SafeHarbor delivers Web-based customer support to WatchGuard Internet security users
Highly trained support staff and graphical solutions are the answer for technical security products
SATSOP, Wash. (May 22, 2001) — SafeHarbor Technology Corporation (www.safeharbor.com), will provide first level customer service solutions for WatchGuard Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: WGRD), a leading Pacific Northwest company that creates Internet security solutions. SafeHarbor provides Web-based customer support for companies worldwide.
SafeHarbor is handling first level end-user customer support for two WatchGuard (www.watchguard.com) products: the WatchGuard® Firebox™ System, a combined hardware and software security solution for corporations large and small, and WatchGuard® SOHO, which solves the security problems of smaller offices or telecommuters who use broadband Internet connections.
"SafeHarbor's graphical approach to customer service is a real plus for educating users on the basic functionality of technically sophisticated products like our Firebox™ System," said Keith Clements, WatchGuard's vice president of support services. "We chose to outsource to SafeHarbor because of their expertise in Web-based support, their high-tech focus, and for the pool of well-trained employees at their operations center in rural Grays Harbor County. Our partnership with SafeHarbor has been key in helping us quickly scale our end-user support to keep pace with our high sales growth and establish industry leading service levels for our customers."
By outsourcing to SafeHarbor, WatchGuard is expanding its support operations to keep up with customer demands while also delivering rapid response times.
"Recent well-publicized security breaches at major companies have heightened awareness of the need for the security products WatchGuard makes," said Bo Wandell, SafeHarbor's president. "Our graphical solutions provide clear, easy-to-use answers to many of the repetitive questions that arise for WatchGuard's end-users. This can save time and eliminate the frustration of waiting on hold for a call center operator."
SafeHarbor's support service guides users to find immediate answers to support questions on the WatchGuard Web site. SafeHarbor created a customized support site that is seamlessly integrated into WatchGuard's site. The self-help Knowledge Base provides online answers to customers' basic questions about using WatchGuard products. Customers also have the option of requesting one-to-one support via the Web or phone, and serious customer support issues are escalated to company engineers.
WatchGuard is the latest business in the technology sector to leverage SafeHarbor's expertise in providing customer and technical support. Other SafeHarbor customers include: Access Washington, the state of Washington's 24-hour online portal that provides traditional customer support capabilities to better serve residents; and Mountain View, Calif.-based Triscend Corporation, the leading provider of Configurable System-on-Chip devices for the communications market.
SafeHarbor recently received $27 million in third-round funding. The company has also expanded its Web-based customer service to companies in Europe with an office in London.
About SafeHarbor Technology Corporation
SafeHarbor Technology Corporation helps companies become more efficient with a smarter alternative to traditional one-to-one customer support. SafeHarbor's Semaphore Service™ provides integrated Web self-help and live, interactive customer and technical support.
SafeHarbor's outsourced Web-self help solution is successful because it is graphical in nature. SafeHarbor's Knowledge Engineers construct and continuously update our clients' Knowledge Bases to answer their customers' commonly asked questions with easy-to-understand graphics and animation. On average, 70 percent of our clients' end-users have their questions answered with Web self-help. The remaining 30 percent are answered by one-to-one contact--including Web case, chat, e-mail and phone. This success rate, together with SafeHarbor's monthly subscription-based pricing, helps clients control costs.
SafeHarbor's corporate headquarters are in Satsop, WA--90 miles southwest of Seattle. The company also has offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York and London. To learn more, please visit www.safeharbor.com.
About WatchGuard Technologies Inc.
WatchGuard Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: WGRD) is a leading provider of dynamic, comprehensive Internet security solutions designed to protect enterprises that use the Internet for e-business and secure communications. WatchGuard is a pioneer in the creation of plug-and-play Internet security appliances and offers solutions for any size organization--from large enterprises with geographically dispersed offices and telecommuting employees, to home offices with a single broadband connection. WatchGuard's innovative LiveSecurity Service enables organizations and users to update their security systems through WatchGuard's broadcasts of threat responses, software updates, information alerts, expert advisories, support flashes and virus alerts over the Internet. For more information, please call (206) 521-8340 or visit the corporate Web site at www.watchguard.com.
Press Contacts:
Kevin Keating
The Silver Company for SafeHarbor
(206) 624-0388
kevin@thesilvercompany.com
Frances Bigley
WatchGuard Technologies Inc.
(206) 521-8340
frances.bigley@watchguard.com
For more information about how SafeHarbor can help your company increase productivity, customer retention, satisfaction and loyalty—while reducing support costs—please contact us at:
