Kayako Help Desk Software Review

Kayako is an impressive piece of software but like many other software packages, it suffers from one fatal flaw.

Now I need to qualify this "flaw" because it's not really a "flaw" for any company/person that has only one website and has no intention of ever expanding to have two or more websites. I'll explain why below but let me tell you about the Kayako customer support software before I cover that specific topic.

Underlying Technology: Kayako is based upon the modern web based languages of PHP/AJAX and therefore should be scalable and robust for years to come.

Kayako's hosted solution provides the features and options you would expect from a modern ticket support system and live chat system with everything working as one would expect. It takes awhile before you can find everything but the overall system is logical to use and control.

The feature list itself is unremarkable but what most people will find to be the main requirements to fulfill their business needs.

Here Is Where Kayako Support Software Fails

Kayako support software fails in my mind in a couple of key areas:

1. Knowledgebase - Kayako uses a similar knowledgebase structure as many others you may have seen already seen but I do not like this system because it is a "passive" system. In order for a knowledgebase system to actually be useful, it needs to be "interactive" to get the users to actually use the system.

2. Single License / Single Use - The biggest problem I have with Kayako is the fact that a new license is needed for every website. Most people online will have more than one website in operation which means they will need to purchase an additional license for each website ...this gets expensive quickly!
   
   The other option I've seen people try with Kayako support is to use one license and one generic website for the support of all their websites. This saves money but it's a pretty poor way of managing support as the knowledgebase becomes even less useful with a knowledgebase populated with non-specific information from multiple programs.
   
   In order for a knowledgebase to be useful, it must:
      
       => Be Product Specific
   
       => Interactive
   
   If a knowledgebase falls short in either of these 2 areas, the effectiveness of the knowledgebase will be sorely compromised.

3. Modifies Support Process but Does Not Improve The Support Process - Product support will never go away but a good support system needs to find ways to not only change how people get their support information ...it needs to improve the process so a company spends less on support while still providing the same or better support.
   
   Answering a support ticket takes the same amount of work as answering a support email ...so in this regard, the process has changed but has not really improved.

Ease Of Use:   Investment: Reliability: Profitability: Features: Training: Total:	Ease Of Use: Investment:   Reliability: Profitability:   Features:   Training:   Total:
1 Website	Multiple Websites

Bottom Line: Kayako customer support software is a robust tool for creating support tickets and chatting with your customers for people with one website. For what it's intent is, it is a very good piece of software albeit one that really does not alter the way customer support is performed.

Kayako is analogous to creating a robust 4-cylinder automobile engine in hopes of improved mileage versus creating a better method of propulsion as with a hybrid (think Toyota Prius).

If you have, or may have multiple websites to manage, or you're simply looking to sell more without the proportionate increase in support, then take a look at this customer support software solution.

Best Wishes

P.S. Read my review of my top rated customer support software - PremiumResponse.