Connect Help Scout to WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and AI Chat
Customers message you on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, TikTok, Telegram, web chat or email, but your support cases live in Help Scout. AeroChat answers those conversations, looks up a conversation’s status when a customer asks, and opens or updates the conversation with what the customer said. It connects through Help Scout’s public API. You describe the workflow in your own words, and AeroChat builds it.
What you can do with Help Scout and AeroChat
- Check a support conversation in chat. When a customer asks about their case, AeroChat finds their Help Scout conversation by email and tells them where it stands.
- Create conversations from support chats. When a problem needs your team, AeroChat creates a conversation in the right inbox with the details and tells the customer what happens next.
- Add follow-ups to an open conversation. When a customer sends more details, AeroChat adds them to the same conversation, so your team sees one thread.
- Recognise returning customers. AeroChat looks up the customer by email and sees their open conversations before it replies.
- Leave notes for your team. AeroChat adds a note with a short summary of the chat, so whoever picks it up has the context.
Works on every chat channel
Your customers message you wherever they already are. The same Help Scout connection and the same workflows run on every channel AeroChat supports, and Help Scout stays the record whichever one they use.
| Channel | What your customers can do |
|---|---|
| Message your WhatsApp Business number to check a support conversation, add details to it or raise a new support request. Voice notes are transcribed, so a spoken request works too. | |
| Send the same requests by direct message. A comment on your post can get an automatic reply that moves the conversation to a DM. | |
| Facebook Messenger | Send the same requests to your Facebook Page. Comments on your Page posts can get an automatic reply too. |
| TikTok | Send the same requests by TikTok direct message or TikTok Shop buyer chat. Both arrive in the same TikTok inbox. |
| Telegram | Send the same requests to your business on Telegram. |
| Web chat | Do the same from the chat on your website, without leaving the page. |
| Write to your Gmail or Office 365 address and get the same answer the chat gives. |
How the connection works
AeroChat connects through Help Scout’s public Inbox API. It reads and writes conversations and customers, searches conversations by customer email, and adds customer threads and notes. Each workflow uses only what its recipe asks for.
To connect, a user in your Help Scout account opens Your Profile, then My apps, creates an app for AeroChat and copies its app ID and app secret. Help Scout’s API authentication guide covers the steps. Paste them into the AeroChat dashboard when AeroChat asks.
You describe the workflow in your own words. AeroChat builds it as a draft, works out which Help Scout calls it needs, and asks you to connect. Keys and credentials are entered in the AeroChat dashboard and never pass through the conversation.
Workflows to copy
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks about a support request they already raised, ask for the email they used. Search Help Scout for conversations from that email. Tell them the status of the most recent open one and summarise the last reply from our team in one or two lines. If they add details, add them to the same conversation.
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer reports a problem with an order or a service, ask for their name, email, order number and a short description. Create a conversation in our Support inbox (example) from that customer, with a one-line subject, the description and the tag chat. Add a note with a short summary of the chat. Tell them our team will reply by email within one working day (example), then hand the conversation over.
More workflows you can run on WhatsApp are on the WhatsApp workflows page.
Who uses it
Any business that answers customers from a shared inbox in Help Scout can use it. Online stores use it for returns and subscription questions, and suppliers for account and invoice questions. These recipes fit a help desk:
- Returns and exchanges for fashion stores
- Restock and subscription questions for beauty stores
- Account and invoice questions for B2B suppliers
What stays in Help Scout
Help Scout stays your record. Conversations, customers, inboxes, workflows, saved replies and reporting live there, and your team still replies to and closes the conversations.
AeroChat handles the conversation. It looks up, opens and updates the conversations your recipe asks for and leaves the rest to Help Scout and your team.
Questions
Does AeroChat work with Help Scout?
Yes. AeroChat connects through Help Scout’s public API with an app you create under My apps in Help Scout.
Can customers check a conversation on WhatsApp?
Yes. AeroChat finds the conversation by the customer’s email or conversation number and tells the customer its status in the chat. If they add details, AeroChat adds them to the same conversation.
Do I need a developer?
No. You describe the workflow in your own words, create an app in Help Scout and paste in its app ID and secret, and switch it on. AeroChat builds the Help Scout connection from your description and shows a checklist of what is left to do.
Which plan do I need?
Workflows via Skills are on every plan. Choose by message volume: Starter covers 500 AI responses a month and 3 seats, Growth covers 2,000 responses and 10 seats and adds payment links and broadcasts, and Advanced covers 5,000 responses and 25 seats.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
Connect Help Scout and try it
Paste the first recipe, add your Help Scout app ID and secret, and ask about a test conversation in the chat.