Free tool · Support metrics
Help desk ROI calculator
Plug in ticket volume, handle time and agent cost to see savings, payback period and cost per ticket before and after.
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About this tool
Help desk ROI calculator: how it works
Vendor ROI calculators tend to hide their math. This one shows it. Agent hours on tickets = tickets x handle time. AI takes a share of tickets off the queue entirely, and the rest get faster through drafted replies, auto tags and routing. Hours saved x hourly cost is the monthly saving. Subtract the software and you have the net benefit.
Use a fully loaded hourly cost, not the wage. Benefits, tools and management usually put it 30% above salary. For handle time, use the time an agent actually spends on a ticket, not the time until it closes.
The AI resolution rate moves the result more than anything else, so be conservative. 20% to 40% is what teams usually see once an AI agent is trained on their docs. Measure your real number after a month with the support funnel calculator, then come back and rerun this.
What it does
- Separate levers for AI resolution and agent time saved
- First-year ROI and payback period
- Cost per ticket before and after
- Agent capacity freed in full-time equivalents
- Currency switch and printable estimate
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Automate tickets, AI agents and inboxes from your own code.
FAQ
Help desk ROI calculator: common questions
How do you calculate help desk ROI?
First-year ROI = (12 months of savings - first-year cost) / first-year cost x 100. First-year cost is 12 months of software plus the one-time setup. Savings are agent hours saved times the hourly cost.
What AI resolution rate should I assume?
Start at 20% if you have a decent help center, 30% to 40% if most tickets are repeat questions like order status, password resets or billing. Below 10% usually means the AI does not have the right sources yet.
How long does help desk software take to pay off?
With a small setup cost it is often the first month or two. The payback period is setup cost / net monthly benefit. If savings do not cover the subscription, the calculator says so instead of showing a negative number of months.
Does saving agent time mean cutting the team?
Usually not. Most teams use the freed hours to absorb growth without hiring, cover more hours of the day or spend longer on hard tickets. The capacity number tells you how many hires you can skip.
What does Ticketdesk cost?
Plans start at $29 a month and include an AI agent, API access and reporting. See pricing for AI credits and seats per plan, then enter the plan price as the software cost.