ModSquad

Last updated
ModSquad
Company type Private
Industry Business Process Outsourcing
Founded2007;17 years ago (2007) [1]
Headquarters
Sacramento, California [2]
,
United States
Area served
Global
Key people
Amy Pritchard (CEO)
Mike Pinkerton (COO) [1]
ProductsDigital engagement strategy
Customer support
Content moderation
Social media
Community management
Crisis management
Number of employees
c. 10,000
Website modsquad.com

ModSquad is a digital company offering engagement services with its headquarters in the United States. [3] [4] Presently, the company maintains a network of over 10,000 moderators. [3] [4] ModSquad specializes in managed, on-demand customer service, content moderation, social media, and community management services, providing teams across various online platforms, e-commerce sites, in-game environments, mobile applications, and social media channels. [1]

Contents

History

The company was established in 2007 by attorney Amy Pritchard [1] with the aim of offering brands a means to provide their online community members with a more personalized and relevant experience. Viewing the potential advancement in managing online communities for contemporary brands similar to the London Mods youth culture, [2] Pritchard, alongside COO Mike Pinkerton, developed a services-based company focused on remote community managers and moderators (Mods) to staff virtual sites. [3] [5] The firm initially focused on providing avatar staffing services [5] but quickly expanded its offerings to include forum moderation and customer service for various brands. [3] [4] By 2010, the company had amassed a team of 500 experienced Mods working on over 100 clients' sites. [3] In 2015, ModSquad received a Silver Stevie Award in the Company of the Year (Internet/New Media) category at the 13th Annual American Business Awards. [6] In the same year, the company was acknowledged as Customer Service Team of the Year at the Golden Bridge Awards. [7]

Present

As of the present, the company operates with a network of over 10,000 moderators, referred to as "Mods." It has established a 24/7 operations center in Sacramento, California, which was established in 2010. [2] Additionally, the company operates 24/7 operations centers in Austin, Texas, [8] and Derry, Northern Ireland. [9] It also maintains offices in Brooklyn, New York, and London. In November 2015, the company, previously known as Metaverse Mod Squad, rebranded itself as ModSquad. Its client portfolio includes Warner Bros. (including Gossip Girl and Harry Potter), [5] HarperCollins, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, the National Football League, Reel FX (parent firm of Webosaurs), Electronic Arts, enVie Interactive, Kimpton Hotels, Vimeo, and the United States Department of State. [2] [4] [10] [11]

Operations

The company operates by delivering services through its network of over 10,000 multilingual Mods from 70 countries via a series of outsourced provision contracts. These Mods, who undergo vetting and orientation processes, adhere to predefined customer service guidelines. They assist or substitute in-house teams by overseeing various online community activities and specializing in digital engagement, including customer service, [2] maintenance tickets, social and forum moderation, and quality assurance. [12] Mods play a crucial role in maintaining and shaping clients' distinctive online communities. They assist with community events, provide support to users encountering technical and social issues, orient new members, and relay community concerns and feedback to corporate clients. [13]

Mods engage in both active and passive roles within forums. In an active capacity, they serve as representatives of the corporate client, providing various services. In active mode, Mods [5] monitor social media and conduct quality assurance testing to assess the end user experience. In their active role, Mods moderate content, engage in customer chats, oversee community management, ensure child safety (endorsed by Safe Kids USA), [14] [15] monitor gaming experiences, offer customer support, identify and report bugs, and manage social media accounts. Mods utilize a range of Customer Relations Management systems, [16] allowing them to work from any location with secure internet access. This setup enables them to offer services in over 50 languages and dialects during peak traffic and activity hours, ensuring native-language support to users. [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Who We Are". ModSquad. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Anderson, Mark (2012-09-21). "Web moderation firm expands into customer support: Metaverse Mod Squad's clients include NFL, U.S. State Department". Sacramento Business Journal. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Larson, Christine (2011-02-26). "A Patrol for the Web's Playgrounds". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Metaverse Mod Squad". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Bracken, Janey (2008-12-12). "Metaverse Mod Squad in Big Demand". CNN. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  6. ↑ "Welcome Home, Silver Stevie Award!". ModSquad. 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  7. ↑ "ModSquad Customer Support Takes Home the Gold". ModSquad. 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  8. ↑ "ModSquad Selects Austin, Texas for New Operations Center: Company Expansion is the Result of Increasing Demand for Its Digital Customer Service and Moderation Expertise". MarketWired. 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  9. ↑ "Londonderry gets 100 new jobs in Metaverse Mod Squad expansion". BBC. 2015-06-24. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  10. ↑ "Angel Selected by Metaverse Mod Squad to Enhance Customer Call Center Experience". MarketWire via Yahoo News. 2011-02-23. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  11. ↑ "FunGoPlay partners with online kids safety experts Metaverse Mod Squad for launch of online sports theme park". Develop. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  12. ↑ Onistsuk, Dimitri. "Meet the partner: Metaverse Mod Squad". Shipwire. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  13. 1 2 Scheetz, Starratt (2013-09-09). "Metaverse: Mod Squad". The Work From Home Reporter. Archived from the original on 2014-03-31.
  14. ↑ "Safety Vendors and Tools: Metaverse Mod Squad". KidSafe. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  15. ↑ "Izzy Neis, Director of Digital Engagement Strategy, Metaverse Mod Squad". Engage Digital. 2013-09-18. Archived from the original on 2014-03-27. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  16. ↑ Janakiraman, Shamila (2008-09-19). "Parature and Metaverse Mod Squad Enter Integration Partnership". Contact Center Solutions. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
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