[Customer service & support]() / [Use cases]() / [Platform choice]() [How it works]() [What you get]() [Scope]() [Start a review]() [Customer service & support]()[People & coverage]() # Choose an AI support platform on your own conversations. A shortlist tested on your own conversations, with each vendor’s definition of “resolved” and the full monthly cost side by side. [Start with a support review]() [How it works]() What counts as resolved Platform Counts as resolved Doesn’t check Intercom Fin Confirmed or assumed, or a configured handoff Whether a handoff finished the job Gorgias No human involved for 72 hours Whether the refund or stop happened Zendesk Contained, or “verified” by an AI assessment Your warehouse or payment record How three platforms define “resolved” as of October 2026, and what each one doesn’t check. Your finance lead reads this first. ## Sound familiar? - Three vendors quote three prices for “a resolution.” - Every demo shows a happy path, never your cancellation or your carrier. - Switching costs more than the quote says. Pick on a demo and you pay a fee for every resolution, including the ones your business has to redo. ## What changes. ShowTodayWith the engine Evidence Vendor demos Your own conversations, replayed Price A per-resolution rate The all-in monthly cost, handoffs included Definition Whatever the vendor counts Done in your order, warehouse and payment records Decision A feature list A shortlist with acceptance cases and a baseline ## How it works. 5 steps, 4 stages. - AI**1** - Rules and automation**3** - Your team**1** - Approval 1. 1 Baseline 1. Rules and automation ### Baseline today’s contacts Volume by request type, cost and repeat contact, from your helpdesk. - Gorgias - Zendesk - Intercom 2. 2 Test 1. AI ### Replay real conversations on each platform The same cases, including the hard ones, run through each shortlisted AI. 2. Rules and automation ### Check what actually happened An answer that sounds right doesn’t pass. The action has to happen. 3. 3 Price 1. Rules and automation ### Model the all-in monthly cost Seats, resolution fees, handoffs and the work that stays with your team. 4. 4 Decide 1. Your team Approval ### Choose, or stay put Staying with what you have is a valid result. Renewals reuse the same acceptance cases ## What you get. Real work, every week. Acceptance cases Same cases, every platform 40 real conversations, replayed on each shortlisted platform. Cases Cancel before the pick, address change, delivery problem, returns question, product question Pass means The action shows in the order system Also priced Seats, resolution fees and handoffs Decision A shortlist of one, with its cost on 9,800 contacts a month The acceptance cases. Every platform gets the same real conversations, judged on what happened. Before you sign - The definition of a resolution, in writing - Whether handoffs are billed - Channels: email, chat, SMS and social DMs - Cancel and refund tested on your orders In the trial - The all-in price at your volume What to settle in writing before you sign. ## How you’ll know it’s working. 1. Cases that pass on each platform Out of the same real conversations, judged on what happened. 2. All-in cost per finished request Fees, seats, handoffs and the work left for your team. 3. Switching effort The channels, history, macros and reporting you’d have to move. Baselines agreed before we build. ## Works with what you have. Support - Gorgias - Zendesk - Intercom - Assembled Commerce - Shopify We configure first Often the answer is the platform you already pay for, configured properly. We test it first, and only then compare. We build when You’re choosing or renewing, vendors define “resolved” differently, and you need a comparison that doesn’t depend on any of them. ## What a first build includes. Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start. 1. 1 Design 2. 2 Build [Start with a review]() [Scope this build]() ### We build - A baseline of your contacts, cost and repeat rate - Acceptance cases drawn from your real conversations - A side-by-side of definitions and the all-in price - A recommendation, including staying put ### We start from - Helpdesk access and a month of conversations - Current contracts and invoices - A list of the channels and actions you need ### From your team Owner CX lead, with finance Involves - Customer service - Finance - Engineering ## Questions teams ask. Do you recommend a platform? We recommend what passes your cases at the lowest all-in cost, which is often the one you already have. Is Shopify’s free AI staff member enough? For storefront questions and order lookups on supported plans, often. It doesn’t establish refund execution or other channels, so we test it against the rest of your requests before adding anything. Prices change often. How do you handle that? We use written quotes and billing terms for your account, not a pricing page. Plan migrations are account-specific, so we ask each vendor to confirm yours. Who owns it once it’s running? You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your CX lead, with finance. We can keep running it with you, or step back. How do we start? Usually with a support review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly. ## Part of your support engine. One of 12 use cases, in 6 parts. [See the whole support engine]() 1. [Order changes **2**]() 2. [Delivery & returns **2**]() 3. [Product help **2**]() 4. [Knowledge **2**]() 5. [Quality & proof **2**]() 6. [People & coverage **2**]() In people & coverage - [**Coverage planning**Plan coverage across your team, AI and your BPO]() - **Platform choice**You’re here Works with - [**Verified resolution**Check that AI and agents actually finished the job]() - [**Agent assist**Give your team source-linked answers and the next step]() ## Choose on your own conversations. Start with a support review. [Start with a support review]() [**Talk it through first**15 minutes]() We reply within one business day. --- Source: [https://www.thekeating.co/use-cases/support-platform-choice/]() [Contact Keating & Co](mailto:nelson@thekeating.co) · [Agent guidance](https://www.thekeating.co/llms.txt)