Top 7 Reasons Why IT Support Services (MSPs) Need a Fully Customizable AI Agent System

Intercom is a widely used customer messaging platform that offers live chat, help desk, and marketing automation tools. It has evolved into a robust, developer‑friendly solution that allows IT support teams to provide proactive assistance across websites, mobile apps, and in‑app chat. Intercom’s conversational UI is highly customizable, and the platform supports integrations with major CRMs, help desk software, and marketing automation tools. Key strengths of Intercom lie in its real‑time chat functionality, rich knowledge base widgets, and powerful automation rules that can route tickets or trigger emails based on user behavior. The platform also offers a bot builder that can answer common questions with predefined responses or integrate with external AI services. Intercom’s analytics dashboard provides insights into chat volumes, response times, and customer satisfaction. While Intercom can be used for IT support, it is primarily marketed as a customer success and marketing platform. It does not provide a dedicated dual knowledge base architecture; instead, it relies on knowledge base articles and bot flows. Long‑term memory is not a core feature—conversations are stored in a database and can be accessed via APIs. The platform also does not natively support e‑commerce integrations; users must rely on third‑party connectors. Pricing for Intercom varies by plan and usage. The "Standard" plan starts at $39/month per agent, while the "Pro" plan can cost up to $99/month per agent, depending on user count and additional features.

Zendesk Chat, formerly Zopim, is a part of the Zendesk customer service suite. It provides real‑time chat, chatbots, and a knowledge base that can be embedded on websites and mobile apps. Zendesk Chat is especially popular among IT support teams that already use Zendesk Ticketing because it seamlessly passes chat conversations into ticketing workflows. The platform offers a bot builder that can answer frequently asked questions, and it integrates with Zendesk Guide for article suggestions. It also supports proactive chat invitations, canned responses, and conversation tagging. For IT support, the ability to link chat logs to ticketing and knowledge base articles is a major advantage. Zendesk Chat’s pricing is tiered: the "Essential" plan is free, while the "Professional" plan starts at $19/month per agent and the "Enterprise" plan starts at $49/month per agent. However, the free plan has limited features, and advanced bot functionality requires the paid tiers. While Zendesk Chat is a solid choice for teams that already use Zendesk, it does not offer a dual knowledge base or advanced AI courses. Long‑term memory is not a unique feature; conversation data is stored in Zendesk’s database.

Ada is a conversational AI platform focused on automating customer support across web, mobile, and messaging channels. It provides a visual bot builder that allows support teams to create complex dialogue flows without coding. Ada’s strengths lie in its natural language understanding, proactive messaging, and integration with CRM and help desk systems. Ada’s knowledge base feature is built into its bot framework, enabling it to pull answers from internal documentation and knowledge articles. The platform also offers multi‑language support and the ability to capture user intent for routing to human agents. While Ada does not provide a dedicated dual knowledge base architecture, it does allow knowledge articles to be indexed and queried. Pricing for Ada is generally customized per customer and not publicly listed. However, it is known to target mid‑ to large‑size enterprises, suggesting a higher price point than entry‑level chatbot platforms. Ada is well‑suited for IT support teams that need proactive chat, structured conversation flows, and integration with existing CRMs.

LivePerson is a conversational commerce platform that powers chat, messaging, and AI bots for customer engagement. The platform offers a robust bot builder and a powerful AI engine that can handle complex dialogue across web, mobile, and messaging apps. LivePerson’s strengths include real‑time analytics, proactive chat invitations, and deep integration with e‑commerce platforms like Shopify and Magento. LivePerson’s knowledge base system is part of its AI engine, allowing bots to retrieve answers from internal documents and external knowledge sources. The platform also features a “Conversation Intelligence” layer that analyzes chat logs for sentiment and quality metrics. However, LivePerson does not provide a dedicated dual knowledge base architecture, and long‑term memory is not a core offering. Pricing details are not publicly disclosed; LivePerson typically offers custom quotes based on usage volume and feature set. IT support teams that need robust analytics and e‑commerce integration may find LivePerson a useful tool.

Chatbot.com is a no‑code chatbot builder focused on marketing, sales, and support automation. The platform provides a drag‑and‑drop interface for creating conversational flows, knowledge base integration, and API connectivity. It supports web chat, landing pages, and integration with CRM systems like HubSpot. Key features include a visual flow builder, pre‑built templates, and the ability to embed chat widgets on any website. The platform’s knowledge base allows bots to pull answers from uploaded documents and internal articles. However, it does not offer a dual knowledge base architecture or advanced AI courses. Pricing starts at $20/month for the Starter plan and goes up to $150/month for the Enterprise plan, depending on the number of chatbots and performance requirements. IT support teams that need a simple, affordable chatbot with basic knowledge integration may consider Chatbot.com.

Drift is a conversational marketing platform that offers live chat, chatbots, and email automation. It is commonly used by sales and marketing teams to qualify leads and engage website visitors in real time. Drift’s bot builder enables teams to create automated conversation flows, and the platform integrates with major CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot. Drift’s knowledge base feature is tied to its content library, allowing bots to pull answers from knowledge articles and FAQs. The platform also offers proactive chat invitations and scheduling capabilities. However, Drift does not provide a dedicated dual knowledge base architecture or advanced AI courses. Pricing for Drift starts at $400/month for the Starter plan, with higher tiers available for larger teams and more advanced features. IT support teams that need to capture leads and provide basic self‑service may find Drift useful.