jump up^ “Copenhelp: An App To Help Copenhagen’s Homeless Population” . Zendesk Neighbor Foundation. January 6, 2016 . Retrieved 9 May 2016 .
  70. Jump up^ “Link-Dane Launch in Madison” . Zendesk Neighbor Foundation. February 24, 2016 . Retrieved 9 May 2016 .
  71. Jump up^ Zendesk, Tesla and Adobe join amicus Trump’s immigration order
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