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In today’s age, nearly every consumer is doing something online. Researching, reporting, and buying are probably some of three of the most common things. But one thing companies can’t quantify that potential consumers are doing online is passing judgment. And the way consumers go about passing judgments about companies is something that can be controlled. Problem is, most companies have no idea how to control it.

The biggest problem with these consumer review sites is the fact that most companies have no idea how much power they could have over this process. Word of mouth has always been one of the most powerful tools on the internet. However, ask any company that has been affected by a word of mouth referral, and they might not consider it a valid form of company review.

What if all of your customers - both happy and unhappy - had a home base for their commentary? Consumers like the thought of having a place to tell their story about your service, offer suggestions and vent frustrations, and have their questions answered timely and accurately. Businesses like not having to worry that customers are ruining their reputation by writing about some unfortunate bad experience from 6 months ago and having that experience portrayed online as a business norm.

Most websites have detailed FAQ sections that answer customer questions. Some even offer 24-hour chat lines that can provide live support. But by opening an online forum, companies can put their customer support staff to work in the same way they do with live support. At the same time, forums also allow active customers to answer questions, offer advice, and provide realistic solutions to other customer issues.

Some websites also offer automated chat responders that act as an interactive FAQ - but most internet consumers should be savvy to these by now and they have likely been burned by them. This also means these forms of customer support are likely ignored.

But, if companies open an online forum that can act as a customer support vehicle, companies can put their staff to work in the same way they do with live phone support. As a bonus, however, forums also allow active customers to answer questions, offer advice, and provide realistic solutions to other customer issues.

Software websites seem to be the source of most customer support forums. This seems to be the case because web developers often require the posting of coding examples for their specific questions. In recent months, though, subscription-based online companies like GetMyHomesValue.com have added support forums to their customer-centric websites. These message boards provide a great way to manage subscriber communication in a real time manner transparently.

In opposition to live chat or FAQ’s, forum threads are indexed by search engines and easy to read when looking for an answer quickly. Often, providing an easy answer on a support forum to a competitor’s frustrated customer can lead that customer to bring their business to your company. Message boards also present information in a non-intrusive way on the customer’s time, saving them the hassle of having to wait for an available service representative by phone.

Hosting your own online forum is also a great way to thwart attacks from complaints-driven review websites. When a negative review or comment appears on one of these negative websites, have one of your online customer service reps refer people who view that page to your support forum. In addition to actively contacting the customer to resolve the issues, start a thread that address what they wrote about your company and offer your side of the story on the forum.

Message boards may seem very outdated to online businesses as everyone is trying to find ways to apply social networking to their business. But these "old school" forms of internet communication can still provide serious benefit to companies that generate income from the web. Support forums not only provide a place to assist the customer service department, they also provide a way to market new products to the best candidates - word of mouth brand evangelists.