The ADB Tax Firm Withstands the Pandemic with Wildix and Increases Efficiency

Wildix allows accessibility to home office, saving time every day

The tax firm ADB Altorfer Duss and Beilstein was founded in 1954 and has become one of the most well-known companies in Switzerland. They don’t focus only on the process of tax return, but also on providing holistic advice on all tax-related life issues and business decisions from concept to implementation. Their clientele consists of local and foreign companies, as well as individuals seeking assistance with Swiss and international tax law.

In the financial industry, trust and personal advice are highly important for business success. Many tax firms and financial advisors faced major challenges because of the pandemic, and the only way to overcome a potential crisis was to ensure all employees had the option to work from home in order to be available to clients at all times. The use of Wildix integrated with Citrix made this step possible.

The Problem

ADB Altorfer Duss & Beilstein is a well-known tax firm based in Zurich, Switzerland. It focuses on holistic advice to customers in all tax-related matters, and personal contact and continuous availability are vital for the firm’s survival. This tax firm has helped domestic and foreign clients for over 65 years. “During the first lockdown in March 2020, we had to switch to remote working overnight,” recalls Fabian Duss, Partner at ADB. “We did not have a telephone solution that incorporated mobility features. And this did not turn out well.”

There were also issues with telecommunications when using the cloud-based Citrix solution, one of the world’s leading systems for virtualizing workstations. According to Fabian Duss, employees often had to rely on old-fashioned home office variants that still used the employees’ private landlines because the mobile network was not sufficiently developed, resulting in the employees either not being available to customers or having to disclose their personal phone numbers.

Another disadvantage of the previous telecommunication solution was the lack of integration with software used in the company, such as the customer management system. “It was much more inconvenient when you had to search through the database, then copy and paste,” explains Fabian Duss.

The Solution

“So, we went to Wildix like they were our knight in shining armor,” says Fabian. In fact, salvation was exactly the mission for Wildix during the first lockdown. Assisting affected businesses and facilitating an easy transition to smart working, Wildix provided free of charge licenses for six months. “We then purchased a trial license from Wildix and made it available for the employees. Fortunately, this worked well. After that we completely switched to Wildix during the fall of 2020.”

Now, all of the approximately 30 employees at ADB tax firm use software or hardware from Wildix.

“The integration with our existing systems, where all the information is stored, is particularly interesting. These can be directly queried,” explains Fabian Duss, referring to the vertec ERP software used in the company. “The integration with the Citrix interface also works very well – there’s no delay and it doesn’t cause any problems. That helps a lot.”

Fabian Duss, Partner of ADB Altorfer Duss and Beilstein

During the transition to the new system, ADB decided to change its procurement model as well. So, the law firm uses the hardware and software completely as a service.

“We use ‘as a service’ because it also guarantees that we always have the latest hardware and software,” Fabian Duss explains. “There is no capital investment for purchasing our own hardware, as we did in the past.”

The Result

After one and a half years of using Wildix solutions, Fabian Duss draws a positive conclusion: “What was improved first and foremost was our accessibility to customers. No matter where our employees are, the customer now doesn’t even notice whether they’re in the office or not. Even if you call the customer, they can’t see it.” Thanks to the one-number policy, the customer is always presented with the same number, regardless from which device the employee is calling. Even when calling from their own cell phone, the office number can be displayed. Fabian Duss sums it up: “With an internet connection, you are in the office.” Internal processes have also been streamlined thanks to the Wildix solution.

“I especially like the ‘call me back’ feature,” says Fabian Duss. “I don’t have to make unnecessary test calls. After all, you can already see on the interface whether the colleague is busy or not. If I want someone to call me, I just send a ‘call-me-back’ Post-It.” This saves each employee a lot of time each day.

“It might be hard to quantify, but we all have a lot of phone calls, and if there’s always a few seconds saved because I don’t have any missed calls, I’m sure it adds up to a few minutes to an hour a day.”

Another time-saver is the integration with the ERP system, because according to Fabian, it is very helpful “that I simply enter a name on the top left-hand corner and then the suggestions immediately come up as to what is available in Vertec. So, I can dial up the customer immediately. That’s a big step forward.”

The ADB Tax Firm owes this progress not only to the Wildix system but also to the certified Wildix partner fourNET, which proposed and implemented the solution. “Since we have had fourNET, I have the feeling that I am always among the first in the innovations that digitalization brings. And that is a pleasant feeling. That was exactly the opposite with the previous provider. There, we always had the feeling that the whole world was using modern applications, not just us.”

In conclusion, Fabian Duss gives a recommendation for the Wildix communication system.

“We use Wildix because it ensures complete mobility. You can access all our data from anywhere, and the implementation with Citrix works perfectly. You can set up spontaneous conferences, i.e. video or just audio. And then it has interesting gimmicks, like the Post It, so that colleagues can call you back.”

Requirements

Value Gained

Up to one hour of time saved per day through ERP integration and status indicators
Easy accessibility at home or in the office under one number
Optimized internal processes through Post-It function
Smooth integration of Citrix Virtual Apps / Citrix Virtual Desktop as well as ERP integration
Simple conference calls (audio and video)

The solution was implemented by Wildix Partner

fourNET informatik ag
Hinterbergstr. 21
6330 Cham, Schweiz
+41 (41) 552 12 20
fournet.ch

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