Social collaboration is now easier than ever for Government workers – here’s why

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A recent survey of UK workers found that 39% say their organisation needs to rethink how it operates. One of their top complaints was around the amount of e-mail they have to cope with daily. E-mail overload kills productivity, stifles collaboration and makes organisations less responsive. Luckily, rethinking how your organisation works just got a little easier.

Effectively immediately, if your organisation has an Office 365 Enterprise plan, it now has a Yammer Enterprise license as well. Public sector organisations as diverse as Walsall Council, Transport for London and the European Commission are all using Yammer to improve collaboration and social sharing within their workforces. And now your team can join them, at no additional cost. What leader could say no to that?

And because many government offices need to collaborate with other organisations inside and outside the public sector, Office 365 Enterprise customers are no longer required to purchase Yammer Enterprise licenses for external users within their external networks. This simple licensing change significantly reduces the friction in cross-org collaboration and will enable end users to work with customers and partners without having to worry about additional costs.

The Yammer platform is constantly evolving to make it easier for organisations of all types to adopt more collaborative, responsive work styles. Here are some of the improvements included in the latest version of Yammer:

  • E-mail Interoperability: Enterprise social adoption often takes time, so Yammer now has greater e-mail interoperability, allowing users to collaborate via Yammer and e-mail together without having to leave their preferred communication channel. E-mail users can now participate in Yammer group discussions via email without having to set up a Yammer account.
  • Mobile Apps: Yammer's mobile app now offers a richer user experience. The updated Windows 8 app and upcoming Windows Phone app now feature improved live tiles, toast notifications and inbox functionality. A completely redesigned iPad app is coming soon, which will let users easily sort through their Inbox and unread messages.
  • Document conversation: Social is most effective when it's woven into the apps people use every day. Now users can start a Yammer conversation for any document that is stored in a SharePoint Online document library or SkyDrive Pro web client. This enhancement makes it easier for users to collaborate, as well as improves the discoverability of the document by others.
  • Messaging: Yammer users can communicate in real-time with ease, via an improved messaging experience on Yammer. New enhancements include: typing indicators, real-time likes, the ability to easily add multiple co-workers to a conversation and more.

Of course, the story doesn’t end there. Deeper integration with the rest of Office 365 is on the way, making Yammer an increasingly seamless part of your workflow. Enterprise social is powerful as a standalone solution. But when it's combined with team sites, email, instant messaging, voice, and video, it's a game changer. Offering Yammer Enterprise to all Office 365 Enterprise customers rounds out their capabilities and sets the stage for future innovation.

Want to get even more out of Yammer? Microsoft will be running Yammer workshops in the UK in early 2014. E-mail ukps@microsoft.com to be one of the first to receive details about these exciting events.