The Benefits of Enterprise Search on Your Intranet Site

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By IC
September 12, 2016
3 min read
Blog
Intranet
Enterprise Search

Summary: How effective Enterprise Search on your intranet can benefit your organization by saving time and returning more accurate results.

I don’t know about you, but I am always ‘online’. Whether it’s my phone, my desktop, or my laptop, my daily life revolves around a high level of connectivity. Unfortunately, it has created an unrealistic expectation for instant access to everything. Whether it’s a callback, an email response, or a text message, I always seem to need the answer instantaneously. The reality is I don’t need it now, I want it now.

The same can be said for access to information. We live in a day and age where information is, quite literally, at our fingertips – we can easily search for anything and get an answer within seconds. And it goes without saying, there is nothing more frustrating than not being able to find the information we need – and FAST! This rings especially true at work. Many of the customers I work with discuss the challenges of a shrinking workforce and limited resources. No one has time to spend hours searching for a form or document, we want to find it quickly and easily.

Enterprise Search Maximizes Productivity

Enter: Enterprise Search, an accurate and powerful search functionality that greatly improves the user experience.

I came from an organization that thrived on information sharing. I was always told to search for what I needed on our intranet. But, to be honest, it was an awful experience. Sometimes I’d have to search for upwards of an hour to find the policy or document I was looking for and sometimes, I wouldn’t find it at all. It wasn’t until I started working at Intranet Connections that I realized the impact of effective Enterprise Search. Now I can do my job much more efficiently because I can quickly and easily find what I need.

Get More Accurate Search Results

Have you ever heard of full-text indexing? Well, until recently, I hadn’t either! By using full-text indexing, the software is searching not only for site content but also for uploaded documents including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), WordPerfect, PDFs, HTML, and Text (.txt) files. This allows for more relevant search information and directs me towards what I need much faster (we’re going back to that instantaneous nature of mine) and more efficiently. I spend less time looking for what I need and more time supporting our customers.
Things like advanced search allow me to search down to a granular level and the display cards let me preview the document, page, or employee profile, so I can confirm I have the right information. It’s easier than ever before, and it simplifies even the most complex task.

Reap Significant Time Cost-Savings

Thanks to having powerful and effective search functionality, I am much more engaged with SQIRL, our own intranet site. I trust our search so therefore, I use our search. Whether I’m looking for a coworker’s extension or a policy document, I know I am going to find what I want, fast. The Enterprise Search capabilities really make SQIRL a key resource for information. On top of finding the resource I am looking for, I also manage to come across important news in our Company News application, or some funny Wall Posts from my team!

The Power of Enterprise Search

Believe it or not, a lot of intranet software providers, such as SharePoint, charge you an additional fee to include Enterprise Search on their platform. But as an out-of-the-box solution, we include everything – even Enterprise Search – in your purchase!  Enterprise Search can greatly impact your organization, I know it has for us. If you have any questions about Enterprise Search, leave them in the comments section below, or request a personalized demo with one of our product specialists.

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By IC

IC transforms businesses with state-of-the-art internal comms software. Since 1999, we have connected workers to their organization's goals and each other. Adopting our purpose-built software has led to measurable successes for our customers: productivity increases, turnover decreases, and better employee experiences.