With Zammad, I enjoy communication even more

Use Case: What is Zammad Used For?

Benjamin Leist, owner of the digital consultancy phasedrei, begins his user story with a conclusion: "One thing is certain: a ticket system is always worthwhile - even for small businesses."

His company has been successful on the market for more than 10 years and has specialized in digital consulting with a focus on IT and digital media. Thereby, there are always inquiries from new as well as existing customers. Zammad helps to keep an overview and to easily trace correspondence.

We are a team of three and use Zammad primarily for email communication with our customers, most of whom are also smaller companies. They turn to us with all kinds of requests: everything to do with IT, hosting, cloud services, cloud telephony, and so on. Recently we have also set up the chat. The fact that it is only displayed when we are actually available is a great advantage.

How Was the Switch?

Before Zammad, phasedrei used Zendesk. Leist made the switch from Zendesk to Zammad himself at the beginning of 2019: "This was a very good opportunity to clean up the archive. But since I have the impression that the Zammad Migrator works very smoothly, I would recommend everyone to use it - it will certainly save a lot of time."

But why the change? "I wanted to keep it simple," says Leist. "So I took some time to look at and compare several tools - including Zammad and OTRS. In the end, I deliberately chose Zammad because it is a long-term and sustainable solution. It is also the leaner, more user-friendly product. Even though it doesn't include all the features of OTRS, it offers everything that is important and focuses on the essentials. The approach of not overwhelming everything with dozens of unnecessary features, but keeping the system lean, is refreshing. Less is sometimes more!"

But not only that: Trust also played a role. "The Zammad servers are in Germany. That gives you a good feeling. The team behind it is also friendly and honest. So you know where you stand! In addition, the system was highly recommended to me by a colleague - and rightly so, in my opinion. No question about it, I don't regret the change at all."

Resonance and Conclusion

Leist and his employees have now been working with Zammad for almost two years. Nevertheless, it has lost none of its appeal.

I like to open it again and again. It is a really great system that is fun to use and very well thought through.

Working with Zammad is a lot of fun, especially because of its structure: "The structure and setup simply make a lot of sense in terms of the operating concept. It is not a tool that can only be used by IT professionals, but a tool for everyone," says Leist. "You can find your way around Zammad very quickly because it is very intuitive, clear, user-friendly, and efficient.

Better Have It Hosted

Zammad's maintenance effort is also manageable. "I have set up everything myself and also manage it myself," says Leist. "With open-source software like Zammad, this is possible. From time to time I even make my own adjustments that are relevant to my application. That takes a few minutes, but it is worth it."

But could it be easier? "Of course you can reduce maintenance by signing a support contract. But for my small team, that wasn't necessary, and I enjoy doing a lot of things myself. But if you don't have the time or the know-how, I would definitely recommend one of Zammad's support options - then it's really relaxed and, depending on what you need, not at all expensive.

In my opinion Zammad has the fairest prices on the market.

In the meantime, Zammad has become an integral part of phasedrei's everyday office life. "Nowadays I create a ticket for EVERYTHING," says Leist. "Then I schedule it for follow-up - so it only pops up again when it is relevant. You can't forget it, but the dashboard remains clear. That's really practical. We also use the API to send emails automatically. That saves us a lot of work."

What Happens Next?

Leist and his employees plan to get even more out of Zammad in the future. "Zammad is our contact point for everything. I would like to make it even more comprehensive in the future and also make more use of the knowledge base. My goal is to have everything running through Zammad soon and to be able to find everything there."

The countless possibilities to speed up ticket processing - be it through triggers and automation, access to the API, or simple text modules - are among Leist's favorite features. But who knows? Maybe he and his colleagues at phasedrei will soon discover new helpful features.