Zammad is a helpdesk system for everyone

The Challenge

Effective customer service is an essential component of any successful customer retention strategy. The four founders of colpari – Oliver Farr, Daniel Alex-Laese, Frank Fricke, and Rene Rost – know this all too well from 30 years of experience in the industry. From the start, their goal was to demonstrate that call centers and outsourcing models are outdated and almost never align with clients' goals. They position themselves as a 360° customer service solution, addressing all the needs of small and large companies from the very beginning. They are an insourcing service provider that seamlessly integrates into their clients' structures and acts like an internal team, fostering a culture of open communication and mutual growth.

In addition to building an international network of experienced and motivated customer service freelancers, the founders recognized the need for a robust technical infrastructure: "Our clients often do not have a ticketing system, and we needed a standard solution that could meet professional requirements. The software needed to offer high adaptability in design and structure to accommodate various organizational structures. At the same time, it had to be user-friendly to avoid time-consuming trainings."

The Decision for Zammad

The list of criteria for the ideal tool did not end there. The desired system needed to be up-to-date and utilize the latest technologies. Additionally, it was important to the founders that the tool be available as open source to ensure smooth data import and export. Another requirement was a billing model that does not charge per seat.

After testing various tools, from WP Awesome Support to Zendesk, Zammad proved to be the best solution. "Zammad met all our criteria. Additionally, the intuitive user interface greatly simplifies access and setup. Another advantage is features like groups, which make it easy to structure complex scenarios," explain the founders.

Introduction of Zammad

As with any transition to new technology, there is an initial adaptation phase. "Overall, it takes a maximum of ten hours for everyone to become familiar with the system. The operation is very intuitive for most people, and the documentation is comprehensive and helpful for any questions that arise," describes Daniel Alex-Laese, outlining the onboarding process of Zammad at colpari. Employees particularly appreciate the automations and clear visualizations, which noticeably enhance the efficiency of workflows.

Daily Operations with Zammad

From documenting incoming calls to handling tickets and communicating with clients' end customers, Zammad plays a central role in colpari's daily operations and is used in nearly every service area. "If a client needs a ticketing system, we turn to Zammad. Having a single, reliable tool speeds up onboarding for our clients and saves us a lot of time on training. It also eliminates the need to evaluate and adapt other helpdesk systems," the founders explain.

Thanks to Zammad, colpari's customer service specialists can focus entirely on improving the customer experience rather than getting bogged down in technical details. The efficient transfer of important information to downstream teams and the sharing of internal notes is also well-received by the team. The integration of an API for report generation further increases transparency for clients.

The Greatest Value of Zammad

Zammad has proven to be a significant asset for colpari. "For our clients, daily communication has become much more streamlined and precise. Everyone has constant access to all relevant information, ensuring continuous transparency. This saves time for all parties involved and reduces the need for explanations," the founders note.

Daniel Alex-Laese further explains how the helpdesk system contributes to increased customer satisfaction by enabling the use of standardized templates and processes. This standardization simplifies and improves customer interactions, leading to a more efficient and effective service experience.

Highlights with Zammad

Daniel Alex-Laese doesn’t have to think long to recall his most rewarding experience with Zammad: "When a new client needed to set up their service with us in a very short time — ensuring the absolute availability of a hotline for company employees — we were able to build and deploy the entire infrastructure with Zammad in just two days. This included a database with 60,000 records that updates twice daily."

Looking to the Future

Zammad will continue to play an important role at colpari in the coming years: "Zammad is part of the toolkit we bring to new clients. Our goal is for team communication to move away from mailboxes, enabling companies to organize their workflows more effectively."

When asked about potential improvements to Zammad, the founders have a clear answer: "It would be great if templates could be made accessible only to specific user groups. We would also be very excited about additional integrations for open-source PBX software."