[thelist] bulletin board for intranet?

[Scott Schrantz]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom O'Dea [mailto:todea at escape.com]
>
> Does anyone think that a bulletin board system similar to UBB would be
> useful on a corporate intranet? I thought it could be useful so that users
> could help each other out with the programs they use and offer tips to
> each other. They could also discuss topics relating to their health care
> programs and also discuss upcoming events within the company.

	I think it really depends on the company. It can be a great tool, if
you're sure people are going to use it. In a company like mine, with 40
employees, most of the above discussions take place in hallway
conversations. I can't imagine anyone sitting at their computer, logging in,
and posting a new topic when they could fire off an e-mail to HR or pop into
someone's office on their way to get coffee. The ingrained culture of
face-to-face communication would make such a system sit in cobwebs. That's
why I've never built one.
	In larger companies, with multiple offices, I can see it working out
much better. But then it still depends on the employees: what they're used
to, how comfortable they are with the technology, and how well they can wrap
their minds around the "bulletin board" concept. Many people still think of
the Internet (and Intranets) as a one-way street, not a place to engage in
conversation. That's what e-mail is for ;)
	Maybe you should ask the employees and the HR department if they
think such a system would be useful. Management's reluctance to allow an
"open forum" may be one problem, but the employee's reluctance to learn and
use the system could be even worse. Find out if anyone else in the company
thinks it's a good idea and, more importantly, if they would use it
themselves. If you could get a few champions in middle management and the
user base on your side it might help to sway the others.
	Of course, it all depends on your company.


>-----Original Message-----
>From: Don Makoviney [mailto:don at aspalliance.com]
>
>We keep track of everyone by their NT NetworkID, and join their netowrk ID
>to their name in our company phone directory - and so it logs who is
posting
>automatically, without the user having to do anything.

On a technical note, how exactly did you get ASP to grab the Network ID of
the user? The only thing I've ever found in the headers is the IP address.