Customer Transaction
ROCI is normally driven by a customer point of sale or service transaction, for example, the purchase of a home appliance, the installation of a home entertainment center, or a vehicle service. The customer opts-into the research process here, which may also include other customer relationship benefits like notifications of special sales, service alerts, or helpful hints.

Transaction Records
Transaction records are transmitted to ROCI periodically or continuously. This information includes data about the transaction and the customer. These transmissions to ROCI are often scheduled nightly or weekly.

ROCI Research Database
The ROCI research database stores all critical information about the research system including transaction records, customer survey responses, and database access rules.

Distribute Thank You Message and Survey Invitation
On a time driven basis, a thank you message and survey invitation is usually sent by e-mail to the customer. The message thanks the customer for their business, invites them to participate in the survey, and informs them about how the information will be used. This invitation may also be by telephone or mail as appropriate for the customer and market.

Customer Data Collection
With ROCI, data collection is usually through an online, web-based survey. The customer initiates the survey by clicking on a link or button in an e-mail invitation, and the customer is then guided through the survey by advanced branching techniques. The customer is only asked questions appropriate to their experience with your organization. Data collection can be by telephone, Internet, mail, and/or personal interviews and surveys. No matter what combination of data collection techniques are used, all responses are submitted to the Web Server and then the ROCI Research Database.

ROCI Web Server
The ROCI web server hosts survey pages designed by Six 9s and collects customer survey responses. It also contains specialized survey programming that controls the page-to-page flow of the survey based on prior customer answers as well as customer information passed to the survey, randomizes multi-choice lists to avoid order bias, and monitors customer answers to must answer questions.

Periodic Downloads and eAlert Distributions
Periodically ROCI downloads survey responses, deletes duplicates, verifies response content, formats the records appropriately, and loads them into ROCI research database tables designed for each research program. These periodic downloads usually take place overnight.

While processing the survey responses and database updates, ROCI reviews the customer feedback and selects records based on criteria determined by the program. ROCI then creates eAlert messages and distributes them by e-mail to the appropriate personnel.

eAlerts
ROCI eAlerts are used to quickly identify and help correct problems and to acknowledge and reward operations that satisfy and delight customers. Often eAlerts are used to help staff directly contact customers as part of the corrective action process.

ROCI User Community
The ROCI user community includes those who have transactions directly with customers at stores, sales offices, and service centers, regional and branch managers, consumer affairs departments, and all on the management team who have operational and strategic responsibility to produce satisfied and delighted customers. The ROCI user community benefits from eAlerts as will as access to ROCI web portal applications.

ROCI Web Portal Applications
ROCI web portal applications analyze research results in the ROCI research database and present them in tabular and graphic form to highlight opportunities for operational and strategic actions. Trend charts and color graphs are used to facilitate management decision-making. This provides real-time insights into your customers, markets, and operations.

ROCI Application Server
The ROCI application server hosts the ROCI research database and ROCI web portal applications. For large research applications there may be an application server and a database server. All provide the ROCI user community with secure access to information about their customers' experiences with the organization. The ROCI application server can be outsourced to a secure Six 9s server site or be behind your organization's firewall.