OneDesk

Overall Opinion: The process of taking a new product from the design phase all the way through the implementation and distribution can be an exceedingly complicated task. The workflow can involve a dozen tasks and individuals, and having to navigate through the complicated procedures to make sure everyone's on the same page and working efficiently can cost managers a lot of time that could be better utilized elsewhere. OneDesk takes the complication out of managing your project, serving as a direct line of communication between your management, members of your team, and your prospective customer base. OneDesk is split into three components that can be purchased separately or used as one smooth package. These cover project management, product management, and customer service features. The product management end of things helps you streamline the process of developing your product and transform it from the seed of an idea into a fully featured product ready for distribution. Brainstorming is a major part of any product management process, and winnowing down a vast selection of ideas to a compact feature set that's achievable without the worries of creep is simplified with these product management tools. Enhancement requests can be pulled from your email account, website portal, and a range of other sources so you can get all your ideas together in one place. This enhances the collaboration process, facilitates communications, and helps you hone in on the best ideas for your given product. Robust analytics help you further evaluate the benefits and potential pitfalls of each. Once you've settled on the most sustainable features and specs, you can easily create a roadmap for development through OneDesk's interface and then set up a communications platform that lets you and your invested customers follow the project as it progresses. These communications serve as the cornerstone of project development. Making sure everyone is on the same page is integral to a smooth workflow, and OneDesk gives you the tools you need to accomplish this goal. Traditional project management workflows and agile development task boards are both incorporated into the software, and they integrate together nicely. Task assignments can be applied to any team members through the calendar, and those involved in the process can even make notes or have conversations in regards to how the task is developing. Customer engagement can be a useful barometer for how your product sells, and that's why OneDesk allows managers to integrate their customers directly into the development process and make changes after launch. A customer portal integrates directly with your OneDesk dashboard, expediting the process of ticket management and letting your customers provide you with comments and suggestions directly. OneDesk can similarly transfer emails directly into your ticket database, at which point they can be converted into tasks and assigned to your engineering and development teams.

Pros: Unifies three of the most important aspects of a product's development and deployment Tiered subscription plan scales to the demands of a variety of businesses

Cons: No option to get in touch with customer service through live chat No support for mobile devices and no alternative browser-based platform