Website chatbot vs
an AI IT helpdesk
A website chatbot answers visitor questions on your public site, while an AI IT helpdesk handles employee technology requests and routes the ones that need a person.
A website chatbot sits on your public pages and talks to people who haven't logged in. It answers questions about hours, services, pricing and how to get in touch. It can capture an enquiry and pass it to sales. It doesn't reset a password, check a laptop or open an internal ticket.
An AI IT helpdesk is built for staff. It answers routine technology questions, follows your support process and hands the awkward cases to a person. Wanzo can build either. Put a chatbot on the site if the queue is visitor questions. Use an IT helpdesk when employees are waiting on access, devices and Microsoft 365. Buying one to cover the other job is a waste.
| Factor | A website chatbot | An AI IT helpdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Who it serves | It talks to visitors on your public website. They haven't signed in, and they usually want hours, services, prices or a way to send an enquiry. | It talks to employees who already work in your systems. They need help with access, devices, software and the technology they use every day. |
| What it answers | Common public questions: opening hours, service lists, location, how to enquire. It can collect a name and email and pass that to your team. | Routine IT questions: password resets, access, printer faults and Microsoft 365. It follows the first-line jobs your support process already covers. |
| Systems it reaches | It stays on the public site. It shouldn't see mailboxes, identity tools or device records. That is a strength when the visitor has no right to those systems. | It needs approved access to knowledge articles and, in some cases, the tools that complete a request. That access has to be scoped, logged and watched. |
| Time to launch | If you already have public FAQs, a chatbot can go live quickly. You still need to write the answers and set the handoff to a person for anything it should not guess. | You have to map the support process first: which requests it may handle, which systems it may see, and when a specialist takes over. That takes longer. |
| Human handover | Anything it cannot answer from the approved public content should go to a person, usually as a web form or email to sales or reception. | Cases outside the approved first-line process move to a human IT specialist, with the request details already captured. Wanzo can take those inside managed IT. |
| How you pay | Often a product subscription for the widget, plus whoever writes the answers. A simple public FAQ bot stays cheaper than standing up an internal IT service. | Wanzo runs it as a monthly service. AI Starter starts at £495. AI + Managed IT starts at £1,250 if you also want the human desk and the estate managed. |
When A website chatbot is the right call
- Your main problem is visitor questions on the public site, not employee IT tickets.
- The bot only needs approved public answers and a route to sales or reception, with no access to internal systems.
- You want something live quickly from existing FAQs, and a failed answer is an inconvenience rather than a blocked employee.
When An AI IT helpdesk is the right call
- Employees are losing time on password, access and software questions that currently sit in a ticket queue.
- First-line IT work needs a named process and a specialist who takes over when investigation is required.
- You want the helpdesk sitting with managed IT, cybersecurity and 24/7 monitoring, not as a widget on the website.
What we’d recommend
Choose a website chatbot if the work is public: visitor questions, service facts and capturing an enquiry. Choose an AI IT helpdesk if the work is internal: employees stuck on access, devices and Microsoft 365. They look similar in a screenshot and they are not the same product. Wanzo can deliver both through our Bloodstone partnership. We'd recommend the chatbot for the public site, with no access to internal systems, and the IT helpdesk when staff support is the queue you need to shorten. The helpdesk belongs on a monthly retainer from £495, or from £1,250 if you also want managed IT underneath it. Don't put a website widget on employee tickets.
Questions people ask
What's the difference between a website chatbot and an AI helpdesk?
A website chatbot sits on your public pages and answers visitor questions from approved public content. It can capture an enquiry. It should not see employee accounts, devices or internal IT tools. An AI IT helpdesk is for staff. It handles routine technology requests, follows a defined support process and passes anything unsafe to a person. Wanzo can build either. If the queue is visitors asking about services, start with a chatbot. If the queue is employees waiting on IT, start with the helpdesk.
Can a website chatbot replace an IT helpdesk?
No. A website chatbot is built for people who haven't signed in. It answers public questions and collects enquiries. It has no business seeing identity tools, mailboxes or device records, so it cannot complete an IT request safely. An AI IT helpdesk is the tool for employee tickets: routine questions, defined first-line steps and a handover to a specialist. Wanzo would not put a public widget on staff IT work. We would recommend a chatbot for the site and a helpdesk for internal support, and we can run both.
Is an AI IT helpdesk the same as a chatbot?
They both use a chat window, which is why the comparison comes up. The jobs are different. A website chatbot answers visitors from public content and should stop there. An AI IT helpdesk works inside your support process, with approved knowledge, scoped access and a named route to a human specialist. Treat them as the same product and you get a public bot trying to change staff access, or an internal desk that visitors never see. Wanzo builds each against the actual queue, not against the interface.
Can we have a website chatbot and an AI IT helpdesk?
Yes. They are separate services for separate queues. A website chatbot covers visitor questions and enquiry capture, with no access to internal systems. An AI IT helpdesk covers employee technology requests and sits with managed IT when a specialist needs to take over. Both can live on the same monthly relationship. AI Starter starts at £495. AI + Managed IT starts at £1,250 if the helpdesk should sit on Microsoft 365, cybersecurity and everyday IT as well.
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