Since day one, Yammer has enabled you to send and receive updates through your choice of 7 different mediums. The reason for providing such a vast arsenal is for you to feel comfortable and confident that you can communicate with co-workers anytime, no matter your location or working preferences. Below you will find each of the 7 ways to send and receive Yammer updates, and some qualities of each:
The desktop application enables you to view all of the feeds, send new updates, or reply to existing updates. It doesn't occupy a browser window or tab and can be sized to save valuable desktop real estate. The light and low profile nature is the main reason it's the most widely used Yammer application. You can choose from any of the three color schemes displayed below, depending on your preference. The ability to follow people or tags from the desktop application has been highly requested and will be available soon. Also note that you must be able to install Adobe AIR to use this application.
The Blackberry Application is one of the Yammer mobile applications. Wherever you have adequate phone service you will be able to view all the Yammer feeds, send and receive updates, as well as reply to existing updates. You can also view full conversation threads in a single feed through the blackberry application.
The iPhone application is another Yammer mobile application which enables you to do everything the Blackberry application does. In addition, the iPhone application offers a members directory that lists everyone in your Yammer network. From there you can call or email each person with a simple touch. The added ability to follow people directly from the members directory is coming soon. Stay tuned.
4. IM:
Receiving and sending messages through IM is available. Much like the desktop application, your IM buddy list takes up very little desktop real estate. You can receive IM messages when a message is posted to Yammer that meets the criteria you set. You can determine whether you receive all messages, all messages you're following, or only messages addressed to you. You can also specify a time period where you don't receive updates. To start or stop receiving IM's is as easy as sending the "On" or "Off" command to the Yammer IM bot. Currently, Yammer supports Gtalk, AIM, and Jabber for IM.
If you like the mobile capabilities but don't have an iPhone or Blackberry you may want to use SMS text messaging. You can determine whether you receive all messages you are following or just messages addressed to you. Posting an update is as easy as sending a text message to 30201. Because you sync your phone with Yammer prior to using SMS, Yammer automatically knows what network the message should be directed to. Currently, Yammer only supports U.S mobile carriers for SMS, but International support will be available very soon.
6. Email:
Sending and receiving updates via email can be used by both computers and mobile phones. To email an update simply send an email to yammer@yammer.com from your primary email address associated with your Yammer account. For receiving Yammer messages via email, you can determine whether you want to receive all messages you are following or just messages addressed to you.
7. Web Client:
The Web Client, due to the fact that it offers every feature in one central location, is widely used. Through the web client you can:
- Send and receive new updates
- Reply to existing updates
- View all feeds in message or threaded view
- Follow tags and people
- Search for tags, people, or keywords
- Members, tags, and links directory
- Profiles for each co-worker
- Invite co-workers manually or through address book importer
All of the application listed above were developed internally by Yammer through the Yammer API. However, since Yammer recently opened it's API developers platform, any developer can create additional applications. Therefore, you should expect to see many more variations of ways to send and receive Yammer updates, for you to choose from and use.
