Customers today expect instant answers and seamless support, and a well-structured knowledge base is like the compass that guides them to the solutions they need. By offering easily accessible content, it empowers users to resolve their own queries.
However, to truly thrive in providing modern customer service, companies need more than just a knowledge base — they need a human-centric platform where a knowledge base serves as just one critical piece of the puzzle. This guide will dive into the essential features and functionalities of leading knowledge bases, helping you choose the right solution tailored to your service model.
What is knowledge base software?
Knowledge base software solutions are digital platforms designed to organize, store, manage, and share information within or outside of an organization. They serve as a centralized repository for all types of knowledge, including FAQs, troubleshooting guides, product documentation, training materials, and best practices.
A strong and well-organized knowledge base can have a great effect on both customer service for external customers and also efficiency of internal teams. For teams working with customers, setting up a knowledge base can relieve pressure from the customer service team and free up time for more complex queries.
To be a modern leader in customer service, you need to offer a solution that goes beyond a traditional knowledge base. Front, a modern customer service solution, offers a knowledge base as a core feature alongside its omnichannel inbox, robust analytics, and automated workflows. Modern support teams today use knowledge bases as one piece of the puzzle to deliver the most exceptional support.
Different types of knowledge base software
The landscape of knowledge base tools offers solutions tailored to a wide range of team needs and objectives. These tools play a crucial role in both internal operations and external customer experiences.
Here are some of the main types of knowledge base software solutions:
Internal knowledge base software: Internal knowledge base software streamlines internal communication and operations and is designed to centralize and organize essential resources, documentation, and information that employees need to perform their roles effectively. HR departments may use knowledge base tools to store employee policies, benefits information, and onboarding resources, while IT departments use them to document troubleshooting procedures and technical documentation. Customer service teams use internal knowledge bases to search for answers they need to customer questions on their own without needing to loop in a teammate.
External knowledge base software: External knowledge bases serve as self-help portals for customers, featuring FAQs, tutorials, product documentation, and troubleshooting guides. Their role is to reduce direct inquiries to support team members and help customers find their own answers, speeding time to inquiry resolution and improving customer satisfaction.
AI-enhanced knowledge base software: Artificial intelligence plays an important role in knowledge bases, enhancing search functionality, personalizing user experiences, and continuously improving content relevance through user interaction analysis.
Multimedia knowledge base software: Some knowledge base software solutions incorporate multimedia elements like videos, images, and infographics, making complex information more accessible and engaging for users.
Community-driven knowledge base software: Community-driven platforms, where users contribute to and enrich the knowledge base, foster a collaborative support ecosystem through forums and peer assistance channels.
The top 7 knowledge base software solutions
Best for holistic, modern customer service: Front
Best for transactional customer service: Zendesk
Best for providing an internal single space for organization: Notion
Best for streamlining internal information sharing: Guru
Best for companies using Zoho products: Zoho Desk
Best for larger enterprises looking for single-purpose knowledge base software: Helpjuice
Best for chat-based approach: Intercom
Front
Front emerges as the leader in this category with its easy-to-use knowledge base. Front’s knowledge base enables customers to quickly resolve questions on their own, freeing up time for the customer service team. It’s a single source of truth for both internal and external parties. It enables scalability — reducing service costs without sacrificing quality.
Core features include:
Front Chat integration: Front users can connect their knowledge base to Front Chat so customers can toggle between the knowledge base and your support team.
No code: With Front, teams can organize multi-layered categories, ensure quality content with versioning, and publish from one place. Multimedia is also possible and users can embed images, videos, tables, code blocks, and more with a rich text editor.
Not just one knowledge base: Got different audiences or multiple brands? Front enables you to tailor a knowledge base for each.
Designed to your brand: Front’s knowledge base is customized to the look and feel of your help center with your logos, and brand colors.
Front customer Archetype Themes, the leader in Shopify website themes, uses its knowledge base to guide customers on setting up and customizing their themes. The knowledge base’s clean design showcases a premium experience customized to their brand. The color scheme matches their brand palette, creating a consistent look and feel. Meanwhile, the hero image subtly illustrates their product offering without distracting from the primary purpose: getting customers the answers they need.
After evaluating the Front Knowledge Base against several other options, we decided to move forward with Front because of the integration with the customer support features and their aggressive roadmap. It was ultimately an easy decision for us.
Simplissimmo, a leading provider of furnished property management services, uses its Front knowledge base to help customers with check-in and payments and basic hotel information. The team set up a sophisticated chatbot in their Front Chat as their self-service support. Customers can ask questions within the Front Chat widget, and the chatbot will offer help center articles based on a programmed conversation flow. This provides faster resolutions while deflecting more straightforward inquiries from the support team.
Discover more ways Front customers use their knowledge base.
Although Front’s knowledge base offers extensive capabilities, Front as a modern customer service solution is so much more than that. It leads the pack because it was purpose-built for the next generation of customer service, with features including:
Omnichannel inbox to answer from any channel in one place: Front enables teams to match customers’ preferred channel without leaving Front — so their experience stays seamless. When your apps are consolidated into Front, you can respond faster especially with the help of automated workflows.
Live chat and AI answers: AI Answers in Front’s live chat feature is just a few clicks away — simply connect your knowledge base for AI to source from. Scale up support with AI resolving customer inquiries automatically, giving time back to your team.
“We’re seeing resolution rates up to 51% with AI Answers, which is amazing! However, it’s really all about CX for us. We’re just happy customers are getting faster and more consistent resolutions in chat.” –Eric Finch, Director of Operations, Boundless
Integrations to centralize your work: Front provides 110+ integrations and one platform for all channels. Save time juggling multiple channels like WhatsApp, Dialpad, or Twilio when there’s one shared space to manage them all.
Automation and workflows to improve efficiency: Streamline workflows to resolve customer conversations faster. Front automated workflows automatically loop in the right team members or transfer messages to another department based on keywords, priority, customer data, and more.
Analytics for insights, including from your knowledge base: Measure performance to uplevel your customer experience while improving efficiency for your business. Teams using Front can deliver top-notch customer service by tracking service level agreement (SLA) effectiveness, identifying bottlenecks, and understanding visitor activity to guide and improve content strategy.
Front G2 rating: 4.7 / 5
Pricing: Starting at $19/seat/month
Zendesk
Zendesk’s knowledge base software allows users to create and publish help center articles that let customers find answers on their own. Its solution can scan text across various channels with Zendesk Answer Bot to suggest relevant articles to your customers.
Its software can be used internally as an IT or HR knowledge base and also as a customer-facing help center.
Zendesk G2 rating: 4.3 / 5
Pricing: Starting at $19/agent/month
Notion
Notion is a productivity tool that offers a wide range of features, including the ability to create and manage knowledge bases. While some companies publish their Notion documents externally as a simplistic customer knowledge base, Notion is purpose built for internal knowledge and a better fit for this use case.
Notion’s knowledge base functionality allows users to organize and store information, documents, notes, and resources in a centralized location. Users can create pages, sub-pages, and databases with thousands of pre-built templates to structure their knowledge base according to their needs and preferences.
Notion G2 rating: 4.7 / 5
Pricing: Starting at $0/month with limited features
Guru
Guru is a knowledge management platform designed to help teams capture, organize, and share knowledge. It serves as a centralized repository for important information, documentation, and best practices, enabling teams to access the knowledge they need quickly and easily. It’s specifically designed for internal knowledge management and not a fit for someone looking for a customer-facing knowledge base.
Guru offers robust organization and search capabilities. Users can organize knowledge into cards, which can be tagged, categorized, and grouped into collections based on topic, team, or project. Knowledge owners can set expiration dates for knowledge cards, prompting reviewers to verify the accuracy of the information on a regular basis.
Guru G2 rating: 4.7 / 5
Pricing: Starting at $10/user/month
Zoho Desk
Zoho Desk, part of the larger suite of Zoho products, is a customer support software that includes a knowledge base feature. The Zoho Desk knowledge base allows businesses to provide comprehensive and easily accessible support resources like articles, FAQs, guides, and tutorials.
The Zoho Desk knowledge base is customizable, enabling users to create a separate category for each of their brands and a sub-category for brand-specific topics. Users can intelligently edit existing content by evaluating views, likes, dislikes, article usage metrics, and customer feedback.
Zoho Desk G2 rating: 4.4 / 5
Pricing: Starting at $14/user/month
Helpjuice
Helpjuice is a knowledge management software platform that can help businesses organize and manage content. Helpjuice offers a Google-like search, so users can quickly find what they need.
Helpjuice users can craft articles utilizing the built-in editor and publishing interface, enabling them to swiftly add content. Analytics and data like total searches, found answers, and total contacted support allow teams to understand what’s missing and what can be improved.
Helpjuice G2 rating: 4.5 / 5
Pricing: Starting at $120/month
Intercom
Intercom, a customer messaging platform, offers a knowledge base with features like article categorization and tagging, rich formatting, and search functionality.
The knowledge base integrates with other Intercom features, such as live chat and messaging, to provide a unified support experience for customers.
Intercom G2 rating: 4.5 / 5
Pricing: Starting at $39/user/month
Benefits of knowledge base software
Knowledge base software solutions offer organizations a centralized repository for storing and organizing information, facilitating knowledge sharing among employees, and enhancing customer support through self-service portals. By providing easy access to critical information and resources, knowledge base software empowers organizations to improve collaboration and achieve business objectives more efficiently.
Core benefits of knowledge base software solutions include:
Enhanced customer self-service: Knowledge bases offer 24/7 assistance, without the need for direct human interaction.
Streamlined internal efficiency: Knowledge bases improve internal workflows, speed up onboarding processes, and enhance team productivity.
Reduced workload for support teams: With self-service tools like knowledge bases in place, support teams reduce time spent on repetitive inquiries and can spend more time on complex inquiries and scenarios.
Continuous improvement through analytics: Knowledge base platforms equipped with analytics offer insights into user behavior, popular content, and areas for improvement.
Global reach and scalability: Do more with less. Knowledge bases enable businesses to efficiently manage a growing volume of inquiries and expand their support to a global audience without proportionally increasing resources. Knowledge bases can also host translated content to serve users in multiple languages.
Consistency and accuracy in information: Keeping it all in one place helps organize and manage a single, authoritative source of information.
Choosing the right partner for your knowledge base software
As businesses grow, so do the number of customer inquiries and support requests. Knowledge bases enable organizations to scale their support efforts efficiently by providing a resource that can handle an increasing volume of queries without a proportional increase in resources. Internally, knowledge bases serve as valuable tools to centralize and make accessible all of a company’s most important resources so employees can do their roles effectively.
To be a leader in customer service, investing in a knowledge base is just the first step — finding an all-encompassing modern customer service partner, like Front, is the ultimate goal.
guide: How to create AI-friendly help center articles
This guide showcases how leading service teams prepare their knowledge base to train AI and deliver 5-star customer service.
Written by Sara Shaughnessy
Originally Published: 7 March 2024