Summary


What we've been discussing in this chapter are enterprise-wide communications and the ways of managing them. Each have their advantages and disadvantages and you have to decide the best way for your organization. Solutions are divided into those that leave an audit trail and those which just carry the immediate conversation. Each have their own storage and transmission requirements and demand different actions on the part of the employees and each have their own overheads in duplication of information.

Forums and discussion groups provide a web server-based viewable record that can be seen by anyone - but we suggest that only registered users can post for traceability. They do require specific actions by going to a web site to do this. Mailing lists are immediately available in the subscriber's mailboxes, and archives can be made available for general and archive viewing. Both of these are time-independent. Chatrooms need users to be online at the same time and may or may not be able to have their discussions archived. Wiki are web pages anyone can alter - and need a level of technical skill to post to and maintain. FAQ lists have to be initiated and maintained and are essentially one-way communication devices. Voice and video can be broadcast in webcasts, conferencing and messaging services - whether the frequency of use is worth it for your company or whether it would be a very good status-enhancing project for you as intranet engineer is up to you to determine.

Whatever you decide to do, any of these can be a very valuable resource on an intranet which, properly managed, enhances the company's collective knowledge, provide feedback, and encourage people to use the intranet. To test any of these concepts, it need not cost you much as the majority of software is available free - either under open source or free downloads.

Any of the software mentioned has been used, tested, or recommended by the authors and technical team of glasshaus, but these are not the only solutions available.




Practical Intranet Development
Practical Intranet Development
ISBN: 190415123X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 124

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