Socialtext Helps Southeastern Trains Connect, Communicate and Inform

Socialtext, the leading enterprise social software provider, has expanded its partnership with Southeastern, the UK’s busiest commuter railway, to provide support for increased internal collaboration, connectedness and information sharing company-wide. The organization is taking the innovative approach of attempting to use enterprise social networking tools to identify and address delays -- sometimes even before they happen. Employees will utilize Socialtext to engage and share information with their colleagues; including drivers, station staff, conductors and control center staff. A comprehensive rollout is expected to be completed in time for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, beginning on July 27, which will see 20 percent more passengers using its services every day.

"In recent times, our employees have regularly asked for social networking tools to engage and share information with their colleagues," said Sarah Boundy, Southeastern’s Head of Communications and Publicity. “Our customers demand accurate information quickly so it’s vital that our staff is connected to each other and have fast access to real-time information in a rapidly changing environment. Sharing knowledge and expertise with colleagues is key and with our original pilot program, Socialtext allowed us to do this in a quick and efficient manner. We look forward to rolling out this successful service to all of our 3,800 employees in the coming weeks.”

Southeastern is leveraging Socialtext Connect, a flexible and robust REST API that provides out of the box integration with any ERP, CRM, or other content management systems in a completely new and innovative way. Southeastern is now able to socialize train status information in real-time across its entire workforce, providing transparency that will lead to improved passenger information and resolution times. In August 2011, the company began a six month trial with Socialtext which determined that the enterprise social networking implementation could provide long-term benefits to the business. “Workmate”, Southeastern’s social intranet enabled by Socialtext, provides greater connectedness and information sharing amongst Southeastern employees.

In Gartner’s February 2012 “Agenda for Social Software and Collaboration, 2012”, authored by Research Director Nikos Drakos, one of the key findings highlighted states, “Social software and collaboration initiatives enable new ways of working together and doing business. The social media and collaboration spaces change fast as new technologies constantly emerge along with new ways to apply them. If IT leaders can bring forth the potential of social media, it can enhance business processes, decision making and other basic activities within the enterprise.”

“As the first company to deliver social software to businesses, we remain dedicated to delivering an unsurpassed social experience to each of our clients, offering the convenience and tools needed to grow enterprise social networking on a global scale,” said Eugene Lee, CEO, Socialtext. “The truth is, social software is not just for knowledge workers – and the way we see Southeastern using the Socialtext social collaboration platform to bridge the gap between front lines service and operations through distributed knowledge is an outstanding example of the type of innovation we are seeing. Because of the forward thinking leadership at Southeastern, and the flexibility inherent in our platform, their employees are able to communicate, collaborate and problem solve with colleagues regardless of location and in real-time.”

Contacts

Media:
Gutenberg Communications
John Kreuzer, 408-827-4364
jkreuzer@gutenbergpr.com
Andria Barrera, 408-827-4359
andria@gutenbergpr.com
or
Southeastern
Alison Nolan, +44 (0) 207 620 5080
Alison.nolan@southeasternrailway.co.uk

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