1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,300 keeping customers happy that's the name of the game these days especially in the 2 00:00:03,300 --> 00:00:07,080 digital world absolutely and a big part of that having a help a desk solution 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:11,940 that can really you know handle the load a solid help desk one that won't let you 4 00:00:11,940 --> 00:00:15,720 down right now you've probably heard of the usual suspects then desk help scout 5 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:21,340 all those big names feature-packed but Tracy they can really put a dent in your 6 00:00:21,340 --> 00:00:26,360 budget so what if what if there was a way to get that same robust 7 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,800 functionality all those bells and whistles without having to shell out a 8 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:34,000 fortune well that's where open source software comes in I mean it's really 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:38,400 changing the landscape you know it's not just for like tech geeks anymore it's 10 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:43,580 going mainstream absolutely and in the world of open source help desks there's 11 00:00:43,580 --> 00:00:47,880 one name that keeps popping up free Scout free Scout it's a totally free 12 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:54,560 platform no monthly fees no hidden costs Wow just pure unadulterated help desk 13 00:00:54,560 --> 00:01:00,360 goodness Wow so for this deep dive we're going to explore free Scout in depth 14 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,520 we'll look at what it can do what it's good at where it might fall short and 15 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,440 most importantly we'll figure out if it's the right tool to take your 16 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,000 customer support to the next level I'm excited to dig into this I mean from 17 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,520 what I've seen free Scout seems to be packed with features oh yes it really is 18 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,360 and one of the things that immediately jumps out especially for you know 19 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:25,800 businesses that are growing is the unlimited agents tickets and mailboxes 20 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,640 the limited right from the get-go that's a big deal it's a direct challenge to 21 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,780 the traditional pricing models we see with with these other help desk 22 00:01:33,780 --> 00:01:38,200 providers where they charge you per agent or based on how many tickets you 23 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,880 have yeah it can get really expensive really fast it can and with free Scout 24 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,640 you don't have to worry about hitting those limits or you know having to 25 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,600 upgrade your plan as your team expands right and it's not just about saving 26 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,800 money it's about yeah having the control the flexibility to manage your support 27 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,520 your way it's now another thing that free Scout does really well is 28 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,800 integration you can seamlessly connect it with your existing email that's 29 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,320 important even if you're using a modern Microsoft exchange setup now for those 30 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,640 who might not be familiar with the technical jargon Microsoft exchange 31 00:02:10,640 --> 00:02:16,200 authentication is a more secure way of handling email right yes it's essential 32 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,720 for businesses that prioritize data security and the fact that free Scout 33 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:25,560 supports this out of the box shows that they're really catering to a wide range 34 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:30,360 of organizations with you know diverse needs absolutely they're not just 35 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,000 focusing on one segment they're trying to make it accessible to everyone right 36 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,760 and then to keep you connected on all fronts free Scout also integrates with 37 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:44,280 popular messaging platforms like slack whatsapp Facebook even telegram so all 38 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,600 your customer communication channels can flow into this one central hub 39 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:52,080 streamlined streamlined efficient organized love it and speaking of 40 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,960 efficiency free Scout has some really smart features that can seriously boost 41 00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:00,240 your productivity okay tell me more about that I'm all ears all right so 42 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,840 imagine you're in the middle of a chaotic day tons of customer requests 43 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:09,100 coming in emails flying the phones ringing off the hook yeah the usual chaos 44 00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:12,340 right it's easy for things to slip through the crack oh yeah it's a 45 00:03:12,340 --> 00:03:16,840 nightmare but with free Scout you can star those crucial conversations so they 46 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,760 stay front and center like a little reminder like a virtual sticky note I 47 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:25,360 like it so you don't forget about those urgent issues make sense and to keep you 48 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:30,440 in the loop in real time they have these push notifications that alert you to new 49 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:34,480 messages or updates so you don't have to keep hitting refresh on your inbox just 50 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,960 waiting for that next email to come through exactly and then there are these 51 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:42,040 things called saved replies it's a lifesaver for those you know frequently 52 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,460 asked question oh yeah the ones you find yourself typing out over and over and 53 00:03:45,460 --> 00:03:49,080 over again exactly you can create these pre-written responses and just insert 54 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:54,880 them with a couple of clicks so much time saved hours potentially and I also 55 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:59,800 really appreciate the ability to leave internal notes on tickets so if you need 56 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:04,240 to like loop in a colleague or just jot down some context for yourself later 57 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:08,040 it's all right there in the ticket everything's one place organized 58 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:13,280 organized and speaking of collaboration they've got collision detection which 59 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,200 means two agents won't accidentally end up working on the same issue that's 60 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,100 clever talk about avoiding duplicate efforts it's like they've thought of 61 00:04:20,100 --> 00:04:24,440 everything and for those who are keyboard shortcut wizards free Scout 62 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:29,520 has a whole set of shortcuts so you can zip through tasks even faster nice so 63 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,740 we've seen how free Scout helps you manage those day-to-day support tasks 64 00:04:32,740 --> 00:04:37,000 but what about tailoring the entire experience to your brand ah good 65 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,600 question well that's where things get even better okay free Scout lets you 66 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,920 white-label the entire platform meaning you can replace their branding with 67 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,840 yours their logos their colors so it feels like an extension of your own 68 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:52,040 website your own application so customers feel like they're dealing 69 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:57,400 directly with your company it creates a seamless brand experience exactly and 70 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,600 you can go even further with customization by creating custom fields 71 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:06,720 to capture information that's specific to your business so for example if you're 72 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,520 an e-commerce company you might want to track order numbers or product details 73 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:14,440 right within the support tickets so you don't have to jump between different 74 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:18,560 systems to get the information you need it's all right there streamlined and to 75 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:22,200 keep everything organized you can set up your own folder structure you can define 76 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:26,380 workflows and SLAs those service level agreements yeah so free Scout gives you 77 00:05:26,380 --> 00:05:30,280 all the tools to manage everything in a way that really fits your business like 78 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:34,960 a glove it's like building your own bespoke help desk tailored to your needs 79 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:39,560 exactly but what about when those needs start to get a little more complex as 80 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,480 your business grows right and free Scout handle the big leagues good question 81 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:47,680 that's what I'm wondering too scaling up can be a challenge for any system no 82 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,880 matter how good it is on the surface let's find out yeah let's dig into that 83 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,880 next so we've seen that free Scout can handle you know the basics but what 84 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:02,560 about when you need something a little more advanced a little more right can 85 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:07,040 it scale yeah can it keep up with a business that's you know growing evolving 86 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,880 needing more and more from its help desk software well it seems like free Scout 87 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:15,220 has a few tricks up its sleeve for those who need those uh those more 88 00:06:15,220 --> 00:06:19,300 sophisticated features like what give me the good stuff okay well for one they 89 00:06:19,300 --> 00:06:23,800 have Kanban boards oh I love Kanban yes they're great for visualizing your 90 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:28,000 workflow absolutely so it's like a virtual whiteboard you can organize your 91 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:32,160 tickets you can track their progress you can move them between different stages 92 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:37,600 you know like new in progress resolved all just by dragging and dropping it's so 93 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,720 visual so easy to see where everything is at a glance and it really helps you 94 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,960 identify bottlenecks you know like where things are getting stuck oh for sure and 95 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:49,800 then for the data lovers out there you know the folks who really like to dig 96 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:54,960 into the numbers free Scout offers real-time reports ooh tell me more so 97 00:06:54,960 --> 00:07:00,040 think charts graphs all those beautiful visualizations showing you key metrics 98 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:06,000 like response times ticket volume trends agent performance so you can actually see 99 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,200 how your team's doing where you need to improve all that good stuff exactly it's 100 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:15,640 all about using data to make better decisions to optimize your support 101 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,120 processes day is king it is king so we've talked about visualizing workflows 102 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:24,440 we've talked about data what about connecting free Scout with other tools 103 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,360 you know the other systems that businesses rely on right can it play 104 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:33,240 nicely with others it can it definitely can free Scout offers CRM integration CRM 105 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,880 that's customer relationship management right yep so you can hook it up to your 106 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:41,000 CRM system and get this like this holistic view of your customers 360 107 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,280 degrees you see their entire history their interactions their purchases 108 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,760 their support requests everything and that's so valuable for providing 109 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,840 personalized support right well absolutely you know knowing your 110 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:54,560 customer understanding their needs that's how you build loyalty and I'm 111 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,080 guessing they have something for time tracking too right because you know a 112 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,040 lot of businesses need to track their time for billing purposes they do they 113 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:06,000 have a built-in time tracking feature so you can log the time you spend on each 114 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,680 ticket which is essential for businesses that bill clients hourly or you know 115 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:15,200 just need to track project costs accurately very practical very very 116 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:20,080 practical but it's not just about internal efficiency right we also need 117 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,960 to think about things like data privacy oh absolutely big topic these days huge 118 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,180 and free scout has you covered there too they've got GDPR compliance built right 119 00:08:29,180 --> 00:08:33,480 into the platform GDPR that's the general data protection regulation a 120 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:38,040 whole set of rules designed to protect the personal data of individuals in the 121 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,940 European Union so it's a big deal for businesses that operate in Europe or 122 00:08:41,940 --> 00:08:48,160 work with European customer essential absolutely essential and for the more 123 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:53,360 tech savvy folks out there free scout also offers API access ah yes the API 124 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:57,880 now for those of us who aren't you know developers break that down for me what 125 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:02,520 is API access and why should I care okay so an API it stands for application 126 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,360 programming interface okay and it basically allows different software 127 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:10,920 systems to talk to each other like a universal translator for software kind 128 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:15,400 of yeah so with free scouts API you could connect it to other tools you use 129 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:20,400 your project management system your counting software even your marketing 130 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:24,080 automation platform so it's not just a standalone help desk it can actually 131 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:29,280 become part of this interconnected ecosystem of tools exactly the 132 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:32,920 possibilities are pretty much endless it really depends on your needs and your 133 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:37,560 technical capabilities very cool so it really does seem like free scout can 134 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:42,000 grow with a business you know it can adapt to those increasingly complex 135 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:46,400 needs that companies face as they scale yeah it's flexible it's powerful and 136 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,820 it's got a lot of potential but let's not forget about one of the key 137 00:09:49,820 --> 00:09:53,840 advantages of open-source software the community the community the people who 138 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:58,040 are passionate about the software who are constantly contributing improving and 139 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:02,080 you know just making it better right and with free scout it's not just the core 140 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,560 developers who are working on it it's this whole community of users who are 141 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:10,840 out there building and sharing these amazing things called community modules 142 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:16,000 community modules what are they well think of them like add-ons or plugins 143 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,840 that extend free scouts functionality even further so it's like a giant 144 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:26,160 toolbox of extra features all created by people who are actually using free 145 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:30,320 scout in the real world exactly that's brilliant and we found a ton of these 146 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,320 listed on the free scout github wiki yeah some of them are really innovative 147 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,320 give me some examples like what are some of the cool things people are creating 148 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:44,680 okay so one that caught my eye was the chat GPT integration module chat GPT 149 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:48,160 that's the AI chat bot everyone's talking about these days I've heard of it so 150 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:52,640 with this module you can actually bring the power of chat GPT right into free 151 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:57,200 scout no that's interesting I mean imagine using chat GPT to automatically 152 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:01,800 generate responses to simple customer queries or to summarize you know those 153 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:06,040 really long complicated support tickets so your agents don't have to wade 154 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,960 through pages and pages of text exactly it just streamlines everything very very 155 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:14,520 cool okay what else what other gems are in this community module treasure 156 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,120 chest well if you're a fan of visual scheduling there's a calendar module 157 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:22,600 that integrates directly with free scout so I could schedule follow-up calls with 158 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:27,760 customers I could block out time for specific support tasks all within free 159 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:32,200 scout yep everything's in one place centralized love it and then for those 160 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:36,400 who use click up for project management there's a click up integration module so 161 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:40,280 if I'm already using click up to manage my projects I can connect it to free 162 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,840 scout and have my support tickets show up alongside my other tasks seamlessly 163 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:49,520 it's all about creating that smooth integrated workflow these community 164 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,360 modules they really showcase what open source collaboration is all about it's 165 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,640 amazing right like having this constant stream of new features and enhancements 166 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:00,920 all driven by the people who are actually using the software it's like 167 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,920 this collective brainpower all focused on making free scout the best it can be 168 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:09,680 and it's all for free which brings up a very important question yeah how does 169 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:15,440 free scout a free and open source platform support itself I mean 170 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:20,620 developing software takes time it takes resources it takes money it does so how 171 00:12:20,620 --> 00:12:24,300 do they do it well that's what we're gonna explore next free Scouts business 172 00:12:24,300 --> 00:12:27,400 model it's actually quite fascinating alright so we've talked about all the 173 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:31,080 amazing features that free scout offers the fact that it can scale with the 174 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:35,000 growing business and that incredible community that's constantly making it 175 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:39,000 even better right it's a pretty impressive package it is but now I'm 176 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,560 curious about the business side of things how does free scout actually make 177 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:47,360 money I mean they have to keep the lights on somehow right they do but it's 178 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:51,480 not through the traditional subscription model that you see with a lot of other 179 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:55,720 software companies how do they do it well the core free scout software the 180 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,000 one with all those great features we've been discussing that's completely free 181 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:04,200 free free you can download it you can use it you can even modify it if you 182 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,520 have the technical skills no strings attached that's incredible it's a real 183 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:12,000 testament to their commitment to the open source philosophy but they still 184 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,120 have to generate revenue right so where does that come from that comes from a 185 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:19,760 selection of premium modules ah okay so it's like a freemium model you get the 186 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:23,920 basic product for free and then you can choose to pay for extra features if you 187 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,760 need them exactly so what kind of premium modules are we talking about well 188 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:32,880 one popular one is the end user portal okay and what does that do it basically 189 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:37,920 allows your customers to submit support tickets directly through a portal on 190 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:42,200 your website so instead of just sending emails they have this dedicated space 191 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,800 where they can manage their support requests right and they can also track 192 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:50,440 the status of their tickets access a knowledge base even participate in 193 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,480 community forums so it's like giving them a self-service option exactly which 194 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,600 can really help reduce the workload on your support team and they have a 195 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:01,640 dedicated knowledge base module too right they do it lets you build a 196 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:07,960 comprehensive library of articles FAQs tutorials all that good stuff so 197 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:11,560 customers can find answers to their questions without even having to contact 198 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:15,320 support that's the goal it's all about empowering customers to help themselves 199 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:19,720 love it yeah what else what other tempting modules are there well for 200 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:24,800 businesses that need to offer real-time support there's a live chat module oh 201 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,200 yeah those little chat widgets that pop up on websites exactly it allows you to 202 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:32,280 interact with customers instantly answer quick questions provide guidance 203 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:36,120 especially important for e-commerce sites or any business where that 204 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:40,200 immediate connection can make a difference absolutely and then for those 205 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:44,120 who are data-driven there's a reports module okay tell me about that one I 206 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:49,080 love data so this module gives you in-depth analytics on all aspects of 207 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:53,000 your support operation you can see things like conversation volume response 208 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:58,160 times agent performance customer satisfaction so you can identify areas 209 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:02,680 where you're doing well and areas where you need to improve precisely it's all 210 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:07,600 about using data to optimize your support processes this is all sounding 211 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:12,400 really good but what about support for the actual software if I'm using the 212 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:17,040 free version of free Scout am I on my own if I run into problems not at all 213 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:21,320 free Scout has a lot of support resources available even for free users 214 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:27,240 like what well their website is packed with documentation FAQs tutorials all 215 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:31,560 sorts of helpful stuff and they also have a very active community forum where 216 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:35,360 you can get help from other users and developers so even though it's free I'm 217 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:39,640 not just left out in the cold definitely not and if you need more personalized 218 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:43,360 assistance or you have submission critical issues that need immediate 219 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:47,480 attention they do offer paid support options so they've got all the bases 220 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,320 covered they do they've managed to create this really compelling balance 221 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:56,440 between offering a powerful free product and generating revenue through those 222 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,760 premium modules and support services and they've done it in a way that seems fair 223 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:05,920 and transparent I think so so as we wrap up this deep dive into free scout here's 224 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:10,600 the big question for you our listener could free scout be the help desk 225 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:15,200 solution you've been searching for think about what's important to you is it cost 226 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:21,280 savings flexibility the power of community free scout offers all of that 227 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,480 and more it's a real game changer in the world of customer support it challenges 228 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:29,240 the status quo and shows that you don't have to break the bank to get a top-notch 229 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:34,240 help desk solution so we encourage you to explore free scout further check out 230 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,720 their website browse their community modules see if it's the right fit for 231 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:41,480 your needs we think you'll be impressed with what you find we certainly are and 232 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,800 And with that we'll wrap up this episode of The Deep Tive. Thanks for joining us.