Interactive Front Demo
Walk through an interactive demo of Front, a customer communication platform that brings shared inboxes, email, and team chat into one workspace. See how conversations get assigned, commented on, and resolved without forwarding threads or switching tools.
What is Front?
Front is a customer communication platform built around shared inboxes. Instead of every message landing in one person's email, channels like support@, sales@, or a Gmail account get pulled into a workspace the whole team can see, assign, and reply from. It looks close enough to a normal email client that people pick it up quickly, but underneath it behaves like a help desk.
The part that changes how teams work is collaboration on the message itself. You can comment on a conversation, @mention a colleague, and draft a reply together without any of that showing up to the customer. Assignments make it clear who owns a thread, so two people don't answer the same email and nothing sits unclaimed for a day. Front also pulls in more than just email. Live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, social messages, and shared Slack-style team channels can all live in the same place, which means a customer's history follows them across channels.
On top of that, Front handles the routine help-desk machinery: rules that route messages by keyword or sender, canned responses, SLA timers, and analytics on response time and volume. There's an API and a set of integrations for connecting CRM and ticketing data, plus support for embedding interactive content. A team explaining a multi-step process over email can drop in a Supademo walkthrough so the customer follows along by clicking through it instead of parsing a long reply.
How to get started with Front
- 1
Sign up and start a trial
Create an account at front.com. Front runs on paid plans with a free trial rather than a permanent free tier, so the trial is where you decide if it fits. That window is enough to connect a real inbox and see how the team actually works inside it.
- 2
Connect your inboxes and channels
Add the email addresses you want the team to share, like support@ or a Gmail account, and connect any other channels you use such as live chat, SMS, or WhatsApp. Each one becomes a shared inbox in Front. This is the step that turns scattered conversations into a single workspace.
- 3
Invite teammates and set who owns what
Bring in the people who'll work the inboxes and decide how conversations get assigned. Front lets you assign manually or have it happen automatically, and assignment is what stops two agents from replying to the same customer or a message going unanswered.
- 4
Set up rules and canned responses
Build rules that route incoming messages by sender, keyword, or channel so the right inbox or person gets them without manual triage. Add canned responses for the questions you answer constantly. For walkthrough-type answers, save a reply that includes a Supademo link so the customer gets an interactive guide instead of a wall of steps.
- 5
Track response times and adjust
Once messages are flowing, Front's analytics show response time, resolution time, and volume by inbox or teammate. Use that to see where replies are slow or where one inbox is buried, then change the rules or assignments to even it out.
Who is Front most useful for?
Front fits teams that handle a steady flow of customer conversation and need more than a personal inbox, but don't want the rigidity of a full ticketing system.
Customer support teams are the most common users. A shared support inbox with assignments, internal comments, and SLA tracking covers what most support orgs need, and the email-like interface means agents aren't fighting an unfamiliar tool. Teams that find traditional ticketing too heavy tend to land on Front for exactly this reason.
Sales and account management teams use it differently. Front keeps client email threads visible to the whole account team, so a deal or renewal doesn't stall when one person is out. Pairing replies with an embedded Supademo is useful here too, since a prospect can run through a product walkthrough inside the same conversation rather than waiting on a call.
Operations-heavy businesses, logistics, travel, professional services, and similar fields lean on Front because their work runs on email but still needs accountability. Anywhere a generic inbox gets overwhelmed and a rigid ticketing tool feels like overkill, Front sits in the gap. Smaller companies also use it as the single inbox for every customer-facing address, and when onboarding or answers call for a visual, an interactive Supademo embedded in the thread does more than another paragraph of text.
Intercom is built around the in-app messenger and now leans hard on AI, with an agent that resolves common questions before a human sees them. It fits product-led companies that want support to live inside the app. Front comes at the same problem from email and shared inboxes, so the choice often comes down to whether your customers reach you by chat or by writing in.
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Zendesk is a complete help desk with a ticket model, knowledge base, and deep reporting, aimed at support organizations that want structure and scale. That structure is the trade-off: it's more system to configure and learn than Front. Teams that find ticketing too rigid usually prefer Front's inbox feel, while teams that want formal workflows pick Zendesk.
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Help Scout is close to Front in spirit, a shared inbox that hides the ticket mechanics behind an email-like interface. It tends to be lighter and more support-focused, with less emphasis on multi-channel and sales use. If your need is purely a support inbox, Help Scout is a clean fit; Front earns its keep when sales, ops, and other teams share the same workspace.
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Gorgias is a support tool built specifically for online stores, with native ties to Shopify and other commerce platforms so agents see order data right next to the message. That focus is its strength and its limit. For a Shopify store it's hard to beat, but Front is the broader pick for teams whose support isn't centered on ecommerce orders.
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FAQs on Front
Commonly asked questions about Front. Have more? Reach out and our team will be happy to help.
Is Front free to use?
Front doesn't have a permanent free plan. It runs on paid subscriptions with a free trial, so you can test it with a real inbox before committing. Pricing scales with the number of users and the plan tier, and the higher tiers add things like advanced analytics and more automation.
How is Front different from a regular email client?
Front looks like an email client but works as a shared workspace. A regular inbox belongs to one person, while a Front inbox can be seen and worked by a whole team, with conversations assigned to specific people. It also adds internal comments, @mentions, routing rules, and SLA tracking, none of which a standard email client offers.
What channels can Front handle besides email?
Beyond email, Front brings in live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, social media messages, and shared team channels. The point is that a customer's history follows them across channels, so if someone emails today and chats next week, the same conversation context is there instead of being split across separate tools.
Can Front automate repetitive support work?
Yes, Front automates a fair amount of the routine work. Rules can route incoming messages by sender, keyword, or channel, assign them to the right person, and trigger follow-ups. Canned responses cover repeat questions, and SLA timers flag conversations at risk of going stale. There's also AI assistance for drafting and summarizing replies.
Does Front integrate with CRM and other tools?
Front connects to a range of CRM, ticketing, and productivity tools, and it has an API for custom integrations. The practical benefit is seeing customer or deal data next to the conversation, so an agent isn't switching tabs to find context. You can also embed interactive content like a Supademo directly in a reply when a customer needs a guided walkthrough.
Is Front a good fit for sales teams, not just support?
Front works well for sales teams, which is part of what sets it apart from pure help desks. Client email threads stay visible to the whole account team, so a deal or renewal doesn't stall when one rep is unavailable. Comments and assignments keep ownership clear, and reps can drop a Supademo into a thread so a prospect can try the product without scheduling a call.
How many people can share a Front inbox?
Front is built for teams to share inboxes, and the number of people comes down to how many user seats are on your plan. A single inbox like support@ can be worked by your whole support team, with assignments deciding who handles each conversation. Adding more seats is a billing change rather than a technical limit.
Does Front replace a full ticketing system?
For many teams Front does replace a ticketing system, since it handles assignments, routing, SLAs, and analytics while feeling like an inbox rather than a ticket queue. Very large support organizations that need formal ticket states, deep custom workflows, and an extensive knowledge base sometimes still prefer a dedicated help desk. Match the tool to how structured your support process actually needs to be.