Meet Talkdesk Express, a New CX Solution for the SMB MarketMeet Talkdesk Express, a New CX Solution for the SMB Market

On May 6^th, Talkdesk launched Talkdesk Express, a cloud-based CX service the company described as an “enterprise-grade customer service solution for small businesses that empowers them to deliver the same exceptional customer service as large organizations, without the complexity.”

During an interview with three members of the Talkdesk marketing team, I had the opportunity to break down the elements of that description. Crystal Miceli, senior vice president, head of product and industry marketing; Katie Rubak, director, product marketing; and Kevin McNulty, senior director, product marketing, provided the briefing. In addition, I joined a group briefing for industry analysts to see a demonstration of Talkdesk Express given by Rubak.

Who Is The Ideal Talkdesk Express Customer?

Talkdesk defines small businesses as those with under 50 employees. Typically businesses that size would have a very small contact center (under 10 agents) if they even had one at all. But in small businesses, a considerable proportion of employees are often directly working with customers. Think of Talkdesk Express as a solution for any employee that may need to communicate with a customer.

Equally important to understand is who Talkdesk Express is not designed to serve. Small locations or departments of larger organizations are not the intended audience for Talkdesk Express. Also, if a small company is interested in integrations that are part of Talkdesk Industry Clouds, e.g., Talkdesk Financial Services Experience Cloud for Banking, they must purchase one of Talkdesk’s available enterprise licenses.

Related:Workforce Engagement Tools Can Boost Agent Experience

How Talkdesk Express Reduces Complexity

Talkdesk Express’s ease of deployment begins with self-service sign-up. New customers can purchase and set up their contact center online directly through the Talkdesk Express website. Once the initial $100 credit is depleted, customers need only add a credit card to the account – no contract, no salesperson required.

During the demonstration, Rubak was able to set up a contact center in just a few minutes, using drop-down menus to select channels to implement and fill out information, e.g., the company’s website or Facebook account. Terms are defined and helpful documents are surfaced to help through the process, for example a Phone Number Porting Guide, to explain that process. As the customer proceeds, there is a Copilot pane on the screen where they are guided through the steps and can ask questions.

When the set-up is complete, the customer is presented with the screen below. Customers will probably start with a relatively simple configuration, but Talkdesk offers resources, e.g., Talkdesk Academy training and a Talkdesk Knowledge Base, to guide the customers through the implementation of more features over time.

Related:The PBX is Back, Baby (It Actually Never Left)

No matter how simple Talkdesk makes the Express experience, there will always be customers who will want the help of an expert to set up their contact center, some for the first time. Rubak explained that Talkdesk has support services available through a partner for customers who would like to purchase services for implementation or ongoing support. These professional services are not delivered directly by Talkdesk but through an independent third-party company.

How is Talkdesk Express Priced?

Talkdesk Express includes up to 25 free licenses and $100 in free credits. The 25 licenses remain free month after month but the $100 is a one-time credit. Think of a free license as an entitlement to use the features of Talkdesk Express. Each feature is then priced on a usage basis.

No credit card is required to get started using the solution. Talkdesk Express draws down from a refillable wallet that starts with the included $100.00. Any interaction of use of specific feature, has a cost associated with it. For channels like voice, wallets are drawn down by tracking units like inbound voice minutes. For an AI product, like Copilot, units are drawn down for each interaction.

Related:How To Integrate Microsoft Teams Phone and the Contact Center

A Talkdesk Express customer’s wallet is reloadable by credit card. Interested in understanding how much each unit or interactions costs? The best way to find out is to sign up for Talkdesk Express. Unlike Amazon Connect, which publishes consumption pricing on its web page, for now Talkdesk is not making pricing publicly available.

Once a customer signs up, the billing section in the administrative area of the Express account provides users with the following details:

Though Express is designed for SMBs and easy to deploy, Rubak stressed that Express is not a scaled-down version of the company’s enterprise offering. Talkdesk Express offers, “the same powerful tools that we're offering to our enterprise clients,” to level the playing field and help small business compete.

As an offer direct from Talkdesk, Express is available in the United States and Canada. It is generally available now; in fact, Talkdesk has some customers that have already been using the solution in production.

Outside of the US, Rubak explained that Talkdesk will leverage a network of partners to offer a version of Express in Europe, in APAC and a few other locations. She explained that one of the reasons is the process for procuring numbers in these countries is more difficult and does not lend itself to self-procurement.