Tech Exchange OnForce Gets Even Better

In January I wrote about OnForce, an online exchange that hooks up people and companies that need on-site technical help with people and companies that provide that help.

I recently had a demo of a new generation of the service that adds a ranking capability to the selection of a service provider or individual. "PowerMatch" uses an algorithm to derive a score that helps match up a given IT service buyer with the most qualified provider.

The score is based on a dozen or so criteria, including proximity to the location of the service event, the degree of fit between the provider's skills and the tasks being put out for a match, the brands of hardware and software involved and the rankings provided by previous customers for a given provider.

As I show in these screenshots, the buyer provides information about the job that needs to be done, location and what he or she is willing to pay for that work. The system provides a list of service providers that fit the criteria. From there, the buyer can select several to put the work out to and make a decision about which provider gets the job.

As of this writing, OnForce had 10,733 active service providers in its database, a median time to acceptance of a posted job of 15 minutes, and an average service fee of $159.65.

This ranking capability is a compelling addition to a cool service that makes it even valuable.