I have some great news for you: Salesforce Chatter licenses are now free for everyone in your company! You read that correctly, Salesforce has given you free Chatter licenses for everyone in your company regardless of its size. All you have to do is request them and set them up. 
So, what do I do with this great gift, you might ask. Since many companies only have some departments on Salesforce, the others, like IT or HR have to get their information the old fashioned way (phone, email, or even public chat). Not any more! Free Chatter gives your entire company a private and secure tool to share information quickly in a real-time feed format.
Free Chatter users cannot access records in Salesforce but they can belong to Chatter groups and create their own groups, both public and private. They can post to any profile, share links and files, and upload files to share with others. They can use Chatter Mobile on their Blackberry, iPhone or iPad, and Chatter Desktop on the PC or Mac so they can stay in the loop even when they are not logged into Salesforce.
How might you use Free Chatter? Picture this: Someone in your company has a simple insurance question for HR. In the company I previously worked at, I had to walk upstairs, down the hall, and hope that someone was there to answer the question. Most of the time, I was told to come back when the person was supposed to be there. But they were not there. Then I’d email them and hope to get a response back within a few days.
Not any more! Set up an HR public Salesforce Chatter group and now anyone in the company can ask a question to the HR Chatter group and anyone in the HR Chatter group can answer it, even from their iPhone or Blackberry. They can even point the asker to the proper Chatter file to see. What used to take days can now be done in minutes and also made visible to others with access to the group so they won’t have to ask the same question later.
IT can now have their own public group for company questions, as well as a private group for their own collaboration. Secretaries and administrative assistants can now post to user profiles instead of writing down notes that get lost. Even the maintenance department can post that the coffee machine in the second floor break room is down and provide the address of the closest Peets Coffee. Think of the time savings!
As with any Salesforce product, security is robust and well thought out. Free Chatter is no different. All of the posts, feeds, and files remain in Salesforce. Owners of private Chatter groups must give permission for users to join and users can only delete posts that they create.
For all of you Salesforce users, bring the rest of your company into the 21st century with Free Chatter. Let’s all get things done faster and more efficiently!
Need help with efficiency?
StarrData helps you get the most out of Salesforce. If you would like information on the services we offer, call us at (888) 391-4493 x101.