Socialcast

Today, Socialcast announced the availability of Socialcast Ease (enterprise activity stream engine), our expanded technology platform designed to support a new form of enterprise collaboration through activity streams.

With today’s announcement, we’re moving beyond Enterprise Microblogging. While it’s still a key feature of our technology platform, we’re now focused on offering robust integrations with other systems as well. It’s not just employees who can share updates to the network – machines, systems, and processes should be able to share information, too.

Key features of Socialcast Ease include:

• Activity Stream Engine: Our new real-time interface aggregates information from existing business systems with employee-generated messages, including microblogging updates, into a live, searchable activity stream that provides employees with a unified view of data and activities flowing across the enterprise.
• Complete Microsoft Outlook Integration: A first-of-its-kind Outlook connector integrates Socialcast Ease into the actual Outlook application, offering users a familiar, cohesive interface for their entire messaging toolset. Socialcast Ease works seamlessly within traditional email workflow to eliminate “just another-tool” burnout. Messages and updates from a company’s Socialcast network stream into dedicated Outlook folders, where employees can read, respond and share new information directly from their inboxes. This integration works with Outlook 2003 and 2007, with support for Outlook 2010 coming soon.
• Behind the Firewall or On-Demand: It is now possible for security-minded customers to build a secure, robust social network since Socialcast Ease can be deployed behind the firewall as a rapid-install virtual appliance, leveraging VMware, Hyper-V, or other server virtualization platforms. Our free hosted deployment option is also still available.

Socialcast Ease and our available enterprise integrations are immediately available to all customers*. Visit your network today and try out the new features and capabilities.

*Note: On-premise customers will receive the Ease update in 1-2 weeks.

Today Socialcast released an important update to the desktop application that will bring more alerts and notifications to you no matter what you’re working on.

Now, when the desktop app is open, users will receive pop-up notifications each time a new message appears in their home stream. These brief, small messages will appear in real-time and will hover over any application you’re already working in. Users will no longer have to check the desktop app for updates, but rather, updates will automatically appear. These notifications are an unobtrusive way to see what is going on in a network without interrupting users’ workflows. Also, clicking on the message will take you directly to the message in the desktop app interface.

To get the desktop app, or to download the latest version, visit your network and click on “View All Socialcast Applications” in the right hand navigation bar. Then, click on the Desktop App icon to either install for the first time or download the newest version. Current users do not need to delete the old version.

Today, Socialcast released a new version of the Socialcast iPhone App, available for immediate download from the iTunes App store. This is an exciting update with many new features that will make staying in touch with your team on-the-go much easier.

New Socialcast iPhone App Features Include:

Push Notifications

Users can now receive real-time notifications on their iPhones from their Socialcast community without needing to check or open the app.

• Broadcast messages and @Mentions will trigger immediate alerts, including sounds and pop-up messages
• Notifications for unread messages will display a red badge with the number of new messages, identical to the iPhone’s new email or text message badge
• “Blackout periods” are available for notifications; users have the option to turn off updates during a set period of time

We recognize that employees often have their phone with them, but not a computer, when out of the office. These new notification capabilities were designed to give users instantaneous access to important information when being in front of a computer isn’t possible.

Image and Video Uploads

Socialcast users can now upload images to the community directly via the iPhone app. Video uploads are also supported for those with the iPhone 3GS. With this new functionality, it is possible to share any image or video immediately after it’s captured. For example, marketing can post images of the latest ad campaign on display downtown, or a video shot during fieldwork can be shared for instant discussion.

Other improvements in this update include:

• Multiple file attachments (photos and videos) now supported in messages and comments
• Improved login workflow, bug fixes, interface improvements

Many of these updates were suggested by our customers – thank you to all those who have given feedback on the app! Download it today and let us know what you think.

Today, Socialcast announced several new features and updates to make it even easier to use. Many of the updates came from user feedback from our customers – thanks to everyone that has made suggestions, offered their use-cases and ideas, and served as beta-testers in recent weeks.

New Socialcast Features:

Email to Groups

Stuck in Outlook all day with no time to log into Socialcast? You can now email a message into one specific group. Inside each group, find the unique email address in the right hand navigation bar. Use this email address any time you want to share a message into that group directly.

Beacon

Have you been away from your desk, and need to see what messages you’ve missed? Now, Socialcast has a “beacon” feature that alerts you to unread messages in each of your streams. Look for the blue bubble to the right of a stream, indicating that you have unread messages there.

Desktop App Updates:

The desktop application has been completely refreshed to be very similar to the web app.  We received such great feedback on our new version of the platform that we wanted to make the desktop app just as feature-rich and fast.

Enhancements include:

• Completely new user interface
• Beacon feature shows you when there are new messages in any of your groups or streams
• Edit, delete, and flag posts from the app
• Sort posts by type, and run a full search of the network
• Smaller memory footprint and improved performance

To get the desktop app, or to download the latest version, visit your network and click on “View All Socialcast Applications” in the right hand navigation bar. Then, click on the Desktop App icon to either install for the first time or download the newest version. Current users do not need to delete the old version.

Today we released our native Socialcast iPhone App that is available for immediate download from the iTunes App store. This has been a highly requested feature, and we recognize the need for employees to be connected to colleagues when on the road. This new application (that is, of course, free) enables mobile access to your Socialcast community with a robust set of features that makes using the app easy and effective.

We’ve made sure that all conversations are threaded in this app, giving you the clear context around messages you find and share from your phone.

With this app, Socialcast is keeping its focus on activity streams – making filtering information and people easy on your iPhone. In the app, you can switch between activity streams, allowing visibility to your home stream, group activity, and custom streams.

Other functionality allows you to:

• Share messages, comments and likes
• Search the entire network for information
• View anyone’s profile and contact information
• Browse employee photo galleries
• Follow and unfollow users

The app can be used by on-demand and behind the firewall users for instant access to their communities.

Download it today and let us know what you think.

More than two and a half years after we launched our first social employee community, the Socialcast innovation continues with a complete overhaul of our Enterprise microblogging software.

Today, we’ve launched a brand new interface designed to make using Socialcast easier and more intuitive. Focusing on activity streams – or custom pages of information that you follow based on people, topics, and groups – Socialcast has made finding and navigating through all of your steams simpler than ever before. The new improvements include:

Simpler “Share” form that makes it easier to send messages (the system also supports line breaks)

• All of your streams are listed on the left hand side of your screen, making browsing and searching quick and easy
• Flagged messages let you follow up on important topics
• Socialcast applications that you haven’t tried yet appear on your homepage
• Real-time trending topics and a tag cloud are available in your Home stream
• Network History helps you find recent information post-vacation or after being away from the network for some time
• Custom streams and new groups can be created directly from your Home stream
• Export RSS feeds of any stream into your RSS reader

The new interface surfaces all of the tools and options you need in one straightforward location – your Home stream. One of our clients that tested the new interface noted that, “This is a whole new way of experiencing Socialcast – I feel like I just ‘get it’ now. It’s so easy to use.”

Stay tuned for more upcoming features and improvements soon – and follow us on Twitter for the latest product updates and announcements.

Keeping up to date on the happenings within your Socialcast community has never been easier now that we have officially released RSS/Atom feeds for all Socialcast communities.  Are you new to the RSS craze?  Checkout this video for an intro on how Socialcast feeds can provide an easy and effective way to catch up on activity while you were away.  This is especially useful for teams that are distributed or have different work schedules.  There are feeds available for your connections stream or for the entire site.

All of the rich media content from your Socialcast site is also available within your feed. File attachments, images, and even Youtube videos are embedded into each message.

Socialcast feeds are compatible with any RSS Reader, including popular online news readers such as Google Reader or Bloglines. All modern browsers should automatically detect the feed when you browse the stream, but you can manually subscribe to your Socialcast Activity Stream by using the convenient link at the bottom of each page.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions for improvements.  Stay tuned as we’ll soon be announcing some exciting features that will allow you to customize your feeds to your hearts delight…

“So what is it that Socialcast does?” We get that question a lot. Sometimes it’s from a perplexed relative, and other times it’s from a customer who really wants a deeper understanding of our software. How we answer this question really depends on who is asking. But essentially, the true answer is this:

Socialcast doesn’t DO anything by itself. It’s a tool that, instead, provides the means for people to connect, share and discover information with their colleagues. There are a lot of ways to do these things – email, Facebook, Twitter, and yes, in person meetings. However, we do it a little differently here.

Connect: We have employees in 3 parts of the country. Connecting with each other in person just isn’t often possible.  We connect by commenting on ideas, bookmarks, and status updates inside our own community. Socialcast helps us transcend geographic barriers, so we really are working with our teammates, not just at the same time.

Share: Tim just read a great book about collaboration. Celeste just drew up some amazing graphs that need some input. Josh and Ryan added some photos of their adorable daughters on Flickr. Our team shares their ideas, findings, and life via Socialcast. How can employees really know their coworkers without sharing? Socialcast helps us build a network of employees that is constantly in tune with what everyone else is doing. This builds loyalty, engagement, and overall, a better working experience.

Discover: Finding information in an unintended way can lead to great things. When we’re looking through our activity streams, we often come across information that we weren’t looking for, but that someone shared. I often find that a new feature has been launched early (thanks, Minnesota team!) before I get into the office. Other times, I’ll mention that I’m about to speak with a potential client in a status update, and a few minutes later, will discover that another team member actually knows someone at that company. Socialcast helps you make these new discoveries.

So if I had to answer the question, “what does Socialcast do?” – I would say that it makes me love my job because I know that I can get any information I need, quickly and in unexpected ways, from people that I really know and enjoy working with.

One of the most common questions we get asked here at Socialcast is, “When are you going to release a Desktop version of your application?”

Well, the truth is that we built a web application and that, by its very definition, means that it is designed and engineered to be accessed through a browser. Most web 2.0 applications these days leverage the power of the modern browser (Firefox, IE7, Safari, Opera) and the ability to be accessed anywhere at any time.   

From the Browser to the Desktop–A Simple Solution

Single Site Browsers.

“What’s a Single Site Browser (SSB) anyway?”, you ask?

SSB’s are all about simplicity and convenience. Nowadays most users have multiple tabs open in their browser and flip back and forth. With a SSB you can set up any web application to behave like a desktop application. Each one has its own window, can be easily minimized, complete with Dock icon, standard menu bar, etc. Best of all, you get clear separation from your other web browsing activity. 

Awesome! Now how do I create my first SSB?

You can download Mozilla’s Prism for Windows, Mac (OS X) and Linux.  

For Mac (OS X) users, you can also use Fluid (we use it all the time), which is based on the Safari browser .

Windows users can also try Bubbles, another SSB creator for Windows only.   

Once you have downloaded the SSB creator of your choice the process is quite simple: 

1. Launch the application.

2. Fill in the details. 

Note: In the Icon drop-down menu, the second option is to specify an icon of your choosing. Now, if you fancy nice big, clear Application icons, you can find many of your favorite websites and their icons in this Flickr Group. And if you would like to use the Socialcast icon, grab it right here. 

3. Click the “Create” button and violá, you have a desktop version of your favorite web application. 

4. Repeat. (If so desired for other web apps).  

And that’s it! We hope this helps expose the power and benefits of using SSB’s in your everyday work life.

I am a big fan of crunchy things. Cashews. Live pumpkin seed bars from Whole Foods. Cocoa Puffs. Now, I am excited to ask for your help to make Socialcast just as “Crunchie” as all of these.

Last night we learned that Socialcast was nominated as one of five final contenders in the “Best Bootstrapped Startup of 2008” category for the 2^nd annual Crunchie Awards. We are really excited to be recognized for the blood, sweat, and tears that our team has put into growing our company this year. Watching the company thrive organically has been truly rewarding, and we hope that you’ll lend your votes to us in this awesome competition.

So – if you’re a fan of Socialcast, cast your vote for us here: http://crunchies2008.techcrunch.com/votes/ (ours is the second category). You can vote once a day through January 5th.

Thanks to everyone who helped us get nominated, and thanks in advance to everyone who has (and will) vote for Socialcast this week!