Pearson's Online Customer Support Reaches 100,000 Users

Milestone shows Pearson’s commitment to customers using student information system products

Rancho Cordova, CA, August 19, 2010 – Pearson, the global leader in education technology and services, today announced that Terry Baker from Richland One Schools in South Carolina is the 100,000th registered user on PowerSource, Pearson’s technical support website. Dedicated to supporting Pearson products including PowerSchool®, Chancery SMS®, PowerTeacher^™, and more, PowerSource has registered users from all 50 states and over 50 countries that regularly access the site to improve their use of Pearson’s market leading educational technology solutions.

Baker, a third grade teacher at Watkins-Nance Elementary School, signed up for PowerSource to learn more about PowerSchool, the student information system being implemented in her district this summer. “After registering on PowerSource, I spent some time browsing through the site to orient myself to all that it offers,” stated Baker. “I can see that this will be tremendously valuable for the teachers and administrators as we learn PowerSchool this year.”

Launched in 2008, PowerSource has enabled Pearson to improve the overall customer support experience with robust Web 2.0 features that no other student information system provider offers. Features of PowerSource include:

Knowledge Base: PowerSource provides a searchable repository of more than 28,000 documents, which customers can quickly explore using powerful browsing features. PowerSource allows users to submit comments or rate each document’s effectiveness; thereby letting other customers know how useful information is on the site.
Forums: With 100,000 users, PowerSource’s Forums are an ideal place for users to pose questions and discuss topics specific to Pearson products or any other related issue facing educators today. The Forums provide an easy way for customers to interact with each other and Pearson staff to help each other resolve challenges they see in their district.
Product Labs: PowerSource allows customers to see product releases before they are made generally available. Customers test drive the new functionality, offer comments, and provide input directly into the development process.
PowerSource Exchange: The PowerSource Exchange allows customers to share and download report card templates, custom reports, and PowerSchool customizations with other PowerSchool customers. Users can also search, comment, and rate these customizations.
Self Service Portal: Customers are able to create and manage their support cases online as well as view knowledge base articles and forum discussions related to their case.
Training: Pearson offers hundreds of online learning opportunities, all of which are available for customers to access directly through PowerSource. Some of Pearson’s training offerings through PowerSource qualify for college credit.

“New PowerSchool users will find the PowerSource community to be like no other. The users and Pearson support staff are always there to help each other on PowerSource Forums in any way they can, any time of day,” states Brian Andle, IT Specialist and PowerSource user at Willington Public Schools. “With such a range of expertise it’s refreshing to see so many users helping users in a way that’s productive to the entire community. In all the years I’ve worked in the computer trade I have never seen a user group so willing to help in any way they can as the PowerSchool community on PowerSource.”

With 100,000 registered users, PowerSource is the largest online community serving student information system users. It is available for free to customers using Pearson’s student information system products.

“PowerSource is another example of innovation in action at School Systems,” states Paul Fletcher, president of the School Systems group of Pearson. “We’ve brought the benefits of today’s interactive Web tools into our technical support offering, which has given our customers many more options to learn and improve how they use our student information system products.”

For more information on School Systems and PowerSource, please visit:: http://www.pearsonschoolsystems.com.

About Pearson

Pearson (NYSE:PSO), the global leader in education services, education technology and school solutions, provides innovative print and digital education materials for preK through college, student information systems and learning management systems, teacher professional development, career certification programs, and testing and assessment products that set the standard for the industry. Pearson’s other primary businesses include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group. For more information, go to: www.pearsoned.com.