Accel-Backed Freshdesk Wants To Take On Zendesk With Customer Support Platform

Freshdesk, which has raised $1 million in funding from Accel Partners, is debuting a new version of its cloud-based customer support platform today. Similar to the leader in the space, Zendesk, the India-based startup aims to bring customer service to the cloud by offering a simple, online help desk and support ticketing application.
With the new version of Freshdesk, customer service agents can support, update and assign projects directly from an email client, without needing to log in or use a mobile app. Agents simply email or forward a request to a Freshdesk unique email address and the request will be added to Freshdesk’s interface. Freshdesk automatically processes the command, makes the update, and sends the rest of the email to the appropriate customer. Agents can also directly send an email to a specific address, automatically converting the ticket to a knowledge base article that can be accessed by any agent.
Freshdesk is also debuting ‘pay as you go support,’ starting at $1 per day. These occasional agents get complete access to all the functionality in the customer’s Freshdesk plan without the business having to pay for the whole month. The platform also gives agents the ability to measure how much time is being spent on each ticket, and generates time sheet reports that can be sent directly to each customer.
Freshdesk, which launched last year, currently has 350 customers. For basis of comparison, Zendeskhas 10,000 customers and $26 million in funding.
Source:http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/23/accel-backed-freshdesk-wants-to-take-on-zendesk-with-customer-support-platform/