Duration: 25:58
PART 1 — Analytical Summary 🚀
Title: Ask a Human: from tickets to live support!
Speaker: Odoo’s head of Support (responsible for Internal/Business Support)
Context: A behind-the-scenes look at Odoo’s shift from traditional ticketing to real-time, human-powered assistance — what changed, why it matters, and what’s next.
💼 Context — who’s speaking, what’s being announced, and why it matters
Odoo has rethought how users reach Support. Historically, customers opened tickets or used a generic live chat meant for website visitors. With requests swelling to 2,000/day (January 2025) and satisfaction lagging, Odoo pivoted to a new model: Ask a Human via Live Support directly on the support portal (odoo.com/help). The talk walks through the transformation, operational trade-offs, and early results. It’s relevant for any team grappling with scale, responsiveness, and customer satisfaction.
🧠 Core ideas & innovations — narrative of the change
The key idea is to replace slow, FIFO-style ticket handling with instant, human conversations. Instead of waiting days or weeks for investigations, users connect in real time with Live Support agents who can screen-share, clarify context, triage emergencies, and gather complete information on the spot. The service routes by language and application expertise, balancing the comfort of native-language support with the complexity of staffing globally. Crucially, Live Support is complemented — not replaced — by tickets: when no agent is free, the flow gracefully falls back to a ticket, and deeper bug work still transitions to R&D with full reproduction steps.
The shift didn’t emerge overnight. After years of considering live chat on customer databases, a December discussion with CEO Fabien Pinckaers reframed the idea: put it on the support page so all customers — SaaS, Odoo.sh, and on‑prem — can reach a human. Two quick test days followed. The result: a company-wide go‑live within two months, with ~700 people across India, Dubai, Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain (Valencia), the US (Buffalo/San Francisco), and Mexico City enabling near 24/6 coverage. Odoo iterated weekly: Fabien and leaders personally joined chats, funneling product feedback to improve Live Chat and the support experience.
⚙️ Impact & takeaways — what’s improved, automated, or simplified
The outcomes are striking. Overall support tickets dropped from ~2,000/day to ~1,200/day — a 40% reduction — while Live Support volume surged to ~2,500 chats/day on average. The legacy live chat CSAT, once at 56.2%, rose to 73.7% under the new approach. Phone requests halved, as agents guide callers to Live Support, where screen sharing accelerates resolution and understanding.
Operationally, the team surfaces emergencies faster and resolves more issues in-session. When issues require investigation, the live conversation captures precise context, enabling higher-quality follow‑ups. Internally, onboarding now includes Live Support alongside a three-month rotation through core apps (CRM, Sales, Accounting, etc.), building both product breadth and real-time problem-solving skills. Partners can use Live Support, on‑prem customers are included via screen sharing, and data access remains controlled and consent‑based. Bug fixes still route to R&D; Support confirms and reproduces issues first.
Looking ahead, Odoo is focused on consistency of quality worldwide, responsiveness without overwhelming teams, and prudent growth. AI will help — especially for language flexibility — and improvements targeted for Odoo 19 (e.g., better buffers and agent load controls) will refine the queues and experience. Odoo has tested broader availability beyond the help page; a brief incident showed demand doubling to ~4,000/day, validating interest but also highlighting the need to scale staffing and tooling before expanding site‑wide or to true 24/7 coverage.
Key concepts to note: Ask a Human, Live Support, Live Chat, R&D triage, screen sharing, odoo.com/help, Odoo 19 enhancements — all working together to deliver faster human answers while keeping deep fixes in the right pipeline. The result: a simpler, more empathetic support journey that measurably boosts satisfaction without sacrificing quality.
PART 2 — Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo’s vision.
We’ve long believed great software should feel simple. Support should feel the same. Moving from tickets to real conversations shortens the distance between a user’s problem and the person who can solve it. The two‑month rollout wasn’t about speed for its own sake — it was our iterative culture at work: ship, listen, improve. The rise in CSAT tells us customers value humans who can see their screen and truly understand their context.
The next step is consistency at scale. We’ll keep improving Live Chat and the Ask a Human flow, and we’ll use AI where it reduces friction — particularly languages — without losing the human touch. For me, the magic is how support feedback loops back into product quality. When we integrate tools and teams tightly, everyone wins: users, partners, and the community.
PART 3 — Viewpoint: Competitors (SAP / Microsoft / Others)
Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
Synchronous support at Odoo’s user scale is ambitious — and the metrics are encouraging. Real-time human triage can improve satisfaction, reduce backlog, and surface critical incidents faster. The challenge will be maintaining consistency across regions and languages, reaching true 24/7, and embedding governance: SLAs, auditability, access controls, and well-defined escalation into engineering. Regulated industries will expect those disciplines.
To differentiate, Odoo will need to productize this model: robust queueing, capacity forecasting, and knowledge management integrated with development cycles. On-prem constraints, security permissions, and compliance frameworks (e.g., data residency) must be crystal clear. If they balance enterprise rigor with Odoo’s strong UX and integration, this approach can become a signature advantage — not just a support channel, but a user experience multiplier.
PART 4 — Blog Footer Disclaimer
Disclaimer: This article contains AI-generated summaries and fictionalized commentaries for illustrative purposes. Viewpoints labeled as "Odoo Perspective" or "Competitors" are simulated and do not represent any real statements or positions. All product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.