What is an Intranet?

An Intranet is a collection of private computer networks linked together within an organization. They are designed to facilitate communication within the corresponding computers to increase productivity and collaboration, mostly used within a corporate environment.

Several tools used within an Intranet to increase collaboration include instant messaging, company email, bulletin boards and Web conferencing software. All of these opportunities allow company employees to communicate with each other in real time from anywhere in the world. Also, employees can post their schedules onto the Intranet, so that you can view their openings for meetings within an instant.

Additionally, company documents can be stored through the Intranet making it easy for employees to access the data they need to complete their projects at any given instance. It also saves on paper costs and the time it takes to search for information as well as the need to head to a copy room to print them.

Of course, there are Intranets that are more usable than others. When it comes to ease of use, Intranets that give employees greater options and more access help to truly increase productivity. One such product that can increase user productivity and ease of use is Microsoft Sharepoint.

With Sharepoint, you can decide how to set up your company’s Intranet. Tools such as creating sites for each department, from HR to Marketing, making it simple for employees to find company information based upon each department’s site. If the Marketing department needs a specific document from HR, they can launch the HR site and download the document. Sharepoint makes it easy to upload documents to any site your company creates.

Not to mention, Sharepoint gives your company the option to create communities. Every employee can create their own “Profile” page to share their title, responsibilities and perhaps some little known interests. Furthermore, the “Communities” can be utilized to manage projects and deadlines, maintain wikis and keep everyone invited apprised of specific projects.

At times, searching for information online can be difficult. You may have to enter specific terms just to find what you need, and still not get the results you are looking for. Sharepoint minimizes that difficulty by creating an interactive search tool that you can apply to your company’s needs. This decreases the time spent searching and increases results.

Collaboration across communities and departments of employees has never been made more simple through Sharepoint. IT has an easy-to-use central management tool, and employees can tailor their sites and profiles to their needs. Clicking on an employee’s profile page not only tells you more about them, but allows you to email or instant message them with a click of a button. Data across sites and departments can be aggregated to convey visual charts of work production. Sales departments can download and send RFP responses to clients in an instant. Projects can be managed online including the ability for employees to make comments or suggestions. Online meetings can be set up from anywhere in the world, anytime employees are available. There is even cross-browser support for Firefox, Chrome and Windows. With all of these options, there is no way your employees cannot be productive.

For additional information and steps to creating your own intranet with sharepoint, visit our share point hosting web page.