Help Scout for Education

Whether it’s managing IT issues, student inquiries, or coordinating staff support, keeping things running smoothly in the education field can be overwhelming. Currently you might find yourself using a tool like Outlook to manage email sent to an address like students@ or housing@ from students or parents, and your team members all share access to that same address.

But how do you know which emails have already been answered?  Do you forward those emails from one Outlook inbox to another? How can your team collaborate to help each other solve problems? 

All of those important tasks are really tough to solve in a tool like Outlook, and a shared inbox solution like Help Scout can solve those problems for you. 

Instead of letting emails pile up in a general Outlook inbox that does not have visibility for your whole team, that is where a shared inbox comes in and can be extremely helpful. As emails arrive, you can assign them to the right person or department so nothing falls through the cracks. If a student emails about a financial aid appeal, for instance, you can send it straight to the Financial Aid team with one click.

And because Help Scout shows you when someone else is viewing or replying to a message, there’s no risk of duplicate responses. If two IT team members open a Wi-Fi help request, they’ll instantly see who’s already on it—saving time and avoiding confusion.

Internal collaboration is just as easy. Instead of forwarding emails around from one Outlook inbox to another, you can leave private notes and @mention teammates right inside the thread. Everyone stays in the loop, and the student gets a clear, informed reply—fast.

If you find yourself answering repetitive questions and would like to improve access to information—both for students and staff, creating a FAQ site can help. Help Scout’s Docs feature lets teams create easy-to-navigate knowledge bases that can be used to answer common student inquiries, there’s a lot more you can do.

For instance, an admissions office might build a public-facing FAQ to guide prospective students through the application process, helping them understand timelines, requirements, and how to follow up—without needing to email or call the office. 

Meanwhile, the IT department could maintain an internal knowledge base restricted to staff and faculty, documenting everything from troubleshooting campus tech to onboarding new software tools. Docs is also great for supporting departments that frequently collaborate; for example, an HR or operations team might use it to centralize how-to info around internal requests, campus policies, or staff onboarding. 

Even temporary events like student orientation or alumni weekend can benefit from a dedicated, time-bound Docs site—offering attendees quick answers without burdening your inbox.

Help Scout’s Beacon is like a virtual help desk that lives on your website, student portal, or LMS. It gives students, staff, and faculty instant access to FAQs, a contact form, and even live chat—all without leaving the page.

During peak times, like application season or course registration, Beacon helps reduce inbox overload by surfacing relevant help content based on where someone is and what they’re doing. A student trying to register for classes can get answers in real time, either from your Docs or from your team.

It’s also a powerful tool for events or orientation, where Beacon can offer proactive Messages like, “Need help with today’s schedule?”—and guide users to quick answers or support.

With AI Answers enabled, Beacon gets even smarter. A student asking how to drop a class can get an instant, AI-powered response based on your existing help content—no human help needed. If they still need more help, Beacon makes it easy to follow up via chat or message.