answer customers. build a page customers can use. plan your next move — in the languages your customers actually use.
dear helpdesk helps small businesses and community organizations run the front desk, create a simple page customers can use, and respond faster across whatsapp, phone, and web.
dear helpdesk is a softerbread first hypothesis from birthright labs, an economic dignity initiative of the birthright project. it expands digital opportunity for smes and independent businesses across africa, latin america, the caribbean, and the diaspora.
maia answers. laila builds. aisha helps you decide.
choose a desk to preview the workflow.
maia runs the front desk for bella styles — a women's fashion shop in lekki, lagos — answering routine whatsapp and phone questions in your customers' own languages, and handing off to you when a person should step in.
one customer, three languages — pidgin, yorùbá and english — in a single chat.
maia replies to common whatsapp questions — hours, prices, delivery — in the language a customer writes in.
she can respond to routine calls and hand off the rest, so fewer questions sit unanswered.
anything uncertain, sensitive, or complex is passed to you with the whole thread — so no one repeats themselves.
"maia helped customers get answers faster. laila turned my business details into a page i could share. aisha helped me think through a simple weekend offer. for the first time, the work felt less scattered."
share a few past chats, or simply tell maia your hours, prices and preferences — all in plain language.
choose when and how maia hands a conversation over to you — a call to your phone, a whatsapp, or an email.
the more you and maia talk about your business, the better she serves your customers.
you can train the desk with your business hours · prices · delivery rules · past whatsapp chats · product & service list · handoff preferences · preferred tone and languages.
you stay in control — review, correct, and update the desk as your business changes.
english. nigerian pidgin. yorùbá. igbo. hausa. swahili. zulu. amharic. twi. wolof. lingala. spanish. portuguese. haitian creole. jamaican patois. french. and the everyday mix between them.
dear helpdesk meets people in the language they reach for first — and in the natural blend of languages a single conversation can hold.
language examples shown are demo content and should be verified with native speakers before launch.
regulated sectors need explicit disclaimers and human review before any day-one use.
hours, prices, services, products, availability, location, delivery, booking, and basic follow-up.
owners review, correct, and update what the desk says. the desk should reflect the rules, tone, and limits you set.
sensitive, uncertain, complex, medical, legal, financial, or urgent issues go to a person.
this is a first-hypothesis pilot. demos are illustrative; final workflows depend on partner needs, channels, and safeguards.
we're opening a small, bounded pilot. share a little about your business — it shapes what we build next. you can apply for yourself, refer a business, or explore partnership.
join the pilot · refer a business · explore partnership — one form, whichever fits.
small businesses do not need more software to manage. they need useful support where the work already happens — helping them answer, show up, and make the next move in the language their customers already use.