Choose the job before the product
For a shared queue across email and web forms, compare ticket assignment, collision detection, saved replies, and reporting. For an online store, add customer and order context, marketplace coverage, returns, and shipping integrations. For live chat, decide whether a staffed agent is available and what happens after hours. For AI, test the knowledge sources, action permissions, and escalation behavior separately.
Tools to put on a shortlist
Zendesk suits organizations looking for a broad service workspace and an ecosystem of integrations. Gorgias is focused on ecommerce support and Shopify context. eDesk emphasizes seller conversations across ecommerce channels and marketplaces. Intercom combines customer messaging, helpdesk workflows, and Fin AI. A chatbot such as ProxyAI can be a smaller complement when you want automated product and policy answers with a path into a human helpdesk.
Compare the complete cost
Estimate agent seats, contacts, ticket volume, AI outcomes, messaging fees, required add-ons, implementation, and time spent maintaining workflows. Ask whether AI is billed per conversation, per resolution, or another event, and ask for examples of a billable case. Include the staff time needed to keep policies and catalog data accurate.
Run a controlled pilot
Take ten real cases, remove personal information, and run them through each candidate. Measure time to find context, correctness, handoff quality, and how often a person must repair the answer. Then pilot with one live channel and a documented rollback. A software trial that never sees real customer questions is only an interface tour.
A simple scorecard for your shortlist
Score each candidate from 1 to 5 against the work your team actually handles. A useful starting split is: conversation ownership and follow-up, 25%; customer and order context, 25%; channel coverage, 20%; reporting and administration, 15%; and total cost at your expected volume, 15%. Change the weights if your operation is unusual; the point is to make priorities visible before a polished demo influences the decision.
Keep a “must pass” list outside the score. Examples include exporting customer data, routing urgent cases, and preserving attachments. A tool that fails a must-pass requirement should not win because it scores well on optional features.
ProxyAI is worth considering alongside helpdesks when the gap is customer-facing automation rather than ticket administration. Its documented feature set combines broad messaging-channel coverage with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix connections, scheduled Agent Tasks, visitor-to-chat analytics, and abuse controls. It can connect to selected helpdesks, but compare ticket permissions and team workflows separately from chatbot breadth.