Zendesk

Overview

Zendesk is a customer service platform with ticketing, messaging, voice and AI agents. It is certified by Apple as a messaging service provider, so Apple Messages for Business conversations arrive as tickets in the Agent Workspace, where live and AI agents answer them. SMS runs through Zendesk Text.

Key features

• Apple Messages for Business with rich messages, quick replies, Apple Pay and a Message Us button for websites
• Zendesk Text: inbound texts create tickets, with outbound replies, trigger-based alerts and number porting; no short codes, alphanumeric sender IDs or outbound MMS
• Messaging on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram
• AI agents and workflows reused across messaging channels
• Omnichannel routing across email, voice and messaging

Pricing

Per agent per month, paid yearly: Support Team $19, Suite Team $55 and Suite Professional $115; Enterprise plans go through sales. Apple Messages for Business needs Suite Professional or higher with messaging, an active AI agent or third-party bot, and a paid Professional Services package. Text needs a Talk plan. A 14-day free trial is available.

How it compares to Linq

Zendesk offers Apple Messages for Business, not iMessage from a phone number: iPhone users chat with a verified brand in Apple's Messages app, and other phones get SMS from a Zendesk Text number. Zendesk is a per-agent help desk; Linq is a developer API that sends iMessage, RCS and SMS from real phone numbers for a flat fee from $260 a month.

Best for

Support teams on Zendesk that want Apple Messages and SMS conversations handled as tickets with AI agents.

Sources

• zendesk.com/service/messaging/apple-messages-for-business
• support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8030634178458-Adding-and-configuring-the-Apple-Messages-for-Business-channel
• support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408823788314-Getting-started-with-Text
• zendesk.com/service/messaging
• zendesk.com/pricing