Fixing grammar Thanks for asking me to research and investigate potential alternatives to Facebook and Twitter.

Fixing grammar

Thanks for asking me to research and investigate potential alternatives to Facebook and Twitter. I stumbled upon Chatter, a new social networking service provided to its customers by San Francisco0based Salesforce.com, a fast-growing upstart whose stock has more than doubled over the last year, to $120 per share. I had fun doing research and would welcome another opportunity anytime. Let me know if you want me to present my findings to you and other executives in greater detail. Okay, back to Chatter and my report.

Imagine, a company that implements Chatter can expect its e-mail traffic to drop 40 percent as employees stay plugged in to the organization and remain connected. You can also track which workers add value to the company because you can keep an eye on deals being struck and monitor support staff members who excel at nipping problems in the butt.

The disadvantages of online social networks are obvious and clearly apparent. They sap and drain employees' time and productivity. Their openness creates a corporate security nightmare. Chatter, however, allows for virtual watercooler conversations but with limitations that are appropriate for business. Management can control and restrict access to sensitive information and records.

Salesforce.com is offering the Chatter service as part of its existing service to some 82,000 customers worldwide. Currently, about 20,000 companies have deployed Chatter, computer maker Dell and advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi among them. At Dell, some 20,000 workers are on Chatter, allowing managers to track deals. As for the cost, Chatter is included at no extra charge in the monthly fees of $65-$125 for customer-relationship management and other Salesforce.com business software. As a stand-alone product, Chatter costs $15 a month per user.

Did I mention how Chatter works? It is a lot like Facebook and Twitter, but it asks what people are working on, not what is on their mind or what is happening. Salesforce.com calls Chatter a "real-time collaboration cloud," meaning that users need only a browser and an internet connection to access it. Users create profiles, and their status updates center on questions, salient tidbits, and hyperlinks that are shared with coworkers in their personal networks. Together those comments and updates merge into a running feed. As on Twitter, employees can follow each other, their customers, and deals. Additional advantages are that (a) workers can connect with colleagues in the whole company, not just their workgroups, and (b) profiles are searchable for needed skills, say, if you need someone who speaks Mandarin and so forth. Chatter also makes suggestions to account users about people they should follow based on their past activities and job needs. Pretty nifty, isn't it?

This is just a summary of what I learned. If you want to hear more, please do not hesitate to call.