Ticketing
Part of Support software costs
Reviewing unused agent licences before renewal
Reconcile paid support seats with required work, hand over cases and confirm when a lower licence count takes effect.
Reconcile paid agent seats with the people who need them next term. A quiet login warrants investigation; it is not proof that a licence can be removed. The person may cover a seasonal queue, administer the account or authorise an integration.
A person can also leave while their paid seat remains committed. Check both the work and the subscription.
Make a renewal seat register
Get the current subscription, renewal date and committed seat count from the billing owner. Match paid roles to the staffing and coverage plan for the next term.
Register field / Decision it supports
- Person and paid role
- Does their work still require this role?
- Last sign-in and case activity
- Is the account used, dormant or used for another task?
- Open cases and queue cover
- Who will take over the next customer action?
- Rules and integrations
- Does a connection or assignment depend on this account?
- Subscription status
- Is the seat assigned, spare or committed?
- Proposed action
- Keep, reassign, change role or request fewer seats
Review administrators and supervisors as well as frontline agents. Distinguish a freed role from a reduced invoice.
Check what removal changes
Zendesk's Team members page shows seat use and can filter by last sign-in. Reassign non-closed tickets before removing an agent; otherwise they return to the group. A role change and a subscription seat reduction are separate steps.
Direct seat removal is available for eligible self-service accounts; other account types use different routes. Reducing seats also reduces the associated storage allowance, so check headroom first.
Freshdesk offers deactivation or deletion to free up agent licences. If you request a plan downgrade, deactivate or delete enough agents before the next billing cycle; otherwise, the request might be rejected.
Arrange the case handover, account change and subscription change separately.
For Help Scout, establish the billing model first. On user-based billing plans, each user shown in the account counts towards monthly per-user billing.
In a contact-based account, the plan includes a number of contacts helped, with the contact tier based on usage. A change to team access is not itself a change to that contact tier.
Intercom's pricing page lists per-seat pricing for its plans and includes Lite seats with Advanced and Expert. Confirm in your account how a proposed seat change affects the subscription and renewal quote.
Agent licence management across support platforms
- ZendeskUse Team members page to filter by last sign-in; reassign tickets before removal; seat reduction affects storage allowance
- FreshdeskDeactivate or delete agents to free seats; downgrade request must be submitted before next billing cycle to avoid rejection
- Help ScoutUser-based plans bill per user; contact-based plans use tiered contact volume; team access changes don’t alter contact tier
- IntercomPer-seat pricing includes Lite, Advanced and Expert tiers; confirm impact on subscription and renewal quote via account dashboard
Submit a verifiable renewal decision
For each proposed change, name the new case owner, queue coverage and any rule or app owner. Compare people needing paid access next term, paid seats currently assigned and seats on the renewal quote.
Ask the billing administrator or provider to confirm the revised count and effective date. Compare the next invoice with that agreement.
