This page provides overall guidelines and protocols for Intota experts.  If you have any questions, please call us at 1-800-833-8055 between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Central Standard Time (USA).  You can also e-mail us at experts@guideline.com.

Table of Contents:

General Information
Service Expectations
Proprietary Considerations
Consulting Projects
"Quick Consulting" Events
Event Definition and Protocol

Intota's policy is to minimize rules and complex procedures in the operation of its network of experts. We rely on your dedication, integrity and professionalism to ensure that the service you provide is of maximum benefit to the client.

Intota is an Internet service that provides answers to questions through consulting from a certified network of experts. Intota is a trademark of ORC Guideline Inc.

As an Intota Expert, clients will expect you to provide enthusiastic service in a timely manner.  If you have any client issues, please call Intota and inform us of the situation.  If you become aware of additional client needs, please refer the client back to us at 1-800-833-8055 for additional assistance. If you know of another expert who may be able to assist the client, please contact us at 1-800-833-8055 so that we can recruit him or her if qualified. Please do not refer the client to an expert who is not associated with Intota.

You should generally be available to respond to potential client work during normal working hours (8:00 - 5:00 in your time zone).  You should make every effort to return calls and e-mails within 24 hours. If you will be unavailable for an extended period of time, please contact us at experts@guideline.com or 800-833-8055 so that we will know when you are unavailable.

Even though most inquiries and interactions will not involve proprietary knowledge, both you and the client are ultimately responsible for protecting knowledge that would be considered proprietary.  As an expert, you agree to hold in confidence any knowledge that is identified by the client as confidential. A client may ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement identifying the proprietary knowledge and the length of time it must be held in confidence.

Experts are not required to disclose information that is confidential or proprietary to the expert.  An expert may advise the client on how to make arrangements for disclosure, or refer the client back to Intota.

As a general policy, you should not discuss with anyone the identity or concerns of any Intota client, even if the information has not been identified as confidential.  However, you should feel free to discuss non-confidential inquiries with colleagues if doing so will help in the provision of service.

When ORC Guideline receives a consulting request, we evaluate it and contact qualified experts.  If we contact you, and you respond to us that you are interested and available, an ORC Guideline representative will arrange a conference call with you and the client to determine the scope of work (does it involve on-site consultation, design reviews, laboratory testing, expert witnessing, in-depth research, etc.), the schedule for the proposed project, and whether the project is a fit for you. 

Rarely, you may receive an email or phone call directly from an ORC Guideline subscription client if we determine their need is too small to justify a scoping call and can be addressed by you in an hour or less.  These requests are classified as "Quick Consulting" Events. Like all opportunities presented to you, they are optional according to your availability and interest.  These "Quick Consulting" Events have a fixed fee associated with them, which is listed in the fee schedule.  If you accept and complete a "Quick Consulting" Event, you then submit an online "voucher form" to be paid.

NOTE: Within a "Quick Consulting" Event, clients are allowed to spend up to 10 minutes at no charge for screening to see if you are match for their request.  As long as the client is not asking for advice and you are not providing assistance, the conversation is considered not billable.  If the client should request advice during the initial screening, tell the client that the conversation will then be billable.

Although project-based consulting opportunities are far more common, if you do receive and accept a "Quick Consulting" Event, the following information applies.

An event is defined a discussion on a single subject lasting one hour or less in length.  An event may include multiple telephone discussions or emails you may conduct with a user over a period of five or fewer business days and also includes any “offline” time you may require for research to effectively answer the user’s specific question.  At times, a consultation may require more than a single event charge.  You are expected to assess this at the beginning of the event and to communicate the need for additional event charges up front with the user.

Certain events may require more or less time depending on the complexity of the user inquiry.  Should a discussion exceed a total of one hour by a reasonable number of minutes, you are urged to complete the event without any additional event charge.  You alone determine the “cost-value” perception that each user always evaluates following an event with an Intota expert.

The following policy guidelines will assist you in determining the need for additional event charges:

1. Always “scope” the nature of the user’s question at the beginning of each event.  It will usually be readily apparent early in your event if additional event charges are necessary.  You charge for additional events when you close out the event on the Intota expert website at http://experts.intota.com.
2. Always ensure the telephone conversation or e-mail exchanges throughout the event with the client remain focused on the single question or subject area that the user first engaged you.
3. If you choose to accept an event-based consulting opportunity, you will be paid according to the Quick Consult Event fee shown in the Fee Schedule.

Intota is committed to providing value and overall satisfaction to customers.  You, the expert, will be the determining factor in ensuring clients always find value in Intota expert knowledge services!