Title Escrow Closing Company breathes easier because ZIX
Updated March 03, 2020
Title Escrow Closing Company breathes easier because ZIX
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Zix
We use Zix everyday and throughout our organization. We are a Title Escrow Service and heavily communicate detailed non-public financial information with real estate buyers, sellers, agents, and lenders. We looked at countless solutions which were not able to serve our needs. Many were not very useable by customers. Most were too cumbersome for our agents to manage complex communication threads. Zix is also used by our largest clients, making even greater usability. It has been performing very well for several years
Pros
- Great usability for outside users who may need heavy access for several weeks and almost never again.
- Streamlined operation for our agents, keeping communication threads organized (actually a function of our mail app - it is just that Zix actually allows this - it was a deal breaker with countless others)
- Of course, bullet proof and highly recognized encryption. (duh!)
- Lovely people at Zix supporting us!
- Excellent reliability and availability
- Responsive to customer input on making things even better
Cons
- We reported a major issue with accessing documents on a smart phone. The display hides the documents from the recipient, causing much confusion. I haven't heard any progress on improvement, and am quite surprised that this hasn't been addressed.
- This is doing better now, far less complaints
- I have never received free pizza from Zix. We always appreciate pizza.
- Still no pizza.
- Reduced customer complaints. We had to stop earlier products because we would have lost customers.
- No negative impact on user productivity.
- Tremendous peace of mind knowing that we are responsibly managing our customers critical non-public personal information.
- Especially nice that we have streamlined interaction with our largest clients.
- We are not aware of any downtime and enjoy fast transmission of out messages.
My sales executive was exceptional at working with me to get on board. But, it was beyond even that how she followed up after the sale. That is unusual with a product such as this.
I stalled a lot in looking at Zix, because I believed that there could be a free solution to meet my needs. Nothing else worked, though.
She called me agin because Zix had begun to offer a new configuration more ideally suited to our needs, and I bought in.
I stalled a lot in looking at Zix, because I believed that there could be a free solution to meet my needs. Nothing else worked, though.
She called me agin because Zix had begun to offer a new configuration more ideally suited to our needs, and I bought in.
- Ease of use for clients who need to have access without IT support.
- Ability to keep communication threads connected.
- Wide respect from clients
- Ease of use for our team
- Bullet proof encryption
- Mac compatible
Using Zix
25 - We handle real estate closing. We communicate with buyers, sellers, agents, lenders and more. We use Zix to securely transfer financial moments which contain a variety of no-public personal information. We are required to be compliant with federal and state regulations as well as being useable for non-professional end users. Because of strict time requirements, we need a system which is not prone to slowness or downtime.
- Ease of use for buyers, sellers, and real estate agents. They may use it heavily for a few weeks, and then be done.
- Ability to work with Macs and iOS.
- Allow communications to thread.
- Certified encryption.
- High availability.
- Hmmmm. Nothing so earth shaking.
- Full integration with Apple Mail App, seems small, but it is huge for us.
- Secure delivery of Abstracts of Title with controlled distribution, editing, and printing.
1 - Must be breathing. It is almost dead simple. Of course, it is important that support personnel respect that users are often very capable at their job; due to time and other pressures, do not handle changes very well. Zix is almost entirely transparent to our users, so is very easily maintained.
Evaluating Zix and Competitors
Yes - ProofPoint - end user issues and frustration
ShareFile - lack of continuity for agents
Many, many others trialed and failed.
We were not about to give up on the security that Mac give us to encrypt email communications. Many products that are available depend upon using Microsoft Windows and Office; neither of which has a seller record of security or reliability. We wanted to continue using Mac Mail and not have to jump through a lot of hoops for us or our clients. But, Zix works well with Microsoft organizations; making our interface with lending institutions seamless.
In real estate transaction, we see a user with heavy usage for a month or so, and then they are gone. It is critical that the system be easily learned by them without hand holding from our people. Other systems had problematic password systems that made life for the end user as difficult as possible.
Another area that many other products fell short was in organization of the conversation. Our mail app organizes these in threads where it is very transparent what has taken place in past communications. Products which would not integrate with it were impossible to use in this respect.
ShareFile - lack of continuity for agents
Many, many others trialed and failed.
We were not about to give up on the security that Mac give us to encrypt email communications. Many products that are available depend upon using Microsoft Windows and Office; neither of which has a seller record of security or reliability. We wanted to continue using Mac Mail and not have to jump through a lot of hoops for us or our clients. But, Zix works well with Microsoft organizations; making our interface with lending institutions seamless.
In real estate transaction, we see a user with heavy usage for a month or so, and then they are gone. It is critical that the system be easily learned by them without hand holding from our people. Other systems had problematic password systems that made life for the end user as difficult as possible.
Another area that many other products fell short was in organization of the conversation. Our mail app organizes these in threads where it is very transparent what has taken place in past communications. Products which would not integrate with it were impossible to use in this respect.
Zix isn't free. I held off due to cost consideration. But, I came to see the value. It took a while to realize that I needed a full time end user directly involved in the search process. Once I had them involved; it was much more efficient to recognize pitfalls which were deal breakers. The biggest issue that clear during this process was the importance of threaded conversations. I was well aware of the need to bullet proof security, rock solid reliability, and drop dead simple accessibility for end users. There were products that did pretty well in those regards. But, our agents need to be able to easily see each step of the communication thread. Often, a response would come as a simple 'no' of other ambiguity. Without maintaining a clear thread of to conversation; it was too difficult to follow, let alone understand fully the conversation. And, it would be very prone to error. This is not sustainable with transactions in the 5 and 6 figure range. And of course, our agents are dealing with many of these projects simultaneously.
Zix Implementation
- Implemented in-house
Yes - Working with Sales.
Configuring Services.
Testing.
Trial Run.
Full Live.
Configuring Services.
Testing.
Trial Run.
Full Live.
Change management was minimal - Working with the right organization makes for seamless change
- really it was seamless.
- we had to change schedules due to personal conflicts and this was handed well.
Zix Training
- Online training
- In-person training
- Self-taught
Zix is so straightforward that there really isn't any learning curve. There was only a small amount of discovery required by our agents. There is little or no intervention required to help end users (buyers, sellers, lenders, and real estate agents) It is especially helpful that each is capable of using the system on the platform of their choice.
Configuring Zix
We haven't had any issues outside of the regular usage. It just works.
No - we have not done any customization to the interface
No - we have not done any custom code
No need. Zix is transparent to our users. They send and receive mail using their mail app, without losing any functionality.
Zix Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | Poor followup |
No - I am a very capable user. I seldom have issues that I cannot resolve myself. I have rarely been in need of more than basic support. And Zix support is plenty good. But, Zix is a premium product. The subscription cost includes premium support. The calls are answered quickly be staff who are both knowledgeable and excellent communicators.
Yes - No, but it is a major issue to resolve. There is an issue where documents are opened on a smart phone and the list of encrypted documents is truncated, of course hiding there relevant content. I have been advised that this issue is being reviewed and considered for resolution. Many of our end users open these documents on their phones due to the nature of the real estate business.
Using Zix
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- The actual system is transparent.
- It works well with Macs and iOS.
- Conversations thread within our mail app
- It is even more streamlined with our biggest volume clients.
- The management tools are currently disorganized; this is being addressed.
- End users are often unable to see their documents when using a smart phone.
- Being transparent might make users forget that we are even using it.
Yes - As I have said, end users have difficulty seeing their documents. Otherwise; all is perfect.It is compatible with all mobile platforms and is highly available allowing safe secure and speedy document delivery. One great feature is that once the account is setup, the end user can easily open secure documents almost as if there is no encryption.
Zix Reliability
Integrating Zix
- G-Suite
- Apple Mail
It is fully integrated and was totally effortless on my part. There are no changes that we needed to make either at G-Suite or in our mail app. There were no router changes. I imagine that we made a change to DNS; that was easily accomplished. But, truthfully, I really am not sure that we did. And, it would have been with assistance from the implementation team at Zix.
- I would love to be able to tie into our vertical application, Streamine ASP - First American Title
- It would be great to be able to integrate secure delivery of Abstracts of Title.
No, they do not.
Most importantly, there is no integration change requirements. Zix is completely transparent operating on the back end. It makes it possible to integrate fully with Apple Mail app, or any other application, on any platform that our users may choose. They often need to be able to securely access, and reply using their iPhones, and have that correspondence included within the conversation threads. It all works.
They play well with others. I really cannot imagine that there are any conditions where this platform would not completely satisfy the needs of users. (I am using the cloud based solution; there are also hardware packages that install on-site) I really believe that their team can get it working in the end environment without significant change.
Relationship with Zix
Net 30.
None really, they are a great organization.
Upgrading Zix
- We have not gone through a release upgrade/
- A resolution to the issue where documents are hidden on a mobile device.
- Consolidation of the management portals.
- Free pizza for users
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