System description

Operation

Which functions (data, applications) does the IT/NT system make available to users? 

FoxBase can basically support two use cases:

Use Case 1: The sales representative sends all information about the customer's requirements, the recommended product and the customer's contact details to a CRM solution or an e-mail address.

Use Case 2: The (potential) customer buys the recommended product directly or sends all the information about their requirements, the recommended product and the relevant contact details to a CRM solution or to an e-mail address to arrange an appointment or to receive a sample.

FoxBase is generally used by FoxBase customers embedded in their respective customer websites. The needs, requirements and preferences are recorded using a questionnaire and compared with the relevant product portfolio of FoxBase customers. The result is a weighted list of the best available products for the respective requirements of the FoxBase user.

After calling up the selector-specific URL, the platform starts with the first question for entering the customer requirements. In the next steps, the user gradually enters the requirements via an intuitive web interface and receives an automated recommendation of one or more suitable products on completion.

API services used

To use the FoxBase platform, the following API services are addressed. 

Digitizer.app 

Is used to load the snippet for displaying a selector on the website and to communicate with the API. 

cdn.foxbase.com

This service can be used on request by our customers to load static assets that are required within the selector (e.g. images / CSS).

Data protection

Personal data (PII) is not stored in FoxBase. Customer request data is stored and analyzed for further evaluation - it is not possible to draw conclusions about individual persons.

Each customer request receives a unique number (request ID) which is stored together with the user's details. It is not possible to draw conclusions about the individual person with this request ID. In particular, no IP addresses are stored. 

The algorithms used by FoxBase are explicitly set up and, if necessary, optimized by our customers. Users are not profiled on the basis of their entries or other criteria. 

As an identity provider, Auth0 is only required for the authentication of administrative users of the backend - not for the use of the actual solution in the frontend.

Technical implementation

The Foxbase platform consists of three main components

• The workbench for configuring the solution

• The front end for using the FoxBase solution

• Solution-internal services and databases 

The front end is accessed via an SSL-encrypted connection. Communication within the solution with various services and databases is encrypted and is not possible from the outside, apart from dedicated interfaces. Access to the database server is not possible from the Internet, but only from the dedicated application server.

Data storage

The customer requirements are stored anonymously in the database; FoxBase is unable to identify individual persons. 

On the client side, i.e. in the browser, only the technically necessary data for a pleasant user experience is stored. The following text describes the use of the "cookies" set by FoxBase in a broader sense: 

Example text: Cookies 

The responsible person has integrated the FoxBase component on this website. With the help of FoxBase, customers can enter their requirements in a questionnaire and receive a corresponding recommendation. FoxBase stores the data collected in this process completely anonymously. The resulting statistics are only accessible to the responsible person for the processing.  

Cookies 

FoxBase does not use cookies. 

LocalStorage 

User input (key: foxbaseProductSelectorData-v7-<selector-id>): 

The localStorage provided by the browser is used to store the user input. Data stored there is completely anonymized and cannot be evaluated by FoxBase. They are only used to provide a user who returns to the page at a later time with their last entries preset in the questionnaire. 

Locale:

Saves the language under which the selector was last opened - as this is now explicitly set via the snippet. 

ScrollAdjust:

Saves the value by which the page is scrolled down - as this is now also explicitly set via the snippet.

AuthToken:

Is used to link actions that are executed when a selector is run through to a session started by the user. 

selectorID:

Saves the ID of the selector used - as this is now also explicitly set via the snippet, this entry will also be removed soon and will no longer be visible 

__anon_id :

Used by the analysis library (https://www.npmjs.com/package/analytics) to link analysis events to a user. 

Session Storage 

InitialLoad:

Value used to check whether a selector was loaded for the first time during the current session.

Release process

Both the workbench and the FoxBase platform (front end) are regularly updated every three to four weeks.  

The corresponding requirements are prepared as user stories, checked by quality management and implemented by the developers. Every code change is checked by another developer as a merge request in a dual control process and then integrated into the code base for a release.  

The changes bundled in a release are tested on a separate release system. Once automated unit, integration, and regression testing, as well as manual QA review, have been successfully completed, the release is integrated into the production environment. 

New features are communicated to customers via our newsletter and presented individually by our customer success managers in the respective success meetings.