HAMLOG.ONLINE (all-caps is the branding the client uses) is one-of-a-kind, unique startup serving amateur radio operators around the world; they chose the Zoho technologies for user support and accounting processes. This case study is a true example of the Zoho platform’s flexibility and readiness for unique use cases. Using Zoho Desk, Zoho Sprint, and Zoho Books, we changed the way HAMLOG.ONLINE serves its customers and works on the in-house projects, providing a multi-tier technical support with a verifiable audit trail.
Having over 25,000 active users and storing over 489,615,027 (four hundred eighty-nine million six hundred fifteen thousand) QSL transactions, HAMLOG.ONLINE was bound to have a significant flow of support requests. The solution must have been flexible, fast, low-TCO, and scalable. A heavy-load project that relies on load balancers to remain operational is no joke. United Parts of Chicago, a Zoho Advanced Partner, suggested that Zoho Desk and Zoho Books would fit the bill and check all the boxes.
Executive Summary
Location: Bedford, NH, USA
Industry: Amateur Radio
HAMLOG.ONLINE is more than just an amateur radio logbook – it’s a vibrant community that brings together operators, award managers, and shortwave listeners from every corner of the globe. What started as a simple idea to simplify QSO tracking has evolved into a large, all-in-one ecosystem for modern amateur radio. From real-time logging and automatic award verification to digital QSL exchange and international teamwork, HAMLOG.ONLINE makes operating easier, faster, and more rewarding.
The client’s mission is to make radio communication smarter and more connected. Built by passionate amateurs, HAMLOG.ONLINE combines innovation with reliability, offering multilingual support, a secure architecture powered by passwordless authentication, and features designed for both individual operators and large-scale special-event teams, whether you’re chasing awards or managing a ham radio club, HAMLOG.ONLINE helps you stay on the air and ahead of the curve.
What makes HAMLOG?ONLINE is unique in its blend of innovation and trust. The platform combines open access for radio amateurs with strong privacy protection, using modern encryption and passwordless authentication technologies from WWPass. At their current scale, HAMLOG.ONLINE needed an equally scalable yet affordable operational backend.
Problem Statement and Key Challenges
As HAMLOG.ONLINE rapidly expanded its global user base, the number and complexity of support requests increased significantly, from technical issues and award publishing questions to multilingual communication with operators across different time zones.
Managing this workload manually through email soon became inefficient and inconsistent. The team needed a centralized system to streamline support, automate ticket management, and improve response times.
At the same time, internal development projects were growing in scope and required better coordination between developers, testers, and the ham radio community.
"HAMLOG.ONLINE adopted Zoho Desk to organize and prioritize user support, and Zoho Sprints to manage agile development workflows. Together, these tools provided visibility, accountability, and structured collaboration - enabling the team to deliver faster updates, resolve issues more efficiently, and maintain a high-quality user experience across the platform"
Contributions were arriving through multiple channels, in various currencies, and often without consistent documentation. This made it difficult to track sources, reconcile payments, and maintain transparent financial reporting – especially when funding was connected to international events, QSL printing, or award sponsorships. Traditional accounting tools and manual spreadsheets couldn’t provide the flexibility, automation, or compliance needed for a global audience.
Problem Evaluation
"Our team has good experience with different types of business software, but in this case, we decided to rely on the fellow team at United Parts of Chicago to avoid common mistakes and ensure a smoother implementation."
Our immediate recommendation to the HAMLOG.ONLINE team was Zoho Desk. Having known this product for years and used it in all shapes and forms, from the “native” helpdesk for our own business to the repair tracking system, we knew they would like it.
For accounting, reconciliation with the multi-currency support, and tax purposes, we suggested Zoho Books: it’s easy to use even for a small team, fits any budget, and is very scalable.
Because the client’s team (just like us) runs on the Lean Agile methodology, Zoho Sprints was the obvious answer for internal project management.
Proposed Solution
To solve these challenges, HAMLOG.ONLINE adopted Zoho Desk to streamline global customer support, automate ticket workflows, and ensure timely, multilingual responses.
Zoho Sprints was employed to improve internal coordination, allowing the development team to manage agile tasks, track feature progress, and align technical work with real user feedback.
Finally, Zoho Books became the backbone of the platform’s financial management—helping reconcile donations and event-related payments, and maintain transparent accounting across international operations.
Together, these Zoho tools created a connected ecosystem where support, development, and finance work in sync—improving efficiency, accountability, and the overall quality of service provided to the global amateur radio community.
| Business Function | Before: Sparsed Application Environment | After: Zoho Desk, Zoho Books, and Zoho Sprints |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Support | Gmail with multiple folders and filters | Fully automated ticket management with multi-language support and integration between the HAMLOG.ONLINE platform's customers module |
| Accounting | QuickBooks | Zoho Books |
| Internal Project Management | Fragmented (Google Drive Sheets, e-Mail, and Slack) | Zoho Sprints |
Implementation
Zoho Desk Implementation
To make the client’s support process more intelligent and context-aware, we integrated Zoho Desk with the HAMLOG.ONLINE’s user database via API. Now, when a user submits a ticket, Zoho Desk gets the user information via its API to HAMLOG, using the email address provided in the form. HAMLOG returns key profile data such as callsign, current activity status, and subscription status. This information is then written into custom fields in Zoho Desk and private messages, ensuring that every ticket is linked to the correct operator.
Based on this enriched data, we send an additional request with the Zoho Desk API to set the ticket priority and due dates. For example, tickets from active event operators or award managers are automatically marked as “high priority” and assigned shorter due times, while general “how-to” questions receive standard SLAs. The callsign (they are always unique, so it is a TLId (Top-Level Identifier) is visible in the ticket header and used as a primary reference for communication, which is natural for the amateur radio community.
This integration allows the client’s support team to see at a glance who the user is, what they are working on in HAMLOG, and how urgent their issue is—resulting in faster responses, fewer mistakes, and a support experience that feels tailored to the needs of radio operators.
Zoho Books and Zoho Sprints
Both Zoho Books and Zoho Sprints were deployed in the nearly-default configuration; the client’s transactional part was straightforward and required little customization from Zoho Books.
Results
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Fast, Automated Customer Support
Automated customer information synchronization between the HAMLOG.ONLINE user accounts and their counterparts in Zoho Desk eliminate the appearance of duplicated records and allow the automatic ticket prioritization depending on the customer’s status and current actions. -
Simplified Accounting with Zoho Books
A convenient, API-enabled, multi-currenty accounting platform that costs less than QuickBooks and does more. -
Agile Projects and Product Life Cycle Management
Instead of relying on Slack messages, piles of emails, and Google Drive folders, the client’s team is actively utilizing Zoho Sprints for greater convenience.
"It was an absolute pleasure to work with United Parts of Chicago. Their team demonstrated exceptional professionalism, deep product knowledge, and a genuine commitment to understanding our goals. They guided us through every stage of the Zoho implementation with clarity and precision, helping us avoid common pitfalls and achieve a seamless setup. Thanks to their expertise and supportive approach, our transition to the Zoho ecosystem was smooth, efficient, and successful."
Bottom Line: The Zoho Platform Is Very Flexible
The HAMLOG.ONLINE’s case study demonstrates how easy the Zoho platform can be applied to the most niche, non-standard processes like QSL card management for the ham radio community. Is your business so unique that you can’t use most of the off-the-shelf software? Let us know, perhaps we can help.