Introduction
Zendesk has recently introduced a new pricing model for its AI-driven automated resolutions, impacting how businesses utilize AI agents (formerly Zendesk bots) for customer support. This shift to outcome-based pricing means businesses only pay when AI agents resolve customer issues independently, offering a more value-driven approach.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of automated resolutions, outline the new pricing changes, answer common questions, and provide guidance on what this change could mean for your organization.
Understanding Zendesk AI Agents and the Benefits of Automated Resolutions
Zendesk AI Agents are intelligent virtual assistants designed to handle routine customer interactions around the clock. They can manage common inquiries, suggest helpful articles, and escalate complex issues to human agents when needed. By automating these tasks, Zendesk AI Agents enable support teams to handle a higher volume of inquiries without additional staff, freeing agents to focus on more complex cases.
Key features of Zendesk AI Agents include:
- Automated Resolutions: AI Agents can independently resolve customer issues, such as answering questions or recommending relevant articles, without human intervention. This helps reduce support costs and speeds up response times.
- Autoreplies: AI Agents assess and categorize incoming inquiries, sending auto-replies or routing them to the right department.
- Article Recommendations: AI Agents provide relevant knowledge base articles directly to customers through various channels, offering quick, self-service options.
Automated resolutions bring significant benefits, including:
- Cost Savings: Reduced demand on human agents lowers support costs.
- Increased Efficiency: AI agents quickly handle routine inquiries, improving response times and enhancing customer satisfaction.
- Scalability: Automated responses allow for higher interaction volumes without proportional increases in staffing needs.
With Zendesk’s new outcome-based pricing, businesses are billed only for issues resolved by AI agents without human help, aligning costs with the value delivered by these AI-powered resolutions.
Changes in Zendesk’s Pricing Model for Automated Resolutions
Zendesk’s new outcome-based pricing model charges based on automated resolutions. Here’s a breakdown of the changes:
Outcome-Based Billing: With this model, you only incur costs when AI agents resolve a ticket without human assistance. This ensures you pay for the tangible benefits AI agents provide, such as saved time and increased efficiency.
Pricing Bands: The cost of automated resolutions varies based on usage:
- 1–100 resolutions: £1.30 (€1.50 / $1.50) per resolution
- 101–1000 resolutions: £1.15 (€1.30 / $1.30) per resolution
- 1001–5000 resolutions: £1.00 (€1.10 / $1.10) per resolution
- 5001+ resolutions: £0.90 (€1.00 / $1.00) per resolution
- Overage: £1.75 (€2.00 / $2.00) per resolution if you exceed your committed plan.
Tracking Usage: Businesses can monitor their automated resolution usage in the Zendesk Admin Center, helping them manage costs effectively.
Managing Automated Resolutions: Tools and Insights for Your Package
Understanding and managing your automated resolutions is essential to ensure you’re optimising their use without exceeding your allocated limits. Zendesk provides several tools and features to help you stay on top of your usage and make data-driven decisions about your AI agent capabilities.
Automated Resolutions Dashboard
Included in your Zendesk plan is access to the Automated Resolutions Dashboard, located in the Admin Center (Account > Usage > Automated resolutions). This dashboard offers an overview of your automated resolution consumption, helping you track how many resolutions your AI agents are handling each month. Key insights include:
- Usage Metrics: Monitor the total number of resolutions used and compare it to your allocation.
- Deflection Effectiveness: Assess how well your AI agents are resolving customer issues without human intervention.
- Forecasting Needs: Plan for future requirements based on current trends and business growth.
By reviewing this dashboard regularly, you can adjust bot configurations to improve efficiency or decide if you need to purchase additional resolutions.
Customisation Options for Overage Management
Your package also includes options to manage automated resolution overages directly from the Admin Center. You can choose between:
- Maintain Functionality and Allow Overage: AI agents will continue operating even after your limit is reached, with overages billed at a higher per-resolution rate.
- Pause Functionality and Don’t Allow Overage: AI agents stop functioning once the limit is reached, redirecting unresolved issues to live agents.
This flexibility ensures you can balance maintaining uninterrupted support with controlling costs.
What’s Included in Your Package
Depending on your Zendesk plan, the following resources and features are available to manage automated resolutions effectively:
- Default Resolution Allocation: Automated resolutions per agent per month, based on your subscription tier.
- Committed Usage Options: The ability to purchase additional resolutions at a discounted rate, ensuring predictable costs.
- Overage Monitoring: Tools to track and manage overage charges proactively.
How Premium Plus Can Assist
If you’re unsure about optimising your automated resolutions or managing overages, our team at Premium Plus is here to help. We offer:
- Guidance on AI Agent Configuration: Maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of your AI agents to handle routine customer queries.
- Usage Analysis and Forecasting: Evaluate your historical data to predict future resolution needs.
- Custom Solutions: Tailored strategies to ensure you stay within budget while leveraging AI for better customer experiences.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Zendesk’s automated resolution pricing model is being phased in gradually:
- For existing bot usage commitments, the full transition to automated resolutions will happen on November 6, 2024. After this date, all AI agent usage will be billed based on automated resolutions.
- For renewing customers, this change will take effect as of December 2024. If your renewal period falls after this date, your plan will automatically adjust to the new pricing model.
An automated resolution is counted when a customer’s query is resolved solely by Zendesk’s AI agent, whether through a bot, autoreply, or knowledge article suggestion, without any human intervention.
The automated resolution pricing model applies specifically to AI agents within Zendesk Suite and Support plans.
Previously, Zendesk charged based on monthly active users (MAUs) for bots. Now, you only pay for completed resolutions, aligning costs with the actual value delivered by the AI agents.
Yes, if your business needs more than the allocated automated resolutions, additional packs can be purchased anytime, allowing for flexible scalability.
If your usage exceeds the limit set in your plan, overage fees apply at a higher rate per resolution. Monitoring your usage can help you manage these costs effectively.
For more details about automated resolutions for AI agents, visit the official Zendesk support article.
We Can Help You
Navigating these pricing changes may feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. At Premium Plus, we specialize in optimizing Zendesk setups and can help you evaluate how this new pricing model affects your business. Whether you’re looking to maximize your automated resolution potential or want to keep costs under control, our team can guide you every step of the way.
If you have questions about Zendesk’s new pricing model or want to explore how automated resolutions can benefit your customer service strategy, get in touch with us. Book a call with one of our experts, and let’s ensure your support operations are both cost-effective and customer-centric.
