Help Scout

Help Scout, legally Help Scout PBC, is a global remote company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in help desk software. The company provides an email-based customer support platform, a knowledge base tool, and an embeddable search/contact widget for customer service professionals. Help Scout's primary product is a web-based SaaS (software as a service) help desk that complies with HIPAA regulations.

Founded in 2011, the company serves over 10,000 customers across more than 140 countries, including notable clients like Buffer, Basecamp, Trello, Reddit, and AngelList. 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 founded by Nick Francis, Jared McDaniel, and Denny Swindle, who previously ran Brightwurks, a web design consultancy based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company was publicy launched during their parcipation in Techstars Boston, a startup accelerator program. In 2015, the company rebranded from Brighwurks to Help Scout.

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, phone systems, CRMs, and email marketing tools.

Docs
In addition to the help desk platform, Help Scout offers Docs, a self-service knowledge base 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.com.

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
Formerly known as Brightwurks, Help Scout officially changed its name to match their central Help Desk product in 2015. 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 (then Brightwurks) participated in a fundraising initiative for 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. 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’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. The company publishes a blog and a newsletter with over 70,000 subscribers, contributing to thought leadership in customer service.