Power Up Your Support in 2025: 10 Essential Tools to Add to Your Stack

In 2025, customers expect fast, personalized, and hassle-free service. And if businesses can’t deliver on this promise, they’re quick to switch. 

According to a survey by Hiver, 72% of customers switch brands after just one poor support experience, and over half expect their issues to be resolved within 24 hours.

The takeaway is simple: customer support teams have very little margin for error. They need to deliver prompt, efficient support on a consistent basis— and this is not possible with the right technology.

From AI-powered help desks to knowledge bases, live chat, and internal collaboration platforms, today’s customer support tools do more than resolve tickets. They empower teams to move faster, work smarter, and deliver consistently great experiences.

In this guide, we’ve curated 10 of the most essential customer support tools to consider in 2025. Whether you’re upgrading your tech stack or scaling a growing team, this list will help you identify the right tools to improve service quality and scale efficiency.

Table of Contents

• What is a customer support tool?
• 10 Essential Customer Support Tools to Power Your Business
• Set Your Support Team Up for Long-Term Success
• FAQs on Customer Support Tools

What is a customer support tool?

A customer support tool is any software or platform that helps companies manage, track, and resolve customer issues more efficiently — across channels like email, chat, phone, and social media.

As a company scales, so does the volume and complexity of customer queries. What starts as a manageable flow of emails can quickly become an overwhelming mix of tickets from multiple channels. That’s where customer support tools step in.

They centralize conversations, route tickets to the right agents, and provide full customer context, so your team can respond faster, more accurately, and with less effort. But their value doesn’t stop there.

Modern customer support tools also automate repetitive tasks like ticket assignment, FAQ responses, and internal collaboration. Some even use AI to suggest replies or summarize long conversations, freeing up agents to focus on high-impact work.

10 Essential Customer Support Tools to Power Your Business

We’ve done the groundwork for you — here’s a round-up of our top tools:

1. Help Desk Ticketing Systems

As businesses scale, customer conversations pour in from every direction: email, live chat, IVR, and social media. Without a centralized system, it’s easy for queries to fall through the cracks or overwhelm your agents.

That’s where a help desk ticketing system comes in. It is a platform that allows support teams to log, assign, track, and resolve customer issues, all from a single interface.

✅ Top Help Desk Tools in 2025

? Why Hiver Stands Out

Most help desks require teams to learn entirely new platforms. Hiver flips the script by combining the power of a help desk—ticketing, automation, analytics, collaboration— with an interface that’s as easy to navigate as your inbox. 

When you install Hiver, you’d notice how all customer emails, chats, phone calls, WhatsApp messages, and even internal work emails can be managed from a collaborative dashboard. Automation features help distribute tickets based on load or expertise, while built-in analytics track key support metrics like response times, resolution rates, and CSAT scores.

One standout feature is Hiver’s AI Co-pilot, which scans your knowledge base to suggest relevant responses and even drafts them automatically. This saves agents time, improves consistency, and ensures faster resolutions.

? What to Look for in a Help Desk Ticketing System

• Channel Support: Does it cover all the channels your customers use (email, chat, voice, etc.)?
• Ease of Use: How easy is setup and onboarding? Can new agents learn it quickly?
• Automation & AI: Does it automate ticket routing, offer AI reply suggestions, or support chatbots?
• Collaboration Features: Does it support shared inboxes, notes, and drafts for team workflows?
• Integrations: Does it connect with your CRM, Slack, or other core tools?
• Reporting & Analytics: Can you monitor key metrics like resolution time and CSAT?
• Compliance: Does it meet industry standards like GDPR, HIPAA, etc.?
• Pricing: Is it per agent, per ticket, or flat rate? Are there hidden costs?

2. Knowledge Base Software

Today’s customers are used to finding answers on their own. According to Harvard Business Review, 81% of customers try to resolve issues independently before reaching out to a support rep.

A knowledge base makes that possible. It’s a centralized, searchable library where you can publish FAQs, how-to articles, troubleshooting guides, and even video tutorials. For customers, it’s an easy way to get instant help without waiting. For support teams, it’s a way to deflect repetitive queries and focus on high-value tasks.

Knowledge bases also double as internal tools, helping your agents refer to verified solutions while handling tickets.

✅ Popular Knowledge Base Tools in 2025

Looking for inspiration? Check out Headspace’s help center. It’s clean, well-organized, and categorized into intuitive sections like “Getting Started” and “Subscription & Billing.” Each article is short, easy to understand, and often includes visuals. This is a great example of how to build a knowledge base for effortless self-service.

? What to Look for in a Knowledge Base Solution

• Use Case Fit: Do you need the tool for customer self-service, internal knowledge sharing, or both?
• Ease of Content Management: Can your team create, update, and organize content without technical help?
• Integrations: Does it connect smoothly with your helpdesk, CRM, and other tools in your stack?
• Reporting & Analytics: Can you track user searches, content performance, and identify content gaps?
• Search Experience: Does it offer fast, intuitive, and contextual search so users can find answers easily?

3. Live Chat Software

Live chat has become one of the most preferred channels for customer support — and for good reason. According to Invesp, customers who use live chat spend 60% more per purchase, and 77% won’t buy from a website that doesn’t offer it.

It’s fast, familiar, and convenient. Whether customers are browsing your site or using your app, live chat lets your team engage proactively and resolve issues in real time, without needing to switch channels.

✅ Top Live Chat Tools in 2025

? What to Look for in Live Chat Software

• Use Case Fit: Will it serve your support team, sales team, or both?
• Automation & Bots: Does it support chatbots, canned responses, and automated routing?
• Analytics: Can you track key metrics like response times, resolution rates, and CSAT?
• Customization: Can the chat widget be styled to match your brand’s tone and design?

4. Social Listening and Monitoring Tool

Customers talk about your brand long before they contact your support team and it’s not always in your DMs.

That’s where social listening and monitoring tools come in. They help you track brand mentions, trending conversations, competitor activity, and customer sentiment across platforms like X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram, and Reddit.

For support and CX teams, these insights are invaluable. You can proactively resolve public complaints, identify patterns in user pain points, and feed feedback into your product roadmap. It’s also a powerful way to stay responsive during potential crises or high-velocity feedback loops.

✅ Top Social Listening Tools in 2025

Example in Action: Spotify noticed users in the UK and Ireland asking for its AI DJ feature across social media. By listening closely, they rolled it out specifically for Premium users in those regions, turning feedback into action.

? What to Look for in a Social Listening Tool

• Platform Coverage: Does it track conversations across the platforms your customers use most (e.g., LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Reddit)?
• Real-Time Alerts: Does it notify you of spikes in mentions or potential crises as they happen?
• Actionable Insights: Does it go beyond data collection to offer sentiment analysis, topic clustering, and competitor comparisons?

5. Customer Feedback Software

Every customer interaction is an opportunity to learn from, and feedback tools help you do exactly that. 

By allowing companies to send targeted surveys after key touchpoints—like an email exchange, live chat, or product delivery—they help understand how customers felt about the experience.

These insights you gain from these surveys go far beyond a simple satisfaction score. Companies can identify trends, surface recurring pain points, and track key experience metrics like CSAT, NPS, and CES over time. More importantly, acting on this feedback shows customers that their voice genuinely matters.

✅ Top Customer Feedback Tools in 2025

? Best Practices for Designing Feedback Surveys

• Keep it short: Focus on essential questions only.
• Avoid jargon: Use clear, simple language.
• Mix formats: Combine rating scales, multiple choice, and open-text questions.
• Don’t double-barrel: Ask one thing at a time (e.g., avoid “How was the product and service?”).
• Be timely: Send surveys immediately after the interaction.
• Test before you send: Review the flow and clarity with your team.
  

? What to Look for in a Customer Feedback Tool

• Trigger Options: Can surveys be sent automatically after chats, emails, or calls?
• Feedback Types: Does it support CSAT, CES, and NPS questions? Can you customize question types?
• Ease of Use: How intuitive is the survey builder? Can non-technical teams manage it?
• Analytics & Insights: Does it help visualize trends, identify outliers, and analyze open-ended feedback?
• Integrations: Can it plug into your helpdesk, CRM, or email tools to auto-trigger and track results?

6. Internal Communication Software

Even the best support agents don’t always have the answer. Sometimes resolving a ticket involves checking with engineering, getting approval from finance, or aligning with product teams.

That’s where internal communication software becomes essential. It enables agents to collaborate with teammates—across functions and time zones—in real time, without switching tools or waiting on email chains.

✅ Top Internal Communication Tools in 2025

? What to Look for in Internal Communication Software

• Real-Time Collaboration: Does it enable quick messaging, updates, and decision-making?
• Support for Remote/Hybrid Work: Does it offer video calls, file sharing, and mobile access?
• Clarity & Organization: Does it reduce clutter with threads, mentions, channels, or conversation filters?
• Privacy & Security: Does it offer private chat, access controls, and encryption?

7. Project Management Tool

Great customer service goes beyond ticket resolution. Support teams often juggle tool onboarding, documentation updates, workflow redesigns, and training—all while managing day-to-day queries.

That’s why project management tools are so important. They help teams break down complex initiatives into manageable tasks, assign ownership, track deadlines, and collaborate cross-functionally.

For support teams, this means fewer things fall through the cracks, and internal projects actually ship on time.

✅ Top Project Management Tools in 2025

? Integrate Hiver with Asana: Streamline Support and Project Workflows

Support teams often need to translate customer conversations into actionable tasks for other departments. Manually copying information between tools can be time-consuming and error-prone.

By integrating Hiver with Asana, you can bridge this gap directly within Gmail. This integration allows your team to create, view, and manage Asana tasks without leaving their email interface, ensuring seamless collaboration between support and other functions.

? What to Look for in Project Management Software

• Workflow Fit: Can the tool adapt to your team’s way of working—or does it force a rigid structure?
• Task Tracking: Can you assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor project status at a glance?
• Integrations: Does it connect with your helpdesk, CRM, calendar, or time-tracking tools?
• Collaboration Features: Does it support comments, shared boards, file uploads, and stakeholder visibility?

8. Community Forum Platforms

Support teams often spend hours answering the same customer questions over and over. That’s not just inefficient, it’s frustrating for everyone involved.

Community forum platforms offer a smarter alternative. They provide a space for customers to post questions, share tips, offer workarounds, and help each other—without relying entirely on your support team.

These forums also serve as a source of insight into customer pain points. If done right, you’ll spot recurring issues, content gaps in your knowledge base, and opportunities to improve your product experience.

✅ Top Community Forum Tools in 2025

? Example: How Hiver Builds Its User Community

The Hiver Community is built around clear, topic-driven channels that make it easy for users to connect, collaborate, and stay updated.

Members can:

• Join product-focused discussions
• Share ideas and feature feedback
• Get early access to new updates
• Earn loyalty rewards through active participation

With dedicated sections for introductions, product updates, and customer support, Hiver’s forum structure keeps things organized and welcoming. Plus, its straightforward sign-up flow and user-friendly layout make it easy for new members to get started.

? What to Look for in a Community Forum Platform

• Purpose & Customization: Can you structure the forum around clear topics and user groups? Does it support branding and flexible layouts?
• Moderation & Safety: Are there tools for AI-powered moderation, spam control, and user management?
• Engagement Features: Does it support gamification, upvotes, badges, and notifications?
• Integration Support: Can you link it with your CRM, knowledge base, support desk, or newsletters?

9. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is more than just a sales tool. For support teams, it’s the single source of truth for everything a customer has ever done—from emails and chat conversations to purchases and past issues.

Instead of bouncing between tools, agents can see the full customer journey at a glance. This makes it easier to personalize support, follow up effectively, and build long-term trust.

Plus, most CRMs come with automation, reporting, and integrations that can help businesses stay on top of customer needs in real time.

✅ Top CRM Tools in 2025

? What to Look for in a CRM for Support Teams

• Data Centralization: Does it store emails, calls, chat logs, and purchase history in one place?
• Automation Capabilities: Can it automate routine tasks like follow-ups, reminders, or data capture?
• Reporting & Insights: Does it offer dashboards to track customer trends, churn risk, or service metrics?
• Integrations: Can it connect easily with your helpdesk, email, live chat, and marketing tools?

10. AI Support Tools

Not every company can afford to hire, train, and manage a large support team. And even those that can often find themselves drowning in repetitive tickets that burn out agents.

This is where AI support tools make a real difference. They empower lean customer service teams to handle large volumes of queries, without expanding headcount.

Check out what Alex Rainey, Founder of MyAskAI.com, has to say about AI’s role in the support landscape today:

“There are lots of use cases in business today where AI isn’t quite ready, and we might need to wait 6-12 months. But for 1st line customer support, it’s production-ready. Looking at what we’re seeing, like 70%+ of support tickets resolved by AI with My AskAI, or the results shown by Intercom Fin AI or Ada, it’s all showing how AI is delivering real value for businesses today, and not just hype or promises for tomorrow.”

Alex Rainey

Founder of MyAskAI.com

Whether it’s a chatbot deflecting FAQs, a co-pilot drafting email replies, or an AI engine routing tickets to the right person, these tools help automate frontline support and resolve issues faster.

✅ Top AI-Powered Support Tools in 2025

? What to Look for in an AI Support Tool

• Repetitive Task Automation: Can it handle FAQs, ticket routing, or draft responses?
• Ease of Setup & Training: Is the setup intuitive? Can it learn from existing workflows or past tickets?
• Real-Time Support Features: Does it offer response suggestions, summaries, or co-pilot-style assistance?
• Learning Capabilities: Can it improve over time based on customer interactions?
• Tool Integrations: Does it integrate with your helpdesk, CRM, or knowledge base?

Set Your Support Team Up for Long-Term Success

To do customer support really well, you need the right tools. They enable your team to manage conversations across channels, gather meaningful feedback, collaborate internally, automate routine tasks, and track performance, all from a unified workspace.

But more tools don’t always mean better support. When systems are fragmented and data is scattered, even the best teams can struggle to keep up.

That’s why it’s important to choose tools that are not just powerful, but also easy to use, well-integrated, and tailored to your team’s real-world needs.

The goal is simple: less friction for your team, and better service for your customers.

FAQs on Customer Support Tools

1. How can a help desk ticketing system benefit customer support teams?

A help desk ticketing system centralizes customer inquiries from various channels, allowing support teams to manage, prioritize, and track issues efficiently. It facilitates collaboration among agents, automates routine tasks, and provides analytics to monitor performance metrics like response times and customer satisfaction. 

2. What are the best customer support tools in 2025?

In 2025, businesses are adopting integrated platforms to streamline customer support. Popular tools include:

• Help Desk: Zendesk, Hiver, Freshdesk, Zoho Desk
• CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot
• Live Chat: LiveChat, Intercom
• Knowledge Base: Helpjuice, Document360
• Internal Communication: Slack, Microsoft Teams
• Social Listening: Sprout Social, Hootsuite
• Customer Feedback: SurveyMonkey, Typeform
• Community Forums: Discourse, Higher Logic
• Project Management: Asana, ClickUp
• AI Automation: Zowie, Forethought

3. What are the benefits of using customer support tools?

Customer support tools help streamline the way your team manages interactions, collaborates internally, and measures success. Here are the key benefits:

• Faster Resolution Times: Tools like help desks and AI assistants reduce back-and-forth by routing tickets, suggesting replies, or surfacing relevant knowledge.
  
• Multi-Channel Coverage: Support teams can manage conversations across email, chat, voice, and social media—all from one place.
  
• Improved Collaboration: Internal communication and project management tools help agents loop in teammates, escalate issues, and close the loop faster.
  
• Better Customer Insights: Feedback surveys and CRMs help track satisfaction and understand long-term customer behavior.
  
• Scalability: Automation and self-service features help lean teams support growing customer bases without burning out.

By simplifying workflows and centralizing communication, these tools allow your team to focus on what matters most—resolving customer issues quickly and effectively.

4. Which AI tools are best for automating customer support?

AI tools enhance customer support by automating responses, routing tickets, and providing real-time assistance. Notable AI tools include:

• Zowie: Automates customer interactions across channels.
• Forethought: Offers AI-driven ticket triage and response suggestions.
• Dixa: Integrates AI for multichannel support and task automation.
• Decagon: Handles complex customer queries end-to-end using AI.

These tools help reduce manual workload and improve response time.

5. How do customer support tools compare in terms of features and effectiveness?

Customer support tools vary based on functionality:

• Help Desks focus on ticket management and multichannel support.
• CRMs manage customer relationships and sales pipelines.
• Live Chat tools provide real-time communication.
• Knowledge Bases offer self-service resources.
• AI Tools automate repetitive tasks and enhance efficiency.

The choice depends on specific business needs, team size, and customer expectations. Evaluating tools based on integration capabilities, scalability, and user experience is crucial.

6. What factors should be considered when selecting customer support software?

Key considerations include:

• Scalability: Can the tool grow with your business?
• Integration: Does it integrate with existing systems?
• User Experience: Is it intuitive for both agents and customers?
• Customization: Can it be tailored to specific workflows?
• Analytics: Does it provide actionable insights?

Assessing these factors ensures the selected software aligns with organizational goals and helps drive the necessary business outcomes.