How IT security manufacturer OctoGate leverages the entire Zoom platform

German firewall manufacturer OctoGate develops advanced security solutions that are designed to protect the networks of businesses and public institutions. With a heavy focus on the education sector, OctoGate’s firewall solutions help companies manage their data efficiently and minimize attacks, malware, and data leakage.

In addition to WLAN, VPN, mobile devices, or cloud services, OctoGate offers a holistic, secure network infrastructure and provides comprehensive manufacturer support.

Joining forces with Zoom Phone

Zoom convinced OctoGate with Zoom Phone. Even before the pandemic, OctoGate was looking for a provider that could meet their customer support requirements, which were still heavily phone-oriented at that time. IVR switching, queuing, and a cloud-based system were all features that OctoGate needed and had searched the market in vain until it found them with Zoom.

“Competitors in the phone space were nowhere near that level of sophistication. With Zoom Phone, we found these features even then,” says Frank Menne, managing director of OctoGate. “At the same time, we were already thinking ahead and had a chat and video telephony in mind. Step by step, we discovered the strengths of the entire Zoom platform.

OctoGate relies on the Zoom platform

With a third of the company working remotely, Frank Menne wanted his company to have “agile, efficient, and seamless” communications. Today, OctoGate relies on the Zoom platform to collaborate. In addition to Zoom Phone, the IT security company leverages Zoom Meetings, Zoom Team Chat, Zoom Webinars, and Zoom Contact Center.

“Communication at OctoGate has to be smart. The more Zoom, the less need to email. And that’s a good thing,” Frank said. Team members use Zoom to exchange documents via chat instead of sending emails and can quickly switch from phone to video calls or sketch ideas on the whiteboard and share the screen with developer colleagues.

Close collaboration requires smooth communication – between people inside the company and customers or partners outside. “For me, using as few different tools as possible is important. The Zoom platform is our primary tool throughout the workday. That’s how we ensure no information gets lost,” says the CEO.

Resolving customer tickets with Zoom Contact Center

For customer communication, the company relies on Zoom Contact Center. The CX solution recognizes whether the customer has a question for support or sales and can route the request accordingly. For Menne, the ongoing development of Zoom’s AI-powered virtual agent plays an important role, enabling the system to resolve even complex technical customer queries.

In addition to its website, OctoGate has also integrated Zoom Contact Center into its products. “People who buy firewalls or parental controls from OctoGate have a direct line to OctoGate via the contact center in case of support issues,” says Menne.

To integrate the Zoom Contact Center into its products, Octogate received support from the developers at Zoom, who quickly made the necessary technical adjustments for the company. Within two months, OctoGate was able to implement its support chat into the product.

“That’s not something you can take for granted in product development,” says Menne. An expert in software development himself, Menne is impressed by the speed of innovation: “What Zoom achieves in terms of releases in the shortest possible time is already enormous for a product of this complexity.”

“As a small company, we have to deliver.”

OctoGate benefits from the efficiency and productivity gains that Zoom enables through digital communication and collaboration on a single platform – a critical competitive advantage for the owner-managed company. “For us, as a small company that has to deliver, Zoom is the tool that makes it work,” says Menne. The company’s bi-weekly customer webinars, full-day reseller training sessions, and countless customer meetings for the sales force are also run through Zoom.

Agile and efficient with Zoom

OctoGate serves approximately 2,000 customers. Menne wants to use the platform’s capabilities to their full capacity, especially in the contact center area. By connecting Zoom Contact Center to his systems, he plans to expand call flows and use the APIs to provide his customers with personalized service and faster problem resolution.

“Since we started using Zoom, we’ve been able to communicate better and work more efficiently. We’ve become much faster. In the way we develop things and in the way we respond to requests from partners and customers. We are much more agile with Zoom,” says Frank Menne.