Dating as far back as instant messenger, social tools -- email, Facebook, Twitter -- have a common trajectory: first college campuses, then the public, and then finally the business world. In keeping with this trend, Fort Washington-based
Chariot Solutions is launching
Haydle, a private Q&A board intended for corporate departments. It’s Yahoo Answers for the office.
"There’s a movement that takes the best of the social web and brings it internally," says Joel Confino, senior consultant at Chariot Solutions. "Just like there’s a whole slew of social products, there’s a whole slew of enterprise products."
Chariot Solutions, a service provider of custom software since 2002, is forming a not-yet-named product subsidiary; Haydle will be its flagship product. Although Confino says it’s too early say how many new jobs will be created, the company is seeking software architects.
Currently, most large companies use discussion boards or wiki pages, in addition to email, for internal communication. Someone seeking a quick solution will invariably sift through pages of tangents, commentary and bad jokes. What’s unearthed, moreover, might not be credible.
Haydle employs a "question and answer pair" model which assumes that every question has only one answer. The product invites co-workers to rate submissions. Finally, the asker selects the best match.
"This product is actually not discussion focused," says Confino. "[Askers have] tried those answers and they’re telling you which ones worked, so it’s almost like a personal recommendation."
The company will first approach current clientele -- mostly large IT departments -- who can use Haydle to catalogue programming solutions. They’ve also received interest from customer service and human resources departments, deluged with repeat questions. According to Confino, the most unexpected inquiry came from a pharmaceutical scientist seeking safeguards for drug manufacturing.
Haydle is currently launching with an eight-week beta pilot at a Fortune 500 client.
Source: Joel Confino and Tracy Welson-Rossman, Chariot Solutions
Writer: Dana Henry