1.1. How do I purchase additional licenses?

You can purchase additional licenses at any time.   Simply go to Helpspot's store and login with your email address and store password. If you don't know your password you can reset it on the login screen.

Once the transaction is completed and a the PO or payment has been received HelpSpot cloud customers will have a new license automatically applied to their HelpSpot instance. If your account is self-hosted a new license key will be sent via email to the primary contact's email address. This license must be uploaded into your installation before the changes are reflected.

To upload your license file:

• Save the license file on to your local machine.
• Within the HelpSpot interface, go to Admin > License area Click on the browse button and navigate to where you saved your license file.
• Select the license file and click Open.

 

1.2. Do you have a Resellers Program?

At this time we do not have a resellers program.   However we do have a partner program. You can find the details on this program here https://www.helpspot.com/partner In addition, we do have many consultants who suggest HelpSpot to their customers, and charge service fees on setup, upgrades, & customization.    

2.1. Do you offer Language Packs

We currently do not offer officially support language packs other than English. There are community driven language packs however.

• German — https://github.com/helpspot/de-translation
• Dutch — https://github.com/helpspot/nl-translation

Customers can translate the language file as they need too. For more information about this check out Language Files from the Admin Manual.

 

2.2. Reports show more open request than what I can see in the filter/queue.

Yes, this can be true in  HelpSpot Version 3.0+.   To improve filter performance the "Filter Within Previous Days" setting was created (Admin > Settings;).

This limit filters to results within the stated previous days (filters with specific or relative dates are unaffected). You can set it to 0  to turn it off.

2.3. What's the migration process for moving to HelpSpot Cloud?

Introduction

If you're currently hosting HelpSpot in your own on-premise environment, you might be wondering what the process looks like for moving to HelpSpot Cloud?  Assuming you're on a subscription plan (and if not, please let us know!), it's a fairly straightforward process.

Migration Process

First, to convert your HelpSpot, we need a copy of the HelpSpot site files and database.

Usually we'll either request access to your server/hosting, or ask you to send those files over to us.

Second, we'll often (but it depends on how quickly you need to get underway) do a test run of the conversion, so you can see your data in our hosting, without it being actively used (your old hosting would still be the main site in use while you kick the tires on HelpSpot Cloud).

Third, once we're good to go, we schedule a time to convert HelpSpot.

This requires some downtime (usually about 1-2 hours, but larger installs may require more time) because we need to put the old HelpSpot site in maintenance mode and get a new export of your database (since having it in use would add more data to the database after we exported it, so that new data would not make it to the new hosting).

Lastly, one other factor is to decide if you'd like to use our provided domain (e.g. https://[your-org-name].helpspot.com) or a domain you currently use.

Our domain provides has some extra security, however if you'd like to continue using your current one, we can certainly do that!

Ready to move to HelpSpot Cloud?

Contact Sales or Support and we'll get you started - and if you have any questions, just let us know.

2.4. Supporting Multiple Brands in HelpSpot

This article provides an overview of how HelpSpot enables you to efficiently manage multiple brands or teams within a single help desk platform. Whether you're coordinating separate parts of an organization or supporting various brands, HelpSpot offers a flexible set of tools to keep your work organized and your teams focused.

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1. Managing Multiple Support Portals

HelpSpot allows you to create Secondary Portals for each brand or department within your organization. These portals can be fully customized to reflect each brand's unique identity:

• Customization: You have complete control over the HTML, CSS, and PHP of each portal, allowing you to align the look and feel of the portal with the brand’s website or design standards.
• Separate Domain Names: Each secondary portal can be assigned its own unique domain name, making it appear as a distinct site to your customers.

Use Case Example: If your organization supports multiple brands, you can create a separate portal for each brand, ensuring that customers interact with a portal that is fully aligned with the brand they are engaging with.

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2. Utilizing Multiple Mailboxes

HelpSpot supports as many mailboxes as you need, each with its own set of customizable templates:

• Unique Email Templates: Each mailbox can have distinct templates for auto-replies, public notes, and requests created by portal forms. This allows you to tailor the language, branding, and design of emails for each specific brand or team.
• Scalability: Whether you need one additional mailbox or a hundred, HelpSpot can handle it, ensuring each brand’s communication remains consistent and professional.

Use Case Example: A company managing customer support for different product lines can set up individual mailboxes for each product, with customized responses that match the branding of each line.

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3. Setting Permissions for Teams

Permissions in HelpSpot ensure that teams only have access to the areas relevant to their work:

• Permission Groups: Use permission groups to control which categories, users, and tickets are visible to specific teams. This is essential for keeping different departments, such as IT and HR, from accessing each other’s support requests.
• Restricted Inbox Access: You can prevent teams from seeing the overall Inbox, limiting their view to only the requests they need to handle.

Use Case Example: In a large organization with multiple departments, permission groups can be set up so that the HR team only sees HR-related tickets, while the IT team is restricted to IT-related tickets.

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4. Leveraging Filters for Brand-Specific Workflows

Filters in HelpSpot allow you to create custom views that streamline the management of multiple brands:

• Custom Inboxes: Create filters to generate brand-specific inboxes that display requests from a particular portal or mailbox. This helps staff focus on their assigned brand without being distracted by unrelated tickets.
• Filter Permissions: Just like other permissions, filters can be restricted so that only designated team members can see and use them.

Use Case Example: A support team that handles multiple brands can set up filters that display only the requests related to a specific brand, ensuring that they can manage their workload effectively.

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Conclusion

HelpSpot’s flexible features make it easy to manage multiple brands or teams within a single help desk platform. By utilizing secondary portals, multiple mailboxes, permission groups, and filters, you can keep your support operations organized, efficient, and perfectly aligned with your organization’s needs.

For further assistance or customization help, feel free to reach out to our support team.

3.1. Some older request are not showing in Queue or Filters

In HelpSpot version 3.2.3 or greater,  a setting was created to limit a filter or a My Queue to the past year of results.  This was designed to improve poorly constructed filters and can be adjusted in Admin -> Settings -> System or disabled there if desired.

If you're seeing some tickets "disappear" after upgrading it's like due to this setting so you may want to extend the range to more days or disable.

3.2. How to Set Up Notifications for New HelpSpot Tickets in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a popular collaboration platform used by businesses of all sizes to help teams communicate and work together on projects. If your team uses HelpSpot for ticket management, you can set up notifications in Microsoft Teams to alert your team when a new ticket is created. Here are two ways to do that:

Method 1: Use Teams Email Feature

1. In Microsoft Teams, go to the channel where you want to receive notifications for new HelpSpot tickets.

2. Click on the channel name and select "More Options."

3. Click on "Get email address."

4. Copy the email address that appears.

5. In HelpSpot, go to "Mail Rules" in the Admin tab.

6. Create a new mail rule that sends an external email every time a new request email is received in HelpSpot.

7. In the "To" field of the mail rule, paste the email address you copied from Microsoft Teams.

This method will send an email to the Teams channel every time a new HelpSpot ticket is created. However, it will only work if you receive new tickets through email.

Method 2: Use a Zapier Integration

1. Install the Zapier app from the Teams store.

2. In HelpSpot, go to "Admin" > "Integrations" > "Zapier."

3. Click on "Create Zap" and select "HelpSpot" as the trigger app.

4. Choose "New Request" as the trigger.

5. Connect your HelpSpot account and follow the prompts to set up the trigger.

6. Select "Microsoft Teams" as the action app.

7. Choose "Send Channel Message" as the action.

8. Connect your Teams account and follow the prompts to set up the action.

This method will send a message to the selected Teams channel every time a new HelpSpot ticket is created, regardless of how the ticket was received.

 

3.3. How to turn Jotform entries into HelpSpot tickets

To effectively funnel your Jotform entries into HelpSpot, you need to have a form with these key fields at a bare minimum:

• First Name (Basic text field)
• Last Name (Basic text field)
• Email
• Problem/Question (Long text field)

Please note that we aren't using the standard "name" field in Jotform. Why? Separating the name field into two separate text fields gets around a quirk of Jotform and allows us to properly pull the person's name into HelpSpot's customer information fields.

Once you've made a form with the fields you need, you'll want to set up a notification email. This action is performed under the 'Settings -> Email' section of your Jotform form. Then, assign the recipient email as one that you've connected to HelpSpot. 

If your form involves attachments, navigate to the 'Advanced' settings and activate the 'Send file uploads as attachments' option.

Next, you'll want to customize the notification email that you're sending to HelpSpot to make use of HelpSpot's email parsing tags.

For a form that includes the four fields mentioned above, you need to input the following text into your 'Email Content' in Jotform:

{problem}

##hs_customer_firstname:{firstName}## 

##hs_customer_lastname:{lastName}## 

##hs_customer_email:{email}##

 

If you have additional fields on your form, you can also send that data to HelpSpot - whether it's a category, tag, or even a custom field. Learn more about HelpSpot's email parsing tags by visiting https://support.helpspot.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=25 & https://support.helpspot.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=30. 

3.4. How to turn Typeform entries into HelpSpot tickets

If you use Typeform forms on your website, you can now take those submissions and turn them into HelpSpot tickets.

Creating and Publishing Your Form

1. Log in to your Typeform account.
2. Click on the "Create new typeform" button to start building your form.
3. Add your questions and design your form using the Typeform editor.
4. Click on the "Share" button in the upper right corner.
5. Click on the "Publish" tab.
6. Choose your sharing option. For example, you can embed the form in your website or share the link via email or social media.

Sending Typeform Follow-Ups to HelpSpot

1. Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner, then click on "Follow-ups".
2. Click on "Add Trigger".
3. Choose "Any Response".
4. Next, add an action by selecting "Notify myself or team via email".
5. Under "To", enter an email address that you've connected to HelpSpot.
6. Next, it'll ask you to enter the content of your email.
7. Use Typeform's tags to enter information from your form. 
   1. To ensure that HelpSpot properly inserts the information collected by your Typeform, use HelpSpot's Email Parsing Tags. 

Here's an example:

That's it! Every successful entry/submission into your Typeform will now automatically create a ticket in HelpSpot.

3.5. How to create multiple tickets from a single submission using Zapier

This documentation describes a configuration for generating two tickets from one email using our Zapier integration. At a basic level, you can use a free Zapier account to generate a duplicate ticket based on an initial inbound email ticket that matches your specific conditions. You also have the option of defining a special Status type or Custom Field that you can set to a specific value to trigger the processes (i.e., Status = "Duplication To Support" or Custom Field: Duplicate Predefined List = "Pending", etc.).

Outlined below is the general configuration of this setup. Feel free to reach out if any of the below is unclear or if you'd like to set up a Zoom meeting for further discussion or help setting it up.

In this example, we have created a Zap within Zapier using a free account. Additional functionality and different script maintenance requirements may constitute the need for a paid Zapier account depending upon your needs/preferences. Prior to creating the Zapier account, you will need to generate an API key within your HelpSpot staff account preferences. The API key will enable your Zapier account to perform actions within HelpSpot as your staff user.

In Zapier, create a new Zap. In the new Zap, click the Trigger button and search for the HelpSpot integration to use for the trigger.

Select the event that will fire this trigger. You can run the trigger based on a new request being created or based on an existing request being updated. Here the New Request event has been selected, but we will refine this trigger later within HelpSpot for more accurate results.

Proceed to the Account step to connect the new Zap to your HelpSpot instance using the HelpSpot API key you created.

Once you've added a HelpSpot account connection in Zapier, it will remain available for configuring future Zaps as well.

Testing the trigger will pull some sample data from your existing tickets into Zapier for further Zap configuration and testing. Select one of the results and continue to the Action step.

The Action step will also use the HelpSpot integration, but for the action, you'll select the Create New Request event.

 

You can use the same Account selection that you chose for the Trigger step. Within the Create New Request action, you will define how you want the secondary request to be generated. You can use Zapier placeholders from the HelpSpot integration to fill values in the new ticket fields using the same values from the triggering ticket fields.

You can also combine new text with the placeholders, so the subject line could be "Secondary Ticket - [This is the original subject]".

The only required fields for generating a new ticket are Note Body, Category, and Customer Email address. However, you can pass other ticket values through from the triggering ticket to the secondary ticket as needed. In the below screenshot, the customer first name, last name, etc., are being passed from the triggering ticket into the newly created ticket. Some other fields/options, like Category, Note Type, Status, etc. are statically set to predetermined values as needed.

Also note that the note body allows HTML entry, so you can build links, use bold/italics, etc.

Testing the Action step will use the sample data you selected as the "new" triggering request details, and will generate the secondary ticket in your HelpSpot instance according to the definition you configured in the Create New Request action.

Once you've successfully tested the action step, you can publish your Zap. Publishing the Zap will generate a new trigger within your HelpSpot instance. IMPORTANT: before testing your new Zap, you'll want to edit the generated trigger within HelpSpot to ensure it doesn't create an internal New Request Loop.

The default trigger created by Zapier will be named "Webhook Creation Subscription  - Created By API" and will only include one condition: 

That will obviously fire the trigger on every new request creation (even when the Zap is the source of the new request). To prevent it from causing an endless loop, you'll need to replace that Open/Closed ... Now Is Not ... All condition with something more focused.

In this example, we've elected to only fire the Secondary Ticket Generation Zap if a new request is created within the Development category and placed into a Pending Clarification status. You can use any valid combination of conditions to limit how the Zap functions. You can also change the name of the trigger to something more meaningful for future reference. 

DO NOT change or remove the POST webhook action in the trigger. You CAN add more actions in the trigger if needed (i.e., set status to "Clarification Processed" or "Second Ticket Generated", or set custom field values in the original ticket if required).

Here's the inital triggering request as manually entered into HelpSpot by a logged-in staffer.

And here's the resulting secondary ticket generated by the Zapier integration trigger.

If you require multiple "secondary tickets" created from one initial triggering ticket, you can build each Zap with the "Create New Request" action configured to generate each secondary ticket as needed, then combine all the separate Zapier POST webhook action steps into a single HelpSpot trigger (with multiple POST webhook actions).

Important caveats to be aware of:

• Publishing the Zap in Zapier will add the corresponding trigger within HelpSpot. The trigger will be active with the over-generalized Open/Closed ... Now Is Not ... All condition, so you'll want to modify the newly generated HelpSpot trigger soon after publishing your Zap to prevent a New Request Loop.
• With the Zap selected in Zapier, you can use the toggle button on the top left corner to enable/disable the Zap. If you "Turn Zap Off" there, it will deactivate the corresponding trigger within HelpSpot (you can still access it via the Show Inactive Triggers link on the Admin > Triggers & Rules > Triggers page). 
• If you "Turn Zap On" within Zapier using the Zap toggle button, it will create a new trigger with the same default automated name as your initially published zap. That is to say, turning off a Zap deactivates the corresponding trigger, but turning on a Zap generates an entirely new trigger each time. Bear this in mind as you customize the trigger conditions within HelpSpot.
• Upgrading your Zapier account to a paid version will grant you access to additional features, like multi-step Zaps (which would enable generating multiple secondary tickets with a single Zap to maintain, for example).

After reviewing this guide, let us know if you have any other questions or need any additional information. We'll be happy to schedule a call if you'd like assistance setting up your own test or if you need help configuring/troubleshooting in your own instance.

4.1. How to enable the public reply from a notification email

New in Version 4, you can handle those quick replies directly from your mail client.   When HelpSpot sends you a notification email, hit reply to send an instant public reply to the customer. 

This must be enabled in Admin > Settings > Email Integration;  Replies to notification emails are public.