Same 40 tickets · three tools · one winner · Ridgeline Outfitters

Helpdesk bake-off: three tools, five rounds

Local time--:--:--terminal hall

Numbers — the tally board and the three gates

Rounds played
0 → 5
Rounds won by Tool B "Ridge"
0 → 4
Setup time
Tool A 6 h · Tool B 2 h · Tool C 1.5 h
Monthly cost
Tool A $890 · Tool B $570 · Tool C $430
Median reply time in the test
A 7 min · B 3 min · C 4 min
Orders visible inside a ticket
A no · B yes · C partial
Reporting only · 1 of 5
AGate
Tool A
Setup
6 h
Monthly
$890
Reply time
7 min
Order in ticket
no
Winner · 4 of 5 · adopted
BGate
Tool B “Ridge”
Setup
2 h
Monthly
$570
Reply time
3 min
Order in ticket
full
Cheapest seat · 0 of 5
CGate
Tool C
Setup
1.5 h
Monthly
$430
Reply time
4 min
Order in ticket
partial

Rounds — the departures board

  1. Setup and import — winner B (2 h, clean import); C faster but partial
  2. Order data inside the ticket — winner B (full order + tracking)
  3. Macros and saved replies — winner B
  4. Mobile app for warehouse staff — winner B
  5. Reporting — winner A (deepest), B enough
  6. Tie-break: cost per seat — C cheapest, B middle
  7. Decision — B "Ridge" adopted, 6 seats
  8. Losers thanked, trials cancelled — DONE
Departures · round 1 boarding--:--
FlightDestination · roundTimeGate · toolRemarks
Info

Attention in the hall: round 1, setup and import, is now boarding at all gates.

Gate information screen

Gate B · RidgeGate information · bake-off week

We ran the same 40 real tickets through each tool for a week. Tool A had the best reports and the worst everything else. Tool C was cheapest and fastest to set up but showed half an order. Tool B showed the whole order next to the message, which is the one thing a support person actually needs.

The decision was made on round 2 and confirmed by rounds 3 and 4. Reporting we can do ourselves from the export.

40 tickets · 3 tools · 5 roundsRound 1 boarding

Boarding pass — adopt Tool B

Boarding passAdopt · Tool B “Ridge”
Passengersupport@
GateB
Seats6
BoardsMon 07:00
  1. Cancel trials A and C; export nothing, they hold no real data.
  2. Import the 40 test tickets into B as closed.
  3. Create the 6 seats; two are warehouse mobile-only.
  4. Move the 12 saved replies; delete the 30 nobody used.
  5. Point support@ at B on Monday 07:00.
FlightRIDGE 06
GateB
Seats6 · 2 mobile
Won4 of 5

Timetable — criterion by tool

Timetable · three toolsCriterion · Tool A · Tool B “Ridge” · Tool C
CriterionTool ATool B “Ridge”Tool C
Setup6 h2 h1.5 h
Order in ticketnofullpartial
Reply time7 min3 min4 min
Monthly$890$570$430

ATC strips — the commands

Flight progress strips · bay 2basecamp
BKO 05score
basecamp bakeoff score --rounds 5     # A 1 · B 4 · C 0
CLEARED
EXP 40export
basecamp bakeoff export B --tickets 40
CLEARED
RTE 07route
basecamp mail route support@ --to ridge
MON 07:00
“Decided on round two. Confirmed by three and four.”

Click a flight to read its round on the info line · T flies the rounds · S settings

exit