Modria is boldly proclaiming to be “the Fairness Engine for the Internet”, as it launches its online dispute resolution platform to the public.
The premise behind Modria is simple – it’s geared towards helping businesses and organizations settle disputes swiftly and openly, with all parties involved invited to the table.
The building blocks of Modria is the tech used to solve disputes on eBay and PayPal…indeed, Modria was founded by two former execs from the e-commerce giants, and is backed by funding from Esther Dyson, Mitch Kapor, Battery Ventures and Advanced Technology Ventures.
With the launch today, the original platform that was used to solve hundreds of millions of money-based disputes has been rebuilt and opened to any enterprise or government agency.
How it works
Modria’s engine is built on conflict resolution research, and taps the knowledge of legal experts. The platform flags and diagnoses customer issues and subsequently drives the negotiation, mediation and arbitration before complaints escalate into a public spat.
Its so-called Diagnosis module collects and organizes all the relevant information about the issue and suggests solutions. The Negotiation module then distills points of contention and enables those involved to talk things through, while it’s also recorded for posterity.
If the parties can’t negotiate their way to a resolution, the Mediation module brings in an impartial third party to clarify issues and run through options. If no mutual agreement can be reached, parties can request a third-party arbitrator to examine the facts and help arrive at a decision.
Along the entire process, users can engage in discussions and submit assets such as text files, PDFs and videos supporting their arguments.
The ultimate goal of Modria, it seems, is to avoid costly court cases.
“Modria is a software custom-built for the age of the always-on economy,” says Colin Rule, founder and CEO of Modria “When so much brand equity rides on a good customer experience, it’s crucial to give everyone a fair hearing and find a fair solution, fast. It’s the foundation for trust. We give customer support teams and legal departments a turnkey solution to resolve customer issues to keep their costs down and turn complaints into opportunities. Our research shows a Fairness Engine can boost customer purchases by almost 20 percent.”
Rule helped build one of the first such conflict resolution systems during his eight years as the Director of Online Dispute Resolution for eBay and PayPal.
“Complaints and disputes are a fact of life in the networked economy, from online marketplaces to online banking,” he added. “They happen hundreds of millions of times a year. What has been missing is a solution that solves these disputes. Modria’s Fairness Engine solves this problem with a transparent and human process. It’s the first step toward a future in which companies and customers around the world settle their disputes amicably outside the overburdened court system.”
➤ Modria
Feature Image Credit – Thinkstock
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