# Help Desk Software Key Features | Capterra > Trying to figure out help desk software key features before investing in a product? Check out the five help desk software features users rate as most important. Source: https://www.capterra.com/resources/help-desk-software-key-features --- Customer Services & Support # 5 Help Desk Software Key Features and Top Products That Offer Them By Preksha Buttan Preksha Buttan Writer Experience I am a writer at Capterra, where I've been providing expert insights to help small businesses find the right software solutions since Janua... [See bio & all articles](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/pbuttan/) Published February 13, 2023 6 min read Table of Contents - [1\. Ticket management](#1-ticket-management) - [2\. Real-time notifications](#2-real-time-notifications) - [3\. Alerts and escalation](#3-alerts-and-escalation) - [4\. Self-service portal](#4-self-service-portal) - [5\. Knowledge-base management](#5-knowledge-base-management) ## A list of key help desk software features to help make software selection easier for your small business. As an IT professional, you must know how challenging never-ending support tickets and unresolved issues can be all too well. Investing in [help desk software](https://www.capterra.com/help-desk-software/) can assist you in recording, prioritizing, and resolving these requests. However, it is important to identify and understand the key features of help desk software to choose the right tool. This article highlights five help desk software key features based on the ratings given by verified software users. We also include the highest-rated help desk software solutions for each feature. [Read more](#methodology). ## 1\. Ticket management The ticket management feature provided by help desk software helps track, manage, and resolve support tickets. These tickets are generally created when a customer or an employee raises an issue via a web form, email, chat, or phone call. Once an issue is received, ticket management converts that issue into a ticket which is then allotted to a support agent for resolution. ### What business problem does ticket management solve? Ticket management automatically converts incoming issues into tickets and allows you to either manually or automatically distribute them amongst the support staff. This allows you to direct different ticket types to support staff based on their expertise. This, in turn, helps you to provide better support and ensure higher customer satisfaction. Moreover, ticket management records all the interactions between the support agent and the customer or employee. This information is shared with both parties involved, and they can use it to check the ticket status at any time. ### Ideal users of the ticket management feature If you are a customer support manager, you can benefit from ticket management as you can use the tool to keep track of all the incoming tickets. You can also use this feature to analyze the time taken to resolve tickets. ### Top 3 products with the highest ratings for ticket management #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Ticket management feature rating 4.9/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Ticket management feature rating 4.9/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Ticket management feature rating 4.8/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 ## 2\. Real-time notifications Real-time notifications instantly alert support team members of new tickets or changes in the status of current tickets. These are delivered via email, SMS, or push notifications on mobile devices or computer systems, allowing the support staff to review the tickets immediately. ### What business problem do real-time notifications solve? Real-time notifications alert you as and when a new ticket is created, or the status of an existing ticket has changed. This functionality enables you to take action quickly. You can either assign the ticket to the responsible service desk staff or send an automated response to the customer, which will help you increase the response time and customer satisfaction. ### Ideal users of the real-time notifications feature Customer service team members can benefit from real-time notifications as they can quickly review incoming tickets and take appropriate action in case of reopened tickets. If required, they can also forward the ticket to a specific team member based on their expertise. ### Top 3 products with the highest ratings for real-time notifications  #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Real-time notifications feature rating 4.7/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Real-time notifications feature rating 4.7/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Real-time notifications feature rating 4.4/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 ## 3\. Alerts and escalation Alerts and escalation inform you about the tickets that are urgent or need high-priority support. Such tickets can come from employees facing technical issues with their devices, which hamper their productivity. Tickets that have not been resolved for a certain period of time can also require urgent attention. Alerts of such tickets are delivered via email, SMS, or push notifications. ### What business problem do alerts and escalation solve? Whenever there is a requirement for urgent support, it is important that support staff gets alerted about that on time. Alerts and escalation help achieve that. Whenever a customer requests high-priority support, the tool notifies the service desk staff, and the staff can take action accordingly. If there’s a requirement to escalate the ticket, that can also be done manually or automatically. The ticket will be redirected to the concerned member or department, who will then be automatically alerted about the ticket so that they can prioritize it and provide quick support. ### Ideal users of the alerts and escalation feature Customer service team managers can use alerts and escalation to track high-priority tickets and ensure that they are addressed on time. These managers can also manually allot the tickets to ensure someone is working on them to provide urgent support. ### Top 3 products with the highest ratings for alerts and escalation  #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Alerts and escalation feature rating 4.6/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Alerts and escalation feature rating 4.5/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Alerts and escalation feature rating 4.5/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 ## 4\. Self-service portal A self-service portal is a dedicated module or a web-based interface that allows customers to access information, look for solutions to common problems, and access the knowledge base. This portal also allows customers to perform actions related to their account, such as submitting tickets or checking their status, which, in turn, also helps improve customer experience. ### What business problem does a self-service portal solve? The self-service portal helps reduce the number of requests a support department receives. This portal gives customers access to the knowledge base, FAQs, and other support materials, which allows them to look for solutions to common problems on their own. When customers can resolve issues by themselves, the workload of the desk agents reduces, and they can then focus on more critical customer support requests. ### Ideal users of the self-service portal feature The self-service portal is commonly used by customers to access their account information and knowledge base. It empowers them to tackle common technical issues without raising a ticket. ### Top 3 products with the highest ratings for self-service portal  #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Self-service portal feature rating 4.6/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Self-service portal feature rating 4.5/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Self-service portal feature rating 4.4/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 ## 5\. Knowledge-base management Knowledge-base management involves creating, organizing, and maintaining a database of information that helps users understand the software's functionality. This information is offered in the form of articles, guides, FAQs, and more. All these pieces of information enable customers to resolve basic technical issues independently. ### What business problem does knowledge-base management solve? A knowledge base allows customers to look for information on their own. Some knowledge bases offer the search-via-keyword feature that allows users to type what they are looking for, and the tool brings up all the content related to that word. Since using this option, customers can resolve problems independently, knowledge-base management helps support teams reduce their workload. ### Ideal users of the knowledge-base management feature The end user of the knowledge base is the software's customer; however, customer support teams can also benefit from the knowledge base as they can refer to guides and articles to find answers to common questions and address customer support requests. ### Top 3 products with the highest ratings for knowledge-base management  #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Knowledge-base management feature rating 4.6/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Knowledge-base management feature rating 4.5/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 #### Trial/Free Version - Free Trial - Free Version #### Knowledge-base management feature rating 4.2/5 #### Device Compatibilty \* Analysis Accurate as of January 2023 * * * **Methodology** **Key features:** To identify the key features for this article, we asked users to rate, on a scale of “low importance” to “critical,” how important different features are for help desk software. The features showcased are those that the highest percentage of reviewers rated as “highly important” or “critical.” **Feature eligibility:** To be included in the set of features considered, a given feature had to have at least 200 user ratings, of which at least 20% must indicate the feature is “critical.” Eligible features were determined from two sources:  1. Our research team’s review of public information about help desk software usage, definitions, and associated features  2. Reviewers’ indication of the features they use for help desk management. **Product selection:** To identify the top-rated products per feature, we evaluated user ratings for products that offer each feature. For a given product, reviewers rate each feature on a scale of one to five stars. A given product had to have at least 20 user ratings (between January 2021-23) for the feature in question to be considered. * * * Looking for Help Desk software?Check out Capterra's list of the [best Help Desk software](https://www.capterra.com/help-desk-software/) solutions. ### Was this article helpful? * * * ## About the Author [### Preksha Buttan](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/pbuttan/) Preksha Buttan is a writer at Capterra. 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