Keeping people connected during quarantine

New world, new use cases

Demand for Discord’s service skyrocketed outside of gaming circles when much of the world began sheltering in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual classes, book clubs, study groups, restaurateurs, and digital conventions are all using Discord to gather online.

The daily number of people talking on Discord increased two-or-threefold in locations that experienced shutdowns like France and Italy, as people searched for ways to connect with friends and family. The number of unique visitors to its customer service site doubled, and pageviews increased by 70 percent as a flood of new users began using the service. The company was easily able to shoulder this unprecedented surge in users and support queries thanks to an early decision to make big investments in automation, deflection, and AI. These tools enabled Discord to help customers quickly and easily get the answers they needed, while freeing agents up to focus on more complex, high-priority conversations.

“Automation and scaling is always at the forefront of our minds, and we’re always looking for ways to do more with less,” said Danny Duong, Discord’s director of customer experience and community management. “We’re focused on getting customers the help they need as quickly as possible, while never sacrificing the human touch.”

Keeping customers front-and center during COVID-19

Given the impact that the service and support team has had on Discord’s business, it should come as no surprise that it’s one of the key stakeholders in major decisions across the company.

“Support has kind of been at the bottom of the barrel at other companies that I’ve worked at. It’s almost an afterthought,” Duong said. “It’s the exact opposite at Discord. We are a major stakeholder in just about everything. Support even has the power to hold up a launch if we don’t feel like we’re prepared to offer a great experience for customers.”

This dedication to delivering a great customer experience has helped Discord not only scale to become one of the biggest platforms for gamers around the globe, but also allowed it to be there for customers in a world turned upside down by COVID-19.

“It’s beautiful to see people coming together and finding different ways to use Discord outside of video games. We’re thrilled we can play a small part in restoring some normalcy to people’s lives,” Duong said. “It’s awesome to watch the community rally together, and we’re humbled to be able to help.”