This week marks an important moment for Helm. It is our first official release, shipped right in the middle of peak season, alongside our very first customer.
Over the past weeks, Helm has been used daily to handle real staffing operations under pressure. Schedules were tight, volumes were high, and expectations were real. This release reflects that reality. It is not about polishing a demo product, but about supporting teams when things get intense.
Standing by our first customer during peak season
Peak season exposed real weaknesses in existing tooling across the ecosystem. During this period, several agencies experienced reliability issues with external calendar synchronization, including Bokun to Google Calendar flows. While no official incident report has been published, similar issues were reported by multiple operators at the same time.
In that context, Helm played a critical role. Staffing workflows, availability checks, and guide coordination continued to run reliably inside Helm, allowing teams to keep operating despite instability elsewhere. For our first customer, Helm became the source of truth for staffing decisions when other systems were no longer fully dependable.
Stronger collaboration and day to day operations
This week, collaboration inside Helm improved meaningfully. Users can now react to comments and reply directly within threads, making conversations clearer and reducing noise when coordinating on events. Small interactions like these matter a lot when teams are moving fast.
Event workflows are also safer. Helm now warns users when they are about to leave a page with unsaved changes, helping prevent accidental data loss during busy operational moments.
Passenger and contact handling is faster as well. Teams can copy passenger names and main contact details directly from event views, making it easier to coordinate with partners outside Helm.
More reliable staffing and run management
Run handling is now more accurate in complex cases. Runs that include multiple bookings are no longer marked as fully canceled when only one booking is canceled. This prevents incorrect assumptions and avoids unintended downstream effects during planning.
Sign in flows were also improved. Google SSO is now simpler and faster, reducing friction for guides and agencies accessing Helm throughout the day.
A foundation built for real operations
This first release is not just a collection of shipped tickets. It represents a foundation that has been tested in real conditions, with real customers, during the busiest time of the year.
Helm stood by its first customer when it mattered, providing stability, clarity, and confidence in staffing processes when external systems were under strain. That is exactly what we set out to build.