Differences between the BotXO and Zendesk Widgets

You have two options when it comes to using a BotXO chatbot that connects to Zendesk. Each of the options carries with them some upsides and downsides, explained below.

• Use the Zendesk Widget:

In this option, the Zendesk Widget would connect to Zendesk while exchanging data with the BotXO server.

Pros:

- Using this option means that you get access to the handover-functionality, which is very useful for companies that require the possibility of handing the end user over to a human customer support professional if the chatbot is not able to solve the end user's problem.

- Everything is located in the Zendesk suite, which allows for easy access to past conversations and keeping track of tickets, agents, reports, etc.

Cons:

- The primary downside with this option is that a Zendesk Chat Enterprise-level subscription is needed which, depending on your amount of agents, can end up being a relatively pricy affair.

- A secondary downside with this option is that the Zendesk widget has some limitations when it comes to styling and supporting the rendering of Cards (not the same flexibility as with BotXO widget) or media elements in the chat.

• Use BotXO widget to connect to Zendesk Support:

When you use the BotXO Widget, it circumvents the need for a Zendesk Chat subscription and instead makes use of webhooks to interact with Zendesk Support to create, update and close tickets. Because the BotXO Widget does not connect to Zendesk Chat, that means that the conversations are stored on the BotXO server, and are available through the BotXO Platform. In case you want them to be attached to your ZD tickets, you can easily achieve that using Webhooks to post messages live as the conversation happens.

Pros:

- Besides the economic upside, the BotXO Widget offers a fully flexible widget, that you can customize to your heart's content. The BotXO Widget, unlike the Zendesk Widget, also offers the ability to render many types of media elements in the chat.

Cons:

- Using the BotXO Widget does, however, mean that you are not able to use the handover-functionality.