As a new professional bet and the rules are known, the marriage between Mediation and new technologies entails a regulatory factor that provides legal security to the process. This is a consequence of the fact that the scenario in which the procedure will take place has different ingredients that are unrelated to an in-person Mediation process where the professional has other tools that become useless in the virtual context.
Therefore, as is being done on platforms where these services are carried out, products with their own nature are offered that differentiate them transversally from face-to-face conflict management sessions. I want to return to an initial idea that bases the entire proposal: users and/or clients of this type of services use online mechanisms for daily consumption and we defend that we are condemned to offer these services through these means because not doing so would mean failure. thereof.
Linking with the previous idea, we cannot forget that the conflict management process is one of the most personal interaction processes that we know and we “manufacture” through this proposal a process that we dare to define as “aemotional” because the parties They design their proposals without the spontaneity of the meetings that can occur in a face-to-face negotiation. Therefore, this directly causes all the elements analyzed in this professional exercise to entail a substantial modification, that is, we must change both the rules to be developed and the tools to apply in our work.
Doesn't this type of process leave the professional who initiates Mediation relying on conflict management mechanisms through electronic means without tools? There is no doubt that in this service provision scenario, the product changes because we use instruments that are not used in conflict management in the traditional system that can occur in arbitration or in-person mediation since the mediator is devoid of one of the best sources of information: non-verbal communication. However, from our humble perspective and experience, the fact of introducing these new instruments modifies the professional's strategy by calibrating other parameters to favor the meeting of interests of the parties in the conflict.
As a concept of ODR, we must understand as a professional strategy the inclusion of electronic technology by the parties or the mediator, which can be developed with a combination of elements or completely online. Therefore, the inclusion of any electronic element (email, chat, videoconference, etc.) must be approved by the parties in the initial contract as insisted in this work since it is essential that the parties validate and approve the means. communication between the mediator and the parties. We must not leave behind the fact that new technologies are part of the work of other professionals since defenders use these mechanisms. Let's think about sending reports, expert opinions or shared documents
All communication and management processes must be done through a secure online platform that is currently emerging. One of the main advantages for commercial companies, not so much for individuals, is that the parties can follow up on their agreement using online media, since in the development of these strategies the response times between parties or with the mediator allow the work does not fall into oblivion.
