Latest news with #Freshdesk
Techday NZ
30-04-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Agentic AI helps firms boost CX satisfaction & cut costs per case
Forethought's 2025 AI in CX Benchmark Report has found that companies deploying agentic AI in customer experience (CX) operations are resolving more service tickets and lowering costs compared to those using traditional or less sophisticated artificial intelligence solutions. The report is based on a survey of more than 600 CX professionals from mid-market companies in the United States and offers an analysis of technology combinations and their impact on CX outcomes. The study compared organisations using basic decision trees, retrieval-augmented generative AI (RAG), and agentic AI, the latter being defined as AI that enables autonomous decision-making and can act on behalf of a user. Agentic AI was identified as more effective across key performance metrics. According to the report, companies utilising agentic AI managed to process 57% more customer service tickets and achieved, on average, 33% higher deflection rates compared to those using non-agentic AI solutions. The report also states that 73% of companies employing agentic AI noted an improvement in their deflection rate within the year, versus 40% for those not using agentic AI. Additionally, 82% of respondents credited AI for improvements in their deflection rates. Deon Nicholas, President, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Forethought, commented on the findings, saying: "Companies using AI that can go beyond responding to questions to take action and resolve customer issues are seeing the biggest improvements in satisfaction, retention and efficiency. Over the past year, adoption of agentic AI for CX has accelerated, but many companies are still choosing less effective options that leave their customers stuck in frustrating IVRs or chat-based decision trees. Businesses that want to stay ahead must prioritize solutions that resolve customer issues end-to-end." The report further details that using agentic AI with either a dedicated AI for CX platform or an in-house solution led to an average reduction in resolution costs by USD $4 per case, equivalent to a cost saving of over 20%. When measuring customer satisfaction, 64% of respondents using agentic AI reported higher CSAT scores in 2025. This compares to 55% for organisations using RAG-based AI, and 49% for companies not employing AI in their CX operations. The survey also examined the integration of agentic AI with popular help desk platforms. Among companies leveraging agentic AI with help desk software, those achieving the highest deflection rates used Freshdesk (66%), Kustomer (61%), and Hubspot (60%). In terms of channel usage, most organisations reported supporting customers via voice, chat, and email. While voice remains the top channel for most companies, chat is emerging as the fastest-growing avenue for customer interactions, suggesting that a multi-channel approach to CX has become essential. The majority of respondents, 60%, indicated that voice is the most effective channel for resolving customer service issues, while millennials showed a preference for chat (41%), Gen Z respondents were more likely to prefer texting, and baby boomers were more inclined to use phone and email support. Companies are increasingly adopting AI for customer experience, but barriers remain. The report found that 57% of companies are using AI for CX in 2025, though only 13% have more than two years of experience with such solutions. The use of dedicated AI for CX solutions increased sharply compared to one in seven respondents in 2024. When considering the qualities required of AI agents, 88% of survey participants said it is important that AI communicates in the company's brand tone and voice, while 94% emphasised the importance of conveying empathy in AI responses. Despite the benefits, several obstacles hinder broader AI adoption in CX. The report highlights that 73% of respondents cited challenges integrating AI with existing systems, 59% mentioned concerns over data privacy and security, and 58% noted issues regarding customer acceptance and trust. The findings present a comprehensive overview of current CX technology trends and offer insight into the potential of agentic AI to drive measurable improvements in customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Business Insider
22-04-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Exalate Launches Connector for Freshdesk, Bringing Seamless Escalations and Smarter Cross-Team Collaboration
Exalate, a leading integration platform, has officially launched its Exalate for Freshdesk connector -bringing powerful, AI-assisted two-way synchronization to the Freshworks ecosystem. Freshdesk users can now sync support tickets across development, IT, and operations teams without ever leaving their tool of choice. This connector enables teams to automate ticket flows between Freshdesk and platforms like Jira, Azure DevOps, ServiceNow, Salesforce, GitHub, Zendesk, and more-customized to fit each team's exact needs. "Customer issues don't follow org charts," said Francis Martens, CEO of Exalate. "They cut across tools, teams, and even companies. We built this connector to reflect how real collaboration works: flexible, fast, and secure. Our AI helps you set things up faster. But control stays in your hands." The release addresses a longstanding pain point in customer service workflows: the lack of flexible integrations between support tools and the systems used by development, IT, or operations teams. In many organizations, moving information between tools is still a manual process-prone to error and context loss. Exalate solves this by treating integration as a shared conversation, not a one-way relay. Exalate for Freshdesk allows teams to define what should be synchronized (comments, priorities, attachments, custom fields), when it should happen (via triggers), and how the sync behaves (via scripting). The system is decentralized, meaning each side of the connection controls its own rules, which is especially useful for cross-company collaboration or secure environments. AI suggestions assist with initial setup and ongoing maintenance, enabling teams to build and manage complex syncs more efficiently-reducing reliance on technical support and making it easier to scale integrations as business needs evolve. Filling a Gap in Freshdesk's Ecosystem While Freshdesk has native integrations and third-party connectors, many of them are limited to basic one-way data sharing or lack customization. Exalate's release positions itself at the intersection of flexibility and automation, appealing to teams with complex workflows or regulatory requirements. Use cases include: The release includes both freemium access for basic needs and enterprise-grade packages for advanced requirements. Implementation begins immediately through in-product purchasing, with AI guidance available throughout setup. About Exalate Exalate is a leading provider of integration solutions focused on enabling seamless collaboration across teams and organizations. Its unique decentralized architecture gives teams full control over their data exchanges while maintaining flexibility to adapt to various use cases. Exalate pr@ SOURCE: Exalate View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire
