Present.ly

Present.ly is a web based, communication tool that is of great use for organizations that want their internal communications to be efficient, easy to use and private. One of the major benefits of Present.ly is its ability to allow people working in an organization to communicate, within themselves, while sharing work related updates, helping each other and giving organization wide broadcasts. A great deal of functionality that Present.ly swanks is taken directly from the already famous, Twitter- ‘A popular website that enables its users to stay connected’. Although, Present.ly resembles Twitter in both use and functionality, it is more refined for the use of communication within organizations. With this secure and private platform, a user can share private as well as group updates, short messages or media with any other user(s) within an organization without any fear of the messages being viewable to the outside world. Present.ly gives a unique opportunity to its users to share knowledge, effortlessly. No one is perfect and nobody knows everything, Present.ly, with its public stream broadcast, enables a user to gain knowledge from the fellow workers that would take hours or days if done through personal research. With its public stream broadcasts, a user can ask questions, get organization wide updates, read urgent messages and see system broadcasts. Media sharing is taken to a new level with Present.ly; the interface of this website allows a user to share a wide range of media with ease. This platform allows a user to share images, documents, videos and audioclips with other users throughout the organization. Apart from its intelligent, trouble free environment, Present.ly also offers excellent compatibility with a variety of browsers, devices and platforms. For web browsers, Present.ly supports Mozilla Firefox, Windows internet explorer, Fluid, Safari browser and Opera. Present.ly can also be accessed through Blackberry, iPhone and Windows mobile compatible devices for on the move access to important communication. This micro-communications platform, also allows its users to form and join groups, so as to make interest specific communications. By paying for this service, the interface of Present.ly can be changed from the default environment to resemble the branding of the company. Changing the color combination and other visual settings in Present.ly is pretty easy and can be accomplished in no time. Presently, is a useful platform that not only enables an easy and efficient intra-organization communication but also makes knowledge sharing a fun filled activity. Present.ly is the brainchild of ‘Intridea’- a software development firm. Headed by Barg Upender and co-founded by David Naffis, this firm has released many innovative products and services including Present.ly, CrowdSound, Social Spring etc. With a focus on the micro-communications within a business, this useful tool has been able to receive some critical acclaim for its functionality. Present.ly comes from a growing range of web based applications that cater to business needs. Like micro-communication platforms - Yammer and twitter, Present.ly makes it possible for people to communicate with short texts. While ‘Yammer’ is a direct competition, the only difference between ‘Twitter’ and ‘Present.ly’ is the focus on business needs by the latter. With easy to use features, and intelligent web2.0 techniques Present.ly can be called an eligible contender for that number one spot that veteran ‘Yammer’ currently has. The look of Present.ly is clean, trendy and yet efficient. Intelligent use of green, white, black and gray makes this website easy to use and soothing on eyes. One would definitely admire its clean and clear layout. Bigger fonts used for both headlines and text make this website easy to read and understand. A lot of nice, big, rich screenshots are used in order to explain the various features and procedures of Present.ly. Registration on Present.ly can be done by clicking on the ‘Sign up’ link. This can be found on the homepage or at the top right corner of the website. For registration, a user is asked to fill the account information which comprises of the desired subdomain(company name) and account name. An administrator account is then created by the information like login ID, email, first name last name and password. The procedure can be completed by checking the “I agree to the terms of service, privacy policy and refund policy” and clicking on ‘create account’. Present.ly offers services that are both, free and paid. There are various plans available in Present.ly to cater to the individual needs of organizations. Although, Present.ly has a free plan with capability of 5 users, this is not enough for many organizations. The paid plans are available in 4 categories namely, Basic, Plus, Premium, and Enterprise. Apart form the Enterprise plan, all other paid plans are limited by the number of users and do not have internal deployment, Enterprise integration, and phone support. Although, Present.ly is made by keeping the corporate audience in mind, it can be used by anyone who wants to communicate with the benefits of Present.ly. In business, with its ease of use, private conversation features and good explanation of procedures, Present.ly can easily used by any employee.