Kayako's SupportSuite is a combination of the company's eSupport ticketing system and its LiveResponse chat solution.

by Jeff Goldman [January 4, 2006]

Kayako was founded in 2001. The company released its first product, which Varun Shoor, Kayako's founder and Director of Web Solutions, describes as "very basic helpdesk software," on November 17th, 2001.

"At that point in time, the market for helpdesk products was quite limited, with WonderDesk being the most popular commercial product, and Request Tracker being the most popular freeware product," Shoor says.

Kayako SupportSuite sales@kayako.com

The company's first offering was eSupport, which is still Kayako's core ticketing system. The live chat solution LiveResponse followed in 2002, though Shoor says it didn't get the market response the company had expected. As a result, they followed up with SupportSuite, an integrated version of the two earlier solutions. "SupportSuite, and our recently-launched version three of our products, are a result of almost one and a half years of hard work," Shoor says.

The main strength of Kayako's solutions, Shoor says, is the interface—the way the different modules work together, and the way the workflow is designed. Other strengths, he says, include the Instant Response System (IRS), which allows a client to view suggestions from a knowledgebase in real time before submitting a ticket; the ViewShare screen sharing solution; and Microsoft Outlook synchronization.

"There is no one specific feature that makes our products stand out—it's basically the combination of different little things that have contributed to the success of our product line," he says.

An integrated solution
While SupportSuite is now the company's key offering, both eSupport and LiveResponse are still available as separate solutions. eSupport, Shoor says, is essentially a ticketing system with groupware and self-help features, which can be very powerful—he says some clients are pushing close to 1,000 tickets a day through it. LiveResponse is a live chat solution with key features such as voice chats, screen sharing, GeoIP locations and an integrated knowledgebase.

The essential idea behind SupportSuite, Shoor says, is to combine eSupport and LiveRepsonse into one integrated solution for an affordable price. "It relies on our new modular framework, wherein everything is created as a module—tickets, live support, and knowledgebase are all modules," he says. "If you compare the pricing of competing products in the market, SupportSuite stands out as the most affordable product when it comes to delivering the most bang for the buck."

Scalability is a key strength of the offering—Shoor says it's used by small, medium and large sized ISPs alike—and there's also a focus on flexibility. "There is an extremely flexible templating system that allows our clients to create different front-ends, add numerous widgets and make the layout completely blended with their current site," he says. "When we started with the development of the product, we did not target a particular market—our goal was to create a system that had the simplicity and ease of use for smaller ISPs, yet the ability to grow equally well and cater to needs of our power users."

Shoor says version three of the products, the company's most recent release, was a significant change, with the code base being largely rewritten from scratch. Key improvements, he says, include the ability for a staff user to search for an appropriate knowledgebase article and respond instantly, the addition of labels to categorize tickets independent of their department or status, improvements in the interface and the workflow—and close to 250 bug fixes.

The company's newest solution is Kayako Mobile, a Pocket PC add-on that gives workers in the field access to up-to-the-minute tracking of client communications.

Pricing and options
All pricing for SupportSuite, eSupport and LiveResponse is listed on the company's Web site; each product is available as a hosted, leased or owned solution. "Leased licenses are generally taken up by clients that are just starting out, or those who plan to evaluate the product before committing to it completely," Shoor says. "Hosted licenses are quite popular, and I believe that is mainly because people prefer a safe point of communication if their main servers go down. Owned licenses are the most popular mode that we have, and that's because the majority of people don't like to pay for a product every month or every year."

For those who own the solution, support and upgrades are available for $39.95 per six-month period. "As the development is ongoing, we have found that the majority of people prefer to renew their support and upgrades," Shoor says. "At this point in time, we provide only e-mail support—but when our new call center gets ready within one to two months, we will start providing 24x7 telephone support and e-mail support with a one-hour SLA."

When you're considering various ticketing systems, Shoor suggests taking as hands-on an approach as possible. "Some people prefer clean interfaces, some prefer expandability, and then there are those who are comfortable with a simple ticketing system," he says. "My personal recommendation is to give each potential product a thorough look, and possibly start out with a monthly lease—nowadays, almost everyone is providing that. Once you are satisfied with a product, it's best to purchase it outright to save costs in the long run."

— End

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	[Sept. 10, 1999]	Keeping Customers: Part 1—Quality of Service

Online resources:
	Trouble Ticketing Systems Directory
	Quick Reference Chart