

Automating Customer Service at a Startup - tomblomfield
http://tomblomfield.com/post/16697498005/automating-customer-service-at-a-startup

======
kylemaxwell
I found the title a little misleading. You're not automating customer service
- which is almost always a _terrible_ idea, particularly for small companies -
but looking for ways to make yourself available to customers. The answers and
service still come from humans, and that's exactly as it should be.

~~~
tomblomfield
Yeah - fair point. I think I meant automating everything around the _edges_ of
the actual conversation - from transferring calls to the most appropriate
person to collecting metrics to drive NPD.

~~~
andrewthornton
Can you expand on Olark's "Discounts for startups"? I didn't see anything
specific on their site, but this service looks really cool.

------
davidw
Twilio has a gaping gap in their service: there should be some _very
simple/easy_ out of the box solutions like "voice mail system" that you can
then hook into with your own custom stuff. Not simple as in hack together a
bit of PHP, simple as in click a few things on a web page.

As a small business, I really need a simple voicemail system, but don't need
their programmable stuff. Yet. But it's cool enough that I suppose I'd go for
them over others just to have it available if I want it in the future, _if_ I
got the simple voicemail system for a reasonable price.

I also tried Grasshopper, but their site barfed on my (very standard, plain)
credit card.

~~~
tomblomfield
I agree - I implemented it using Ruby, Sinatra & TwiML [1], but it should be a
couple of clicks on Twilio.

Come to think of it, they should really have some simple "If-this-then-that"
style rules that non-developers could choose to implement a really simple IVR
system.

"If it's between 9am and 5pm GMT, then call 077xxxxxx"

"If no-one picks up, then call 077xxx"

"Else leave a voicemail".

Why do I have to support a sinatra app to host some static TwiML?

1 - [http://tomblomfield.com/post/17571449233/home-brew-
customer-...](http://tomblomfield.com/post/17571449233/home-brew-customer-
phone-support)

~~~
tomblomfield
Maybe someone should provide this as a service on top of Twilio...?

~~~
davidw
And get the carpet pulled out from under them if Twilio ever decides to do it?

------
freejack
I was surprised to see that you are using the native Zendesk chat and
feedback. I think you mentioned you are on the $24/mos plan? I'm pretty sure
this feature is included.

In my experience, the simpler the deployment, the easier it is to focus on
what really matters - in this case, providing great customer service. You
could easily do away with the third party chat tool and save a few bucks and
eliminate any costs associated with supporting the integration.

just a thought... :)

------
dsr_
Directing calls to a SIP client -- softphone or hardphone -- ought to be much
cheaper, on the order of free to 3 cents/minute depending on how you arrange
it.

