About Help Scout
Help Scout is customer service and help desk software for companies of all sizes. Users can work seamlessly across departments, or manage several products/brands from a single account. Help Scout helps get repeatable tasks out of the way with workflows, including a simple automation system based on if/then logic. Collaboration features keep everyone on the same page.
The collision detection feature allows users to see who is viewing or replying in real time, alongside notes and @mentions that allow users to collaborate privately. Users can use tagging to categorize conversations or trigger automations, and take advantage of saved replies for two-click access to the most common responses. Help Scout allows users to automate all actions, send bulk replies, and create custom folders.
Reports and analytics enable users to measure team performance, spot trends to prevent issues, and monitor customer happiness, all without opening an Excel spreadsheet. Help Scout seamlessly integrates with services like Olark and Snap Engage so that every chat is automatically stored in the customer's profile. 50+ voicemail services are supported out of the box.
Pricing starting from:
US$10.00/month
- Free Trial
- Subscription
Key benefits of Help Scout
Devices
Business size
Markets
Supported Languages
Pricing starting from:
US$10.00/month
- Free Trial
- Subscription
Images
Features
Total features of Help Scout: 62
- @mentions
- API
- Automatic Lead Distribution
- Automatic Notifications
- Bulk Send
- CRM Integration
- Call Recording
- Call Tracking
- Categorization
- Chat
- Collaboration Tools
- Collaborative Workspace
- Configurable Workflow
- Custom Fields
- Customer Database
- Customer History
- Customizable Templates
- Data Filtering
- Data Import/Export
- Desktop Notifications
- Document Management
- Email Integration
- Email Templates
- Escalation Management
- Event Triggered Actions
- Feedback Collection
- Feedback Management
- Filtered Views
- HIPAA Compliance
- Help Desk Integration
- History Tracking
- Inbox Management
- Instant Messaging
- Lead Assignment
- Mobile Alerts
- Mobile Integration
- Multi-Department / Project
- Multiple User Accounts
- PCI DSS Compliance
- Performance Management
- Performance Reports
- Permission Management
- Prioritizing
- Productivity Reporting
- Ratings & Reviews
- Real Time Monitoring
- Real Time Reporting
- Real Time Updates
- Receiving
- Reporting & Statistics
- SSL Security
- Search Functionality
- Summary Reports
- Support Ticket Management
- Support Ticket Tracking
- Tagging
- Template Management
- Third Party Integration
- Trend Analysis
- Two-Factor Authentication
- Voice Mail
- Workflow Management
Alternatives
Zendesk
LiveAgent
Comm100 Live Chat
JivoChat
Reviews
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- Industry: Veterinary
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Completely changed our business - for the better
Reviewed on 17/11/2016
Most companies using Help Desk software are in software development, tech or online commerce of...
Most companies using Help Desk software are in software development, tech or online commerce of some kind. We're in the boring, traditional business of veterinary medicine practice, and deal with hundreds of emails a day from clients and the rest of the outside world.
We're the only vet company I know of that uses a help desk, and we use Help Scout - and absolutely LOVE it. We did use Zendesk previously, but found that it's way too complicated and not very personal. Pet owners don't want to be given a ticket # and feel like they're speaking to a robot. Help Scout solved that immediately when we switched.
We have a lot of complex conversations via email that require multiple people being involved, communicating internal messages to each other about certain threads, etc. etc.
Help Scout is absolutely fantastic, because it's very elegant in it's simplicity - but tremendously powerful in it's capability.
On top of that, we've found their support team to be kick ass, highly responsive and always eager to try and figure out a solution to any issue we bring them.
We are very loyal Help Scout clients, and plan to be for a long time.
Pros
- extremely simple to use and understand as a user
- treats communications like human beings and provides a much more personal feel to communication (as opposed to making people feel like numbers)
- fantastic support team that's very responsive and solution focused
- solid API that allows you to bring in data from other apps so that you have a consolidated view of a client, beyond just their email history
Cons
- wish that the interface could be a little more customized for our specific needs
- really don't have any downsides to it - it's a great product
- Industry: Printing
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10
Great customer focused company to work with!
Reviewed on 12/08/2019
Excellent. While there is some admittedly cool functionality that other CRMs offer at higher...
Excellent. While there is some admittedly cool functionality that other CRMs offer at higher prices, they don't make sense for our current business needs and you really can't beat Helpscout when it comes to their customer service and help resources. It's excellent working with a team who really care what their customers and their customers' customers think.
Pros
Their entire philosophy is centered around customer satisfaction and success. This mirrors our own approach and it's great seeing that in action. They are also great at handling questions and service requests, and I love all the support and information resources they offer.
Cons
I wish the reporting functions were better and more detailed. Sometimes when something wasn't functioning in a way that worked for it, their response was suggesting a work around that would require a service plan upgrade when I figured out a work around that could work at our current level, but that is a very minor gripe.
- Industry: Higher Education
- Company size: 11-50 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
Great for small teams!
Reviewed on 28/07/2020
When looking for customer service platforms, a lot of people will want it to feel human. Oddly, I...
When looking for customer service platforms, a lot of people will want it to feel human. Oddly, I love that it can be used to send confidential documents securely, and I don't have to interact. It's a great timesaver that way, especially when the people on the other end are using it for the same reason. Yes, you can add more personality and humanity, but in my case, I like being able to work uninterrupted, and no one ever has to say "have a nice day" because all we're doing is sending documents. If you're looking for something a little more personal -- it can absolutely be used that way. The notes and chat functions are helpful, and Help Scout is pretty adaptable to whatever your customer service philosophy entails.
Pros
-Extremely easy to set up, add employees to, and use on a daily basis without hassle.
-Love the option to assign communications and update the status of them.
-Simple, straightforward design.
-Did I mention is was easy? Almost no training required.
Cons
-It would be nice to have more customization options. The simplicity is of appeal here, but the limitations are noticeable.
- Industry: Nonprofit Organization Management
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10
Help Scout helps out
Reviewed on 25/11/2020
Help Scout helps out in a pinch. I definitely recommend any company or business that has a customer...
Help Scout helps out in a pinch. I definitely recommend any company or business that has a customer support component to it to use their software and platform to start.
Pros
When I used to work at ActBlue as a support associate, I really liked Help Scout's ticketing system. It was straightforward and less confusing than Intercom. Escalating and de-escalating issues was pretty easy. Help Scout is a huge help for customer service, people oriented folks like me.
Cons
This is just a theory but I feel like Help Scout works better with certain email addresses than others. For people who have older emails such as hotmail, aol, or yahoo - their messages don't come across so clearly, which makes helping our customers and clients a real challenge.
- Industry: Computer Software
- Company size: 51-200 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Stellar Support Tool for SaaS companies
Reviewed on 13/07/2019
We support a B2B SaaS platform in the Marketing Automation space and provide email support. Help...
We support a B2B SaaS platform in the Marketing Automation space and provide email support. Help Scout executes very well against the challenges that we have.
Pros
Help Scout is purpose-built for Support teams which is fantastic. The features, UI, and reporting align closely with how we run our support team which makes things a lot easier.
We're big on automation and building on top of our tools and have been very impressed both with the workflow capabilities as well as the API endpoints and integrations that are possible.
The team behind Help Scout does a terrific job of supporting us, they have been extremely responsive, down to earth, and accurate in their replies.
Cons
To deliver a really good and consistent experience, the support channels of email, chat, and phone are very discrete and can't be blended as easily together as say a tool like Intercom (where we were coming from).
While a short-term pain for us, I think delivering better in each of the channels ultimately made us a more mature team in the end.
Help Scout FAQs
Below are some frequently asked questions for Help Scout.Q. What type of pricing plans does Help Scout offer?
Help Scout offers the following pricing plans:
- Starting from: US$10.00/month
- Pricing model: Subscription
- Free Trial: Available
Basic: $15 user / month, or $10 user / month billed annually Standard: $25 user / month, or $20 user / month billed annually Plus: $40 user / month, or $35 user / month billed annually Help Scout serves businesses from small to enterprise. Plans range from Free to keep everyone on the same page, to Standard for automation features and reporting, to Plus for advanced reporting & features designed for large teams. All Plans include 24x7 support, unlimited volume & storage, and 40+ third party integrations.
Q. What are the main features of Help Scout?
Help Scout offers the following features:
- 40+ integrations with 3rd party apps
- 75+ keyboard shortcuts
- Android App
- Auto-populated, editable customer profiles
- Automated actions
- Bulk actions
- Collision detection
- Customer satisfaction ratings
- Easy to use, no training manual required
- Email integration - update conversations from inbox
- Help Desk, reports, and Docs API
- Integrated knowledge base
- Live Chat
- Looks like a normal email
- No ticket #'s, or robo-text
- Outstanding support, no matter plan
- Private notes
- Real-time, best in class reporting
- Saved replies/ canned responses
- Track and record phone calls
- True multi-brand support
- iPhone App
Q. Who are the typical users of Help Scout?
Help Scout has the following typical customers:
Small Business, Large Enterprises, Public Administrations, Non Profit, Freelancers, Mid Size Business
Q. What languages does Help Scout support?
Help Scout supports the following languages:
English
Q. Does Help Scout support mobile devices?
Help Scout supports the following devices:
Android, iPhone, iPad
Q. What other apps does Help Scout integrate with?
Help Scout integrates with the following applications:
Bitium, Campaign Monitor, Capsule, Customer Thermometer, Keap, Kissmetrics, PipelineDeals, Slack, SnapEngage, Zapier
Q. What level of support does Help Scout offer?
Help Scout offers the following support options:
FAQs, Knowledge Base, Online Support, Phone Support, Video Tutorials
Related categories
See all software categories found for Help Scout.
