Looking for a recommendation for a hotel? Post a question to your Facebook page and you'll get a flood of responses. However, if you want to find out which PowerPoint template your coworker recommends for a presentation, most people send an email, leading to a string of emails that flood the inboxes of interested and uninterested parties alike. To bridge that technology divide, more businesses are turning to private social networks.
Private social networks, available through free apps online, provide businesses with an internal social network for employees. These apps are secure and completely separate from public social networks like Facebook, and discussions are grouped by topic.
If this has you thinking, Isn't Facebook a big enough time-waster on its own? hold on. Companies that use internal social networks reduce meeting time by 27 percent and email use by 30 percent, according to a MarketTools survey. Can you imagine 30 percent less email?
Internal social networks can also integrate with your contact manager software, customer support tools and other systems. With an integrated social network, you can follow important records within your system-including contacts, business deals or customer support tickets-just as you would Like a brand on Facebook. There are several apps in this space, but three of the most popular-which also offer free versions-are Yammer, Chatter and Convofy.
Evaluating Your Usage
Before selecting an app, set goals and consider the benefits you want from an internal social network. Goals might be cutting back on meetings and internal email, or to increase collaboration. The goals you set will help determine which app is right.
Next, create a list of uses and include examples of what will and will not be posted. Usages could include finding answers (such as, I have a meeting with CoCorp next month, does anyone have a contact there?) and replacing company-wide emails (such as, Reminder: The office will be closed tomorrow.). As to what not to post, treat the network like company email and keep things professional.
Proprietary information can be shared because it stays within your company's private network and you don't have to worry about someone forwarding it outside the company accidentally. This is also a place to discuss sensitive information.
Once you have identified the app for you, brainstorm how the app's features could be used. Two common features among apps are groups and topic tags. Groups allow you to post messages that are visible only to group members. Think about what groups you would like to create, such as a sales group and a support team group. Topic tags enable you to categorize posts, regardless of where they were posted. You could suggest a topic tag for sharing PowerPoints or a tag for out-of-office posts.
Choosing a Network
Yammer, Chatter and Convofy each offer a free desktop app. Common features include:
File uploads for sharing (video, photos, documents and presentations);
Ability to create distinct groups within the company for discussion;
Administrative capabilities to oversee users and usage;
Ability to invite customers and guests to join certain groups;
Ability to access apps on certain mobile devices;
Maximum security through encrypted communications from your computer to their servers, where messages are stored and encrypted until you delete them.
The apps run on the Adobe Air platform, requiring Windows XP or above or Mac OS X10.6 or above and only a few hundred megabytes of space.
Walter Elly is a Salesforce.com certified consultant and frequent speaker at technology and social media conferences. He can be reached by Twitter @walterelly or by email walter@walterelly.com.
Chatter.com
Chatter was named top business app of 2011 by the Apple App store. Chatter's differentiator is that it provides deep integration into Salesforce.com and that integration is free. Chatter is also the only app to offer administrative capabilities in its free version, which includes moderating messages and blocking users (such as terminated employees). Chatter also offers free native apps on iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry.
Yammer.com
Yammer was first to market, launching as an enterprise version of Twitter. Today it functions more like Facebook, with integration into dozens of apps including Microsoft SharePoint, Salesforce.com and NetSuite. Yammer also offers free native apps (apps that run on specific mobile operating systems) for iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone. Administrative features require the premium version and cost $5 a month. Yammer's optional integrations cost extra.
Convofy.com
Convofy is a newcomer to the space and has caught the tech community's eye. Its differentiator is providing a clean integration with nearly anything you can access via a Web browser using its unique annotations function. (You can highlight any part of a web page and create a conversation around it.) Administrative features require the premium version, which costs $5 a month. Convofy offers a free mobile Web app compatible with all smartphones.
Current Issue - May 2024