HYPE innovates without limits using GoToMeeting and GoToAssist

HYPE Softwaretechnik GmbH, a leading idea and innovation management software provider, supports large and medium-sized enterprises in generating, executing and analysing innovative ideas. Founded in 2001 with only two people, HYPE now has more than 90 employees working at the headquarters in Bonn and additional branches in Braunschweig, Berlin, Houston, Denver and Boston. HYPE serves an international customer base, including clients like BASF, Bosch, Continental, Daimler, Roche, Siemens, General Electric and Procter & Gamble.

The challenge: supporting a diverse customer base with remote employees

Operating at an international level with so many individual customer service requirements caused extensive travel costs. “We have customers in 16 different countries”, said Christian Feddern, head of IT at HYPE. “Our consultants are working in five different languages: German, English, Spanish, French and Arabic. They simply did not have the time or resources to manage each case in person.”

Additionally, internal communications between HYPE employees grew more costly as working from home via a virtual private network connection became increasingly popular. Based on those experiences, HYPE was looking for an easy-to-use, cost-efficient IT solution that could enable individual customer support as well as provide productive cross-office and cross-country collaboration.

Implementing GoToMeeting and GoToAssist for virtual collaboration and support

In 2007, HYPE eventually found the ideal solutions for their needs: the cloud-based web conferencing service Citrix GoToMeeting and the remote support solution Citrix GoToAssist. Both tools were installed and distributed to the team quickly and easily. “We did not even need to offer training”, Feddern said. “Thanks to the slim and intuitive user interface, all we did to get things going was to explain how to use both products in two or three sentences.”

Even new employees starting at HYPE can usually use GoToMeeting within minutes. “Many new employees start participating in meetings on their very first day at work”, Feddern said.

Simplifying international collaboration with quick, wide-spread adoption

HYPE employees use GoToMeeting extensively for customer service activities and cross-branch collaboration purposes. “In our offices, GoToMeeting is literally running from dusk until dawn”, Feddern said. “We own 16 seats, which during peak times are all used simultaneously.” At times like these, up to one-third of the whole staff is connected via GoToMeeting. “If one person organises a web conference with a customer, usually a further number of colleagues attend the meeting”, Feddern explained. Thanks to the All You Can Meet licensing model, the number of meetings is not limited for HYPE employees.  

The solution also positively affects the flexibility of enterprise working models. “Developers can use GoToMeeting for cooperative programming purposes, working from home with different people on the same code, as if they were sitting in front of the same desktop PC”, Feddern explained. “Furthermore, the solution enables web conferencing via not only phone with local dial-in numbers but also integrated VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), so employees working from home do not have to worry about their telecommunication costs.” Additionally, colleagues who are not able to join a specific meeting are kept in the loop thanks to meeting recordings that they can download anytime after the meeting.

Bringing co-workers and clients closer

With the release of GoToMeeting with HDFaces, meetings at HYPE are now even more social, as up to six participants can simultaneously share their webcam. GoToMeeting with HDFaces provides the highest-resolution video conferencing available in the market, delivering as many as six streams at a resolution of 640p x 480p each, or one stream with a total maximum resolution of 1920p x 960p for a telepresence-like experience.

“HDFaces provides us with the social component that cross-branch collaboration often lacks”, Feddern said. “It is a huge advantage that you can actually see what is happening on the other side of the line now. This gives you the feeling of being truly involved in the conversation.”

HYPE also uses GoToMeeting to connect customers to their specific consultant. “GoToMeeting created a lot of new possibilities. We are now able, for instance, to support customers in far-away countries such as India and Nicaragua”, Feddern said. “We usually conduct in-person meetings and workshops only to kick off projects. All following appointments are being held via GoToMeeting.”

Clients who use HYPE software for individual idea and innovation management are provided with ongoing online support. Apart from GoToMeeting, HYPE uses GoToAssist to enable the support team to access end-user desktops in real time, to conduct remote diagnosis and to install software via a secure connection. The solution is also used for delivering HYPE software updates to the global customer base. Customers can participate in support sessions with their HYPE consultant for free without having to register or install the software beforehand.

Expanding reach with expanded virtual offerings

Employees in marketing, sales and pre-sales also benefit through Citrix Online solutions by offering prospects online demos of their product portfolio. Recently, HYPE also began using GoToWebinar as a marketing tool. “We offer free webinars for clients and prospects to demonstrate new features and products as well as to train them on how to use our solutions”, explained Sebastian Pfingsten, head of marketing at HYPE. “GoToWebinar enables us to easily plan and conduct our webinars. By means of the Citrix Online solutions, we can offer our customers a full-service package and support them successfully even over long distances.”