Return of the Handshake

The Internet has knocked down so many borders, boundaries, and hurdles that it’s easy to forget it has created a few obstacles itself. For instance, handshakes and neighborhood referrals were once used to create long-term, trusting business relationships. In today’s global village, where neighbors are separated by oceans and mountains, these networking tools are merely anachronisms. Vois.com, a South Florida based startup, is working to change this however.

With the VOIS social sourcing platform, people can offer or find on-demand work anywhere in the world using relationship-building technology. Similar to the eBay model, VOIS has “buyers” and “sellers” of services. They rate each other on how well their commitments are fulfilled. Creating a report card for all to see quickly allows job providers and job seekers to start trusting handshakes and referrals again (digitally that is).

What sets VOIS apart from other web-based hiring services? Community. The VOIS platform provides features that breed a social community: profiles, internal email, chat rooms, bulletin boards, threaded discussion boards, and customer support from both VOIS personnel and other VOIS members. The result is greater communication and subsequently a greater ability to trust one another.

VOIS is also differentiating itself by taking small, upfront fees from both parties instead of a percentage of the hire’s commission. And in the true spirit of the global village, VOIS is working to position itself as a sourcing solution for all industries – not just IT and not just abroad. Need a journalist? Want one in Fort Lauderdale? You’ll have this search functionality in the next release of VOIS. Check it out at Vois.com. The service is free (with premium upsell options).