Enterprise microblogging platform Socialcast is extended its data to outside applications with the launch of a new set of extensions called ‘Socialcast Reach.’ The new feature allows businesses to integrate Socialcast conversations within other enterprise applications like SharePoint and CRM systems.
Socialcast combines a corporate activity stream that ties into CRM and ERP systems with social bookmarking, Outlook and SharePoint integrations, mobile (iPhone and Blackberry) and desktop (Air) apps, and analytics. Co-workers can share knowledge and updates in a semi-private setting.
Socialcast’s Reach allows companies to bring these conversations into applications that employees are most familiar with, like CRMs, so that they don’t have to leave their work to view contextual information from the communications platform. For example, the Reach Stream integrates key Socialcast streams into any SharePoint, Intranet or business system environment that supports html/javascript (Founder Tim Young tells me that on the backend, the integration only involved a few lines of code).
The Reach Discussion extension allows users to engage in specific conversations related to customers, projects and operational metrics that live in a number of systems within another application. For example, this could involve a CRM platform where discussions surround lead opportunities or issue tracking. While, these discussions live inside Socialcast, they are visible both in the Socialcast community and the business system.
Reach Recommend is creates a view into the connections of employees as they search for content across the enterprise. It’s similar in theory to “liking” an item on Facebook. Once a user clicks on a “recommend” button on any resource in the enterprise, a message is immediately inserted into the Socialcast platform, surfacing that person’s recommendation.
For Socialcast, which just raised $8 million in new funding, Reach hinges on the same opportunity that Facebook has developed for Facebook Connect, says Young. Reach allows Socialcast’s conversations to be leveraged within key work environments without having to distract employees with another program.