Chatter went live in January 2011 as salesforce.com’s first tool in what is a rapidly expanding portfolio of technology designed to support every company’s transition to become a social enterprise.

As a new recruit at Bluewolf for the past two months, I’ve gone from Chatter newbie to power user, to passionate advocate. Here are a few of the reasons why:

Information my way: When it comes to information, I’m socially-hungry and I devour the information that my social network – with common interests and reputations that we have built over time – shares with me. Chatter delivers information in just this manner and makes it a breeze to keep abreast of what’s interesting, useful or essential, and to search for specific topics.

Finding common interests: The ability to follow people, groups, individuals, hashtags or even Salesforce Accounts, Contacts and Opportunities means the stream of information flow to my Chatter feed is highly customized and personal.

Chatter is where I want it: It’s online in a Salesforce browser, on my desktop as a down-loadable application running like Instant Messenger, and it’s mobile on the iPhone, iPad and Blackberry.

Flattens the hierarchy: Our CEO, based on a different continent, communicates informally and formally over Chatter depending on the content. His communications don’t read as long thought-out or marketing-drafted announcements, but they demonstrate a real engagement with the team. He often reads or watches what I share and asks questions or suggests different approaches. It’s safe to say I’ve experienced more CEO-interaction in my first two months at Bluewolf than in two yours at another global company of similar size.

Fewer emails and meetings: Salesforce reports that customers using Chatter hold 27% less meetings. This is not surprising as a conversation on Chatter often removes the need for a meeting (particularly useful with global companies negotiating time differences). Round-robin email queries with many responses are dramatically reduced, thereby lightening the load on the inbox. And often, the person who weighs in with the answer is someone you did not expect or would not have thought to ask directly. Imagine the time that saves!

Collaborate Externally: The ability to invite an external audience to specific Chatter groups opens up a wealth of teamwork opportunities. Here are some examples.  

The success of Bluewolf’s implementation of Chatter has not happened by chance. Executive engagement has been key. We also have an ‘A-class’ adoption team who were involved in the launch and provide ongoing guidance on how and when to use Chatter for best results. Want to know more about how to Chatter up your own organization? Talk to us today.

Hope this was helpful. Questions? Ask me @emmadunstone or @Bluewolf.