Help Scout, legally Help Scout PBC, is a global remote company headquartered in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

,Help Scout Draws Funding To Bring Affordable Email Collaboration And Support To Startups.

TechCrunch TechCrunch is an American global online newspaper focusing on topics regarding high tech, high-tech and Startup company, startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. I ...

. 2011-10-08. specializing in help desk software. The company provides an email-based

customer support Customer support is a range of services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, troubleshooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. Rega ...

platform, a

knowledge base In computer science, a knowledge base (KB) is a set of sentences, each sentence given in a knowledge representation language, with interfaces to tell new sentences and to ask questions about what is known, where either of these interfaces migh ...

tool, and an embeddable search/contact widget for

customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those who buy or use its products or services, either in person or remotely. Customer service is often practiced in a way that reflects the strategies and values of a firm, and ...

professionals. Help Scout's primary product is a web-based

SaaS Software as a service (SaaS ) is a cloud computing service model where the provider offers use of application software to a client and manages all needed physical and software resources. SaaS is usually accessed via a web application. Unlike oth ...

(software as a service)

help desk A help desk is a department or person that provides assistance and information, usually for electronic or computer problems. In the mid-1990s, research by Iain Middleton of Robert Gordon University studied the value of an organization's help des ...

that complies with

HIPAA The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA or the Kennedy– Kassebaum Act) is a United States Act of Congress enacted by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 21, ...

regulations. Founded in 2011, the company serves over 10,000 customers across more than 140 countries, including notable clients like

Buffer Buffer may refer to: Science * Buffer gas, an inert or nonflammable gas * Buffer solution, a solution used to prevent changes in pH * Lysis buffer, in cell biology * Metal ion buffer * Mineral redox buffer, in geology Technology and engineeri ...

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Trello Trello is a web-based, kanban-style, list-making application developed by Atlassian. Created in 2011 by Fog Creek Software, it was spun out to form the basis of a separate company in New York City in 2014 and sold to Atlassian in January 2017 ...

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

, and

AngelList AngelList is an American software company for fundraising and connecting startups, angel investors, and limited partners. Founded in 2010, it started as an online introduction board for tech startups that needed seed funding. Since 2015, the ...

. Help Scout transitioned to a fully remote company in 2020, with over 100 employees living in more than 80 cities worldwide.

History

Help Scout was created in 2011 as a pivot from Brightwurks, a web design and consultancy firm previously founded by Nick Francis, Jared McDaniel, and Denny Swindle. The company was publicly launched during their participation in Techstars Boston, a startup accelerator program.

Features and technology

Help Desk

Help Scout's support software operates like a shared email inbox. The platform enables large teams to provide customer support via email using their tool. It integrates with

live chat Online chat is any direct text-, audio- or video-based (webcams), one-on-one or one-to-many ( group) chat (formally also known as synchronous conferencing), using tools such as instant messengers, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), talkers and possibl ...

, phone systems, CRMs, and

email marketing Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It involves using email to s ...

tools.

Docs

In addition to the

platform, Help Scout offers Docs, a self-service

as a feature in 2013. Exporting documents requires API access and programming knowledge; there is no export to ZIP file containing HTML source code/CSS/assets, or PDF offerings at this time.

Beacon

Help Scout's embeddable widget, Beacon, provides users on a website with quick access to Docs and/or serves as a contact form.

Mobile

Help Scout launched its iOS app in January 2016 and its Android app in February 2017.

Open source contribution

One of the developers at Help Scout created an open-source CSS framework used to style their marketing website. Named Seed, this framework is written using Sass and follows the BEM and ITCSS naming architecture. It employs modern JavaScript-like methodologies for scoping, modularization, and dependency management. More information and Getting Started documentation can be found at seedcss.co

Work culture

Help Scout operates as a fully remote company, utilizing video communication for company-wide updates. The company's sales team operates under a non-commission structure with fixed salaries.

Branding

Help Scout's original logo was a literal Help Scout (akin to a Boy Scout) before changing to a medal, then a laurel wreath, and the present-day three diagonal lines which denote the initials HS (Help Scout).

Awards, recognition, and philanthropy

In December 2011, Help Scout participated in a fundraising initiative for Acumen (organization), Acumen, a charity fighting poverty, donating over $100,000 from the sale of a poster featuring Steve Jobs' quote “Here’s to the crazy ones.” In November 2015, Help Scout was named by AppStorm as one of six customer service software offerings to delight customers on

Mac Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

. That year, it was also recognized as a “marketing tool to know” by Business2Community and a “game-changing software solution” for startups by Business.com. In 2016,

BostInno BostInno is a local online news site and community publishing platform covering "the view from inside" innovation in Boston. It was founded in 2008 as a community startup blog by Chase Garbarino, CEO and co-founder of Streetwise Media, and Kevi ...

’s listed Help Scout among the “16 Boston Startups To Watch in 2016”. Help Scout's work culture and job descriptions have also been acknowledged, winning the “Best Job Description” award from The Workies Awards by Workable in 2015.

References

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External links

Official website
Automation software Customer service Email Help desk software Software companies based in Massachusetts Technology companies based in the Boston area Remote companies 2011 establishments in Massachusetts Software companies established in 2011