# Helpio — Complete Product Reference

> EU-safe, EU-hosted AI business platform built on Scaleway's 100% European-owned infrastructure.

## Company Overview

Helpio is a modern business platform designed for small and mid-sized teams (1–50 agents) who need CRM, support, and customer engagement capabilities without the complexity, cost, or data sovereignty concerns of US-hosted alternatives. The platform is built with a privacy-first, EU-first approach and runs exclusively on European-owned infrastructure.

## Problem Statement

Support teams in the EU face a critical dilemma: use powerful US-owned platforms (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom) that expose customer data to US jurisdiction (Cloud Act, FISA), or use limited EU alternatives that lack AI and modern features. Helpio solves both problems.

## Product Architecture

Helpio combines seven core modules into one unified platform:

### 1. Shared Inbox
Unified ticket management across all channels: email, live chat, web forms, customer portal, and API. Features include:
- Filtering, sorting, and assignment
- Priority levels and custom tags
- Internal notes for team collaboration
- Collision detection (see who's viewing/replying)
- Bulk actions and saved views

### 2. Live Chat
Real-time chat widget for websites:
- Agent presence indicators
- Chat transfer between agents
- One-click conversion from chat to ticket
- Customizable widget appearance
- Pre-chat forms and offline messages

### 3. Knowledge Base
Self-service help center:
- Rich text editor for help articles
- Category and tag organization
- Full-text search with semantic AI search
- Public and internal article visibility
- Articles power AI suggested replies

### 4. AI Assistant
Built-in AI powered by Claude and GPT-4o:
- Suggested replies trained on your knowledge base
- Ticket conversation summaries
- Semantic search across KB and ticket history
- Contextual suggestions during agent replies
- Rate-limited and usage-tracked per workspace


### 6. CRM — Customer Relationship Management
Full-featured, EU-hosted CRM built into Helpio:
- Customer registry with configurable fields and custom properties
- Contact management, deals pipeline, and campaign tracking
- Built-in forms for lead capture and customer feedback
- Document management with e-signatures (Scrive-style signing)
- CRM statistics and reporting dashboards
- Email integration for outreach and follow-ups
- Easy migration from HubSpot, Excel, or CSV — import in minutes
- All data EU-hosted and GDPR compliant by design

### 7. SLA Management
Connect email accounts via OAuth:
- Gmail and Office 365 support
- Two-way sync with threading preserved
- Automatic ticket creation from incoming email
- Reply-by-email support

### 6. SLA Management
Conditional service level agreements:
- First-response and resolution time targets
- Rules based on priority, channel, or tags
- Automatic breach detection and notifications
- Pause/resume for business hours and pending states
- SLA compliance reporting

### 7. Reports & Analytics
Data-driven support metrics:
- Ticket volume trends over time
- Agent performance metrics
- SLA compliance rates
- First response and resolution time tracking
- CSV export for all reports

### 8. Team Management
Role-based access control:
- Three roles: Owner, Admin, Agent
- Invite-by-email onboarding
- Permission management per role
- Activity logging

### 9. Customer Portal
Public-facing support portal:
- Ticket submission without account required
- Ticket status checking
- Knowledge base browsing
- Customizable branding

### 10. Embeddable Widget
Drop-in support widget:
- Live chat functionality
- Knowledge base search
- Ticket submission
- Customizable styling to match your brand

### 11. Accounting & Bookkeeping
Complete Swedish double-entry bookkeeping built on the BAS standard:
- Chart of Accounts: 170+ pre-loaded accounts following the Swedish BAS kontoplan (classes 1–8), with custom account support
- Customer Invoicing: OCR number generation, sequential numbering, PDF generation, payment tracking, and recurring invoices
- Supplier Invoices: Register incoming invoices with approval workflow, payment status, and due date tracking
- Payroll: Monthly salary batches with automatic employer contributions (arbetsgivaravgifter) and Swedish tax table support
- Bank Reconciliation: Import statements from SEB, Handelsbanken, Nordea, and Swedbank with auto-matching against open invoices
- VAT Reporting: Automatic tracking across all Swedish rates (25%, 12%, 6%) with Skatteverket-ready reports
- Financial Reports: Trial balance, balance sheet, income statement, general ledger, and accounts receivable/payable aging in real time
- SIE4 Export: One-click export in standard Swedish SIE4 format for your accountant
- Audit-Ready: Verification series, entry reversal tracking, fiscal year locking, and full audit trails
- All financial data EU-hosted and GDPR compliant

## Infrastructure & Hosting

### Why Scaleway?
Helpio chose Scaleway as its exclusive hosting provider because:
- **100% EU-owned**: Scaleway is owned by Iliad Group, a French company. No US parent company, no US investors with controlling stakes.
- **EU jurisdiction only**: Data centers in Paris, Amsterdam, and Warsaw — all within EU borders.
- **No Cloud Act exposure**: Unlike AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud (all US companies subject to the US Cloud Act and FISA 702), Scaleway operates entirely under EU law.
- **Schrems II safe**: The Schrems II ruling invalidated Privacy Shield and requires adequate data protection. US clouds cannot guarantee this. Scaleway can.

### The US Cloud Act Problem
The US Cloud Act (2018) allows US authorities to compel US-headquartered companies to hand over data stored anywhere in the world. This means:
- AWS EU region → still accessible by US authorities
- Azure EU region → still accessible by US authorities
- Google Cloud EU region → still accessible by US authorities
- Scaleway (French-owned) → EU law applies exclusively

### Self-Hosted Option
Helpio can also be deployed on your own infrastructure:
- Docker-based deployment: `docker pull helpio/helpio:latest`
- Full control over data location and access
- No external dependencies required
- Same features as hosted version

## Compliance & Certifications

### GDPR
- Data processing within EU only
- Data never leaves EU borders
- Right to erasure fully supported
- Data portability via export
- Privacy by design architecture

### Schrems II
- No US jurisdiction exposure
- EU-owned infrastructure only
- No reliance on Standard Contractual Clauses with US entities
- No Privacy Shield dependency

### Security Features
- End-to-end encryption for data in transit and at rest
- Comprehensive audit logging
- Role-based access control
- Data residency guarantees (EU-only)
- Regular security assessments

## Pricing

### Free Plan — $0/month
- Up to 2 agents
- Basic ticketing and shared inbox
- Knowledge base
- Customer portal
- Community support

### Pro Plan — Contact for pricing
- Up to 25 agents
- Everything in Free, plus:
- AI suggested replies and summaries
- Email integration (Gmail, Office 365)
- SLA management
- Live chat widget
- Reports and analytics
- Priority support

### Enterprise Plan — Contact for pricing
- Unlimited agents
- Everything in Pro, plus:
- Custom integrations
- Dedicated support
- SSO (Single Sign-On)
- Audit logs
- Custom SLA
- On-premise deployment support

## Target Audience

- Small and mid-sized support teams (1–50 agents)
- Companies handling thousands of tickets per month
- EU-based organizations requiring GDPR compliance
- Companies concerned about US data jurisdiction
- Teams wanting Zendesk-level features at lower cost
- Organizations requiring self-hosted solutions

## Competitive Positioning

| Feature | Helpio | Zendesk | Freshdesk | Intercom |
|---------|--------|---------|-----------|----------|
| EU-owned hosting | ✅ Scaleway | ❌ AWS (US) | ❌ AWS (US) | ❌ AWS (US) |
| No US Cloud Act | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Built-in AI | ✅ | ✅ (add-on $$) | ✅ (limited) | ✅ (add-on $$) |
| Self-hosted option | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| GDPR by design | ✅ | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Per-seat pricing | ❌ (flat tiers) | ✅ (expensive) | ✅ | ✅ (expensive) |

## Contact & Links

- Website: https://helpio.nu
- Features: https://helpio.nu/features
- Pricing: https://helpio.nu/pricing
- Security: https://helpio.nu/security
- About: https://helpio.nu/about
- Privacy: https://helpio.nu/privacy