Online Consulting is a means to consult easily via E-mail with an experienced professional research scientist. It is designed for situations where an hour or two of expert consultation may assist a solution by providing guidance, ideas, facts or simply a different perspective. Where there are time pressures this format offers a round-the-clock 'Internet' alternative to the traditional methods of hiring a consultant. Answers are provided quickly and with minimal bureaucratic overhead. It is friendly and confidential. Where necessary fully executed confidentiality agreements can be provided.

Who is eligible: Online consulting is primarily intended only for those technically qualified professionals who are actually facing the problem and only for the purpose of trying to solve the technical problem. The working professional is best able to communicate such problems and is usually technically most competent in that respect.

Types of problem

Quick questions or help with a problem. The following are examples of the types of situation where online consulting may help get you out of trouble, provide useful information or resolve a potential roadblock quickly.

R&D PROJECTS

• Unexpected or confusing negative results in a crucial experiment, test or new installation.
• Failure of a device or technique due to some unpredicted phenomenon.
• The unexpected occurrence or last minute assignment of an unscheduled new task.
• Gremlins. - something assumed to be stupid and obvious to someone - but you can't quite put your finger on what it is and have even briefly contemplated checking to see if this 'data glitch' or whatever, correlates with the phases of the moon.
• Project's 11th hour and still it doesn't work.
• Possibly fundamental technical roadblock which requires identification, solution or circumvention.

SENSORS APPLICATIONS OR NEW MEASUREMENTS

• 'How to measure this', issues.
• 'How does this work', issues.
• 'Why does it do this and what does it mean', issues.

New tasks

You suddenly need assistance from an expert or a specialty you don't have access to. Here an online consultation may provide you with enough information to get you started in the right direction or simply confirm your initial conclusions, by, for instance, educating you in the key terminology, the actual scope of the specialty or potential pitfalls. However, if this new task is defined by specific objectives then, unless these are short and simply defined, they may form a component of a more formal contractual consulting assignment. In this case see Sensors R&D Services at this site to determine if this is a better route for you.

How to prepare and submit a consultation request

1. Read this page, preferably from the top.
2. Check that the subject field which describes your problem is covered.
3. Check consultant availability. Also, check the current Online Consultation notice in Brief Notices.
4. Decide if confidentiality is an issue. An executed confidentiality agreement is required by SRC prior to consultation if proprietary information is to be disclosed to SRC which is deemed of value to the client and which the client specifically wishes to be held in confidence.
5. Describe your request in up to about 500 words, being as technically precise as possible.
6. Classify your expectations for the consultation as one of the following:
   1. Guidance (what would I do)
   2. Search for clues (mystery)
   3. Factual (specialized knowledge or simple facts you can't seem to find anywhere or don't have the time to hunt down)
   4. Assistance with a specific task.
   5. Need ideas and suggestions.
   6. Help ! (Anything you've got that might help)
7. Select a priority - I consider all online consulting requests high priority. However, within that context is your problem:
   1. A Friday night catastrophe - and you need the answer by Monday. For some reason I have found that the majority of crucial tests end up being conducted on a Friday afternoon. Everyone else is leaving and you are there trying to get it all done before you go home. Something goes wrong and now you are in the grips of the Friday night catastrophe. I will accept a limited number of these requests. I send my response to you on the following Monday during business hours.
   2. High priority - response sent by the end of the next business day after the day of receipt of the request.
   3. Normal - response sent within 2 business days after the day of receipt.
   4. Two different questions - select this option if there are two different but context related questions you need answered with similar depth. This option is processed as normal priority and charged at 1.5 times the normal rate unless one of the two questions is unanswerable when it will then be charged at the normal rate. Response sent within 2 business days after the day of receipt.
8. Read and agree to the terms and conditions.
9. Your e-mail must include a concise statement of the problem, a clear statement that the request is for an Online Consultation and that you have read, understood and agreed to the terms as described on this web page, your billing address, full name and title or position.
10. SRC has an official privacy policy concerning the use of your contact information.

How requests are handled

1. TIMING: Monday to Friday the deadline for submitting requests is 6 PM (EST).
2. REVIEW: Your request is reviewed for complete information. Requests with incomplete required information such as billing address or the necessary contact information are discarded without acknowledgment.
3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Your request is either accepted or declined and so acknowledged as soon as possible after receipt. In certain cases it may be obvious that I need some item of additional information or clarification. This will be noted in the acknowledgment as "PROVISIONALLY ACCEPTED" - on hold pending receipt of the following additional information… Please advise."
4. WORKLOAD HANDLING: Overload requests are acknowledged with: DECLINED DUE TO OVERLOAD PLEASE RESUBMIT IN 24 HOURS. Resubmission is your way of controlling the process. Your deadline may change or pass in the interim making resubmission either out of the question or O.K.

What you receive

1. Acknowledgment

This is sent to you as soon as possible. It confirms receipt of your request, and includes an ACCEPT or DECLINE statement, a copy of your original request, a statement of the fee and an extra copy of the terms and conditions.

2. Consultation

This comprises my written technical response which may be 1 to 2 pages as necessary and an addendum specifying your options for further consultation if this seems appropriate.

NOTE: On some occasions I will work on a problem I had initially accepted only to find that I reach a dead-end and cannot provide the assistance I thought I would. In these cases you will receive a reduced consultation response so stating and with NO CHARGE noted.

3. Follow up option

For each rapid consultation you have the automatic option for one follow up consultation in the same format at any time within 30 days after the date on the original consultation. You will still need to check my availability. Follow up consultations must relate to the original inquiry, be requested by the original client and will be in the form of clarifications or further questions after you have had more time to think or have obtained more data. Follow up consultations are given as much consideration and are treated in exactly the same way as the original consultation, but they are charged at half the price.

4. Paper Invoice

A separate paper invoice will be mailed to your billing address. Payment is due immediately upon receipt (see Terms and Conditions). Please note that the requester is responsible for payment and also that no purchase orders are accepted for this service.

What it costs

The cost to you of an Online Consultation is low compared with regular hourly consulting rates and is fixed. This is possible due to the simplicity of the format and is specifically intended to help reduce cost barriers. Costs are detailed in the table below.

Where necessary a fully executed confidentiality agreement (SRC standard agreement - 3 year term) can be provided for online consultation clients at the nominal extra cost of $25. Clients are advised to consult with an attorney if in doubt concerning what is and is not proprietary information.

TERMS, CONDITIONS AND DISCLAIMER

Sensors Research Consulting, Inc. ("SRC") guarantees that it will give a rapid response, via e-mail to any online consulting assignment accepted by SRC. Client acknowledges that the purpose of online consulting is to give rapid assistance on the specific question(s) submitted by client and accepted by SRC, and that online consulting is not intended to solve client's larger issue or problem. Payment is due immediately upon receipt of invoice and indicates full acceptance of the work provided and completion of SRC's consulting assignment, with the exception of the one time reduced fee follow up privilege. Fees are fixed and in the amounts specified at this website. Payment must be by check only, made out to Sensors Research Consulting, Inc. and may be drawn on the requester's company or personal account. While every effort is made to insure the best possible service, adoption of advice, utilization of ideas, analyses, designs or materials stemming from or related in any way to the consultation given by SRC to a client is the sole responsibility of the client. Client acknowledges that the compensation to be paid to SRC for this consultation is modest in relation to the value of the consultation to client, and the financial risks inherent in the project(s) of client to which the consultation relates. Accordingly, in no event shall SRC have any liability or responsibility to client in excess of amounts paid to SRC as compensation. This includes any special, indirect or consequential damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action for breach of contract, negligence or otherwise arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of the consultation provided by SRC or any associated information provided by SRC to client. In the event that advice provided by SRC via online consulting leads to new intellectual property, SRC agrees that this shall be the property of the client. However, SRC provides no warranties that such advice, ideas, etc. leading to the new intellectual property does not or will not infringe other intellectual property rights. The submission of requests for online consulting requires full acceptance of these terms, and implies the authority of the requesting individual to accept these terms. If the individual does not have the authority to accept these terms and conditions on behalf of his or her employer, then this contract is deemed to be between SRC and the individual requesting the consultation.