SMS Service Alerts with Clickatell (PR)

It's been some months since we launched our Clickatell Target in Zendesk, but we haven't really promoted the functionality.

The Clickatell Target in Zendesk allows you to send out SMS Service Alerts to one or several phone numbers directly from a Zendesk trigger. So if you have people on duty but off site that do not have email access, you can set up automated business rules defining that if certain conditions occur, the off-site staff must receive a text message via SMS (available on all GSM networks) with details on the event.

As SMS text messaging can be both more reliable and globally more accessibly this makes a lot of sense for many customers.

We decided to work with Clickatell because they're world class. Clickatell is a mobile communications company specializing in SaaS messaging services and Bulk SMS gateway connectivity for enterprises.

Tomorrow starts the Wireless CTIA Conference in Las Vegas, and we have made a joint press release on the integration. Another reason to settle on Clickatell. Another reason to go with Zendesk. Full details below the fold.

Freshbooks Widget from Myndbend

The talented people over at Myndbend Multimedia have released a Zendesk widget that allows for time tracking in Freshbooks directly from a ticket page in Zendesk. You can get all the details from ApproveTime, their new web site dedicated to the widget.

Gregg Barash from Myndbend told us in an email "Basically we needed a way to ease time tracking by ticket ourselves. If you have anyone ask please let them know".

And thank you, Gregg. We've had quite a few ask us actually. So many that an official Zendesk-Freshbooks integration is being released later this spring. Until then, we encourage users to visit Myndbend's web site for information on their widget.

Gregg did also share with us that they already plan to extend the functionality of their widget and have a road map in place. Good news for all intensive Freshbooks and Zendesk users.

Disclaimer: The "ApproveTime" integration widget was created by Myndbend and is not an official Zendesk widget and not supported by Zendesk support.

First iPhone App with Zendesk Integration

The new iPhone app Finger by Hong Kong based Headnix, designed by our good friends at BeansBox, is the first iPhone app to embed Zendesk integration, making it painless for app users to submit problems or feature requests directly to the app publisher's help desk.

Finger turns your iPhone into a Chinese writing tablet, giving you a lean and cost-efficient input method for any computer. Traditional writing tablets are troublesome to carry around and setting up Chinese or Japanese input methods in English Windows can be a painful process.

Go to Finger's web site for the desktop client and get the app through iTunes App Store.

140 Accounts in 18 Languages in Six Weeks

Just six weeks after launching internationalization support in Zendesk, 140 Zendesk accounts now have a customer facing support portal in another language than English.

Thanks to the crowdsourced nature of the localization module and a very active customer community, Zendesk now supports 18 languages besides English: Spanish, Danish, Chinese (simplified and traditional), German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Turkish, Hebrew, Norwegian, French, Vietnamese, Romanian, Russian and Filipino. With Cambodian, Icelandic and Swedish just around the corner.

A big thank you to those of our customers who have submitted the translations. You've done a great job.

If you want to submit your own language or dialect, or need instructions on how to change language on your own account, please refer to our support article.

We Don't Suck

Renowned mumtrepreneur and cake baker Hayley Marsden has put together a list of Help Desk Apps That Probably Don’t Suck.

Hayley writes on her blog "Personally I find the best way to avoid unhappy customers is to have an efficient way of putting that cute little smile back on their cute little faces [...] Here’s a list of help desk applications that I would happily use".

We're really happy to see Zendesk top that list: "Zendesk seems to be the Basecamp of help desks; everybody’s talking about it and fittingly, it offers integration with Highrise. It’s idiot-friendly, attractive, brandable, does reporting and ranges from $19 to $475 per month in price. There’s a limited free forever option available plus a 30-day free trial of the paid plans. Basically, if you can’t be bothered to read any further and just want someone to tell you what to get, get Zendesk.".

This is one of the most up-to-date comparisons of online customer support solutions out there right now, and Hayley has done a terrific job. Haley, we're glad that we don't suck, and we think you're pretty cool too.

Revisiting the Zendesk Buddha Machine Online

By popular demand we hereby repost the html snippet you can insert in your own page, to have the incredible online-version of the Zendesk Buddha Machine on your own web site. Just like the one you see it in the right-hand column of this blog.

<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" width="200" height="230" id="FM3" align="middle"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="false" /> <param name="movie" value="http://www.zendesk.com/media/FM3.swf" /> <param name="quality" value="high" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff" /> <embed src="http://www.zendesk.com/media/FM3.swf" quality="high" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="200" height="230" name="FM3" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /> </object/>

If you embed it in your web site or blog, do make a blog post about it and we will send you a live physical version of the little player full of zen.

Hit the Ground Running

One of Zendesk's unique selling points is the ability to have an online customer care solution up and running from one day to the other. Signing up for the service is completed in minutes and if you can do with the standard processes and workflow that come out of the box, you can put the help desk into production almost instantly. It's configured for most standard situations, and you will get to know the system by using it.

We call that beautifully simple. Allowing you to stay focused on your business while implementing an online customer care solution, hitting the ground running.

Dan Lauer from StorePorter in Harrison, Idaho, wrote us an email to share exactly such an experience from his small biz shop:

"I am hooked. I have branded up my help desk, and rolled it out to clients already. I can't say that I've located, tested, and fallen in love with a solution this quickly in a long time, if ever. The coolest thing is that EVERYTHING ACTUALLY WORKS. It's fast, it's intuitive, and it's precisely what I need. I have two agents and eight end-users at five client sites already active and using the system to work live issues. And it's been barely 24 hours!

Great product!

Daniel D. Lauer
StorePorter"

Biz Success Seekers Take Note

We admit it. We're suckers for these compliments. We love to make our customers look great just as much as they love their help desk.

As more and more business moves online so does your need for providing excellent online customer care. Zendesk can help you look great online.