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Framingham, Mass.-based CoreBlox calls itself "the pioneer in Channel Management Solutions." The company's core offering is products and services that use the software-as-a-service approach to offer a platform for support across the channel. To get an idea of how this works in reality, CoreBlox's CEO Todd Clayton recently answered some questions for SaaSWeek.com.

1) What is CoreBlox and how does it work?

The CoreBlox on-demand solution streamlines the customer support process for organizations to more efficiently service their own and their channel partners' acustomers. CoreBlox includes search, navigation, knowledge management and web-based ticket management modules. The CoreBlox SaaS solution is composed of a flexible and modular application integration framework based on an open source platform, Plone. Seamless integration is provided in the CoreBlox enterprise version for salesforce.com CRM as well as Angel.com IVR for phone support. Other complimentary systems, such as ERP, ESD and ESL, and PRM could also be plugged into the CoreBlox system.

2) In 75 words or less, please outline why a company should be interested in CoreBlox.

CoreBlox offers a way to reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction within your support ecosystem. Support organizations automate case management for both direct and channel customers. They create a global knowledge base, make the latest files, patches and documentation available for download, and delegate user management to the channel. Resellers find their self-branded CoreBlox site eases the service process, including one-click issue escalation. Customers leverage self-service features and overall, experience quicker resolution times.

3) What's the learning curve like for CoreBlox? Do people typically need a lot of training to use it?

CoreBlox doesn't usually require much training. Customers will find the Product Tour on our site helpful while orientating to the CoreBlox user interface and functionality. We provide assistance via e-mail for
Free version users or through our customer support web site and telephone for Enterprise users.

4) What are they key differences between the free version and the paid version of CoreBlox?

The Free version of CoreBlox is targeted at small and medium sized enterprises, as it is free for up to 10 internal (and unlimited external) users. With this plan you also get 100 Mb server storage space and email access to CoreBlox support.

CoreBlox also offers a 30-day trial for larger organizations to try the Enterprise plan for free. The Enterprise plan includes up to 10 internal and unlimited external users at no charge, then costs $50/month/user for additional users with volume discounts available. Included at that user price is server storage space up to 10 GB, SSL support, customizable site URL as well as access to CoreBlox support via email, phone and website. With the enterprise version you can also receive salesforce.com CRM integration at an additional cost.

5) Can you offer a brief example of a real-world use of CoreBlox and the benefits it brought the company?

Let's look at two scenarios; a business providing direct support to customers and a business using channels to sell and service its product.

In the first scenario, a small Atlanta-based medical instruments company (Med Inc.) has 8 employees in its support organization who provides direct support to customers. By using CoreBlox, Med Inc. can quickly automate their case management process. Branding their CoreBlox site with Med Inc.'s logo, images and custom color scheme, means the customer experience is personalized. When a customer calls with a problem, a convenient one-click process allows for the creation of new support cases and the ability to assign the case to the author or someone else. The support team can then also manage support cases from a single queue, filter support cases to determine how many cases are in each stage of the resolution process and link solutions to ensure consistent case resolution is delivered to the customer. Delegated user management enables customers to manage their own login and access rights. A global knowledgebase promotes customer self service and ensures consistent quality of information across the support organization.

Secondly, let's use the example of a NY-based computer manufacturer (Computers Inc.) with 10 channel partners. Computers Inc. sells its products solely through its channel, and partners are tasked with providing front-line support for any issues or requests that come in from the end customers. In this scenario, both the reseller and Computers Inc experience all the benefits described in scenario one above. In the event a reseller is unable to resolve a customer's issue, they are instructed to escalate the issue to the attention of Computers Inc. for follow-up.

Offloading front-line support to resellers can be a great benefit to Computers Inc. This way the Computers Inc. support team can steer clear of the most common support issues and focus on complex problems that require their expertise. However, in a non-CoreBlox enabled environment this can be a tricky scenario to manage for several reasons:

1. Typically each reseller has its own support system for managing interactions with customers. In our experience this is some combination of paper, e-mails, and spreadsheets. Not only are these methods scattered and inefficient, there is also no integration with Computer Inc's support system. This translates into a lack of visibility into what kind of problems these resellers are handling, and a bottleneck in the escalation process should one be necessary.
2. The lack of integration makes it difficult to disseminate the critical product knowledge that both educates resellers and enables customers to perform self-help.
3. The overhead of being asked to provide support without the proper tools and information slows the resellers down and takes the focus off their most important purpose: selling.

CoreBlox helps Computers Inc. to create a powerful and efficient partner support channel. With our solution, Computers Inc. can:

1. Give each of its 10 resellers their own unique, branded support site
2. Seamlessly populate each reseller's site with useful knowledge about their products and services (the knowledge is fully searchable and easy to navigate)
3. Gain visibility into all the support interactions between resellers and customers, regardless of whether they become escalated
4. Receive support escalations that automatically contain the entire history of interactions between the reseller and the customer
5. Reap the financial rewards of providing resellers with all the tools they need to provide excellent customer support, shifting the focus back to selling

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