Zendesk updates mobile gaming potential with next-gen messaging platform

Zendesk, the leading customer service and engagement platform across hundreds of industries including iGaming, mobile, land-based and hospitality, has expanded its omnichannel presence with WhatsApp support integrations following the company’s latest acquisition, as well as an integration with Slack.

Launching the next generation of conversational messaging experiences, Zendesk has acquired Smooch, the Montreal-based messaging platform connecting companies with customers to power more personalized and human conversations.

According to the company’s founder, CEO and chairman, Mikkel Svane: “We live in a messaging-centric world, and customers expect the convenience and interactivity of messaging to be part of their experiences. As long-time partners with Smooch, we know first hand how much they have advanced the conversational experience to bring together all forms of messaging and create a continuous conversation between customers and businesses.”

The acquisition marks Zendesk’s next step in delivering the best omnichannel experiences by connecting conversations between businesses and customers on any messaging channel–from websites and mobile apps to the world’s leading messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. More than 75 percent of all smartphone users now use messaging apps such as WhatsApp. Smooch is one of the largest providers of WhatsApp Business integration, and through Zendesk’s early access program, companies can now reach WhatsApp’s 1.5 billion users to manage service interactions and engage with customers directly through Zendesk Chat. This marks the continued expansion of Zendesk’s integration with the WhatsApp Business API into The Zendesk Suite.

“With their launch of Sunshine last year, Zendesk took the bold and disruptive step required to compete for and win the future of CRM,” said Warren Levitan, co-founder and CEO of Smooch  “The decision to combine forces with Zendesk and help further their CRM strategy will allow us to supercharge our existing mission for building the best customer experiences. We are thrilled to be joining the entire Zendesk team, so many of whom we have had the pleasure to work with over the past three-and-a-half years.”

Zendesk provides omnichannel service and CRM expertise to more than 145,000 paid customer accounts offering support in over 30 languages and is committed to the gaming landscape with an emphasis on creating a consistent conversational experience for omnichannel providers.

Businesses struggle to manage the rapidly increasing number of customer inquiries across a variety of disparate channels. Smooch is the only messaging solution pulling in all customer conversations across web, mobile, and social messaging into a cohesive interface no matter what the channel is. This acquisition furthers Zendesk’s commitment to an open, flexible CRM that businesses can harness to build and offer differentiated customer experiences.

Together, Zendesk and Smooch will drive the next wave of connected conversations on a variety of messaging channels, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE, WeChat, Telegram, Twitter DM, Viber, Kakao Talk, SMS text, RCS and through native web apps, as well as over iOS and Android mobile apps.

Zendesk is headquartered in San Francisco, and operates worldwide with 17 offices in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America providing crucial footholds into established and emerging markets across the global gaming industry. In fact, just last year, Zendesk also announced an integration with Discord that makes it easier for game developers and publishers to solve customer service issues directly in Discord without interrupting game time.

Following the Smooch acquisition and product enhancements, Zendesk is also launching a Conversation Solutions Team, which will support businesses seeking to leverage Smooch’s best-in-class conversation platform to craft personalized messaging experiences.

“This team can deliver customized messaging applications such as a global hotel brand that provides customers with a premium, omnichannel guest experience through the ability to message hotel staff on property in real-time for any needs across a range of messaging platforms,” added Prelini Udayan-Chiechi, VP Marketing, EMEA at Zendesk. “To make great customer experience accessible to everyone, Zendesk is also continuing to develop The Zendesk Suite which was launched in 2018 and has quickly become our most successful product launch. Since its launch it has driven a 400 percent increase in our customers adopting omnichannel solutions chiefly through its robust and growing Zendesk App Marketplace, which is expanding with the addition of new Suite Ready partners including Atlassian Statuspage, Lessonly, Maestro, Stella, Tymeshift, Geckoboard, and Ada. These integrations help businesses improve their customer experience (CX) operations in a variety of ways, including training and managing their workforce, tracking KPIs and goals, and monitoring their tickets for quality assurance. We are excited about how all of these innovations will pave the way for new possibilities across the gaming industry with regards to customer experience, omnichannel growth and of course, revenue.”

To find out more about Zendesk and Smooch’s messaging solutions, available directly to new customers, the Conversation Solutions Team or to sign up for the WhatsApp EAP with Zendesk Chat, visit zendesk.com/message.