How can you communicate with your remote employees? Companies are increasingly looking for new ways to reach their ‘hard to reach’ workforce and today I thought I’d share news of a new app which aims to do exactly that.
App:IC
is an app-based product from the internal communication experts at Sequel Group @sequel_group.
It allows you to deliver news articles securely from your intranet, enterprise social network (ESN) or other news platform to a branded app on company or personal mobile devices.
Rather than replacing existing channels, App:IC allows people to complement and add to their resources, so that with no additional content or extra work messages can go further. Nice!
Who is offering it?
With more than 40 years’ experience in the internal communications industry, Sequel Group says it has produced App:IC precisely with the industry in mind – to be an ideal solution for engaging employees and reaching discrete audiences.
You can see how it works below and via a dedicated website.
Who’s using it?
It is already being used by leading organisations such as Nationwide Building Society – launched on 5 November; there was a 100 per cent take-up within 48 hours for their app which targeted their top senior leaders, all of whom downloaded and began using it.
That’s pretty impressive!
Why is this important?
Technology research firm, Gartner predicts that by 2017, 50 per cent of employers will require their employees to supply their own device for work purposes, reflecting the rise in the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend.
The growth in the use of mobile devices to connect employees has been meteoric. So in response, Sequel Group has developed a quick, simple and cost-effective way to use apps internally.
“Many internal audiences don’t have continuous, or in some cases any, access to computers at work, making apps an ideal way to share news,” says Sequel digital director Charles Fenoughty,
“Other groups, such as senior or sales-based audiences, simply prefer the convenience and speed that apps provide – allowing them to read articles while they’re out of the office,” he adds.
“In the case of App:IC, once stories are downloaded on to a branded app they can be seen without the need to stay connected to the internet (for instance they can be read on the Tube or on a plane).”
The science bit
I wanted to know more about App:IC so asked Sequel to share the science bit. They told me: “App:IC is secure. All content is encrypted with AES (advanced encryption standard) before leaving a network And if a higher level of security is required, App:IC can be built requiring employees to enter their company usernames and passwords before opening pages allowing even more control over who sees the content.”
The use of mobile for connecting to audiences will only grow in the coming years and App:IC is an exciting new part of this. I’ve had a peek at App:IC and like what I’ve seen.
Find out more
There’s a whole website dedicated to the app where you can find out more including how to get hold of it.
I’ve written about apps for internal communication before, see my article from Social Media in the Large Enterprise in October 2014.
Are you using apps for your internal communication? If so and you have a story to share, do please get in touch. See my guest article guidelines to discover what works for my blog, I look forward to hearing from you.
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Rachel
First published on All Things IC blog 19 January 2015.
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