Professional Knowledge Base Versus SharePoint

Knowledge is an essential part of every organization. As an organization grows knowledge that is essential to the functioning of the organization is acquired. Organizational knowledge can range from the very basic, knowing the vendors with whom the organization does business, to more complex

knowledge, such as detailed information about the services the organization provides or trade secrets. All of this knowledge, if stored improperly can be vulnerable.

Why is Knowledge Vulnerable?

When it comes to knowledge inside an organization the knowledge can be stored in a variety of ways, these can range from various types of file formats on a single computer, to post-it notes, to the minds of employees. As employees leave, especially those that have been with the organization for many years they take all of their institutional knowledge with them and this knowledge, if it is needed will need to be obtained anew, often at a cost. A Knowledge Base can help to ensure that organizational knowledge will be protected and accessible to all employees, no matter their seniority.

Types of Knowledge Bases

When it comes to choosing the right Knowledge Base for your needs there are many options, on the one hand you can choose to go with a professional Knowledge Base, this will give you the most options and the greatest number of functionalities. A professional Knowledge Base will usually require less effort to set up and will be designed to maximize employee participation. On the other hand you can choose to use a Knowledge Base that is built in to an existing software tool that your organization is currently using for another purpose. While this software may be fantastic for its intended purpose the Knowledge Base function that it has probably lacks the sophistication and ease of use of a professional tool. One example of a software tool that is great at its primary purpose but is lacking when it comes to the Knowledge Base functionality is SharePoint.

What is SharePoint?

SharePoint is primarily sold as a document management and storage system. It is a collaborative platform that lets employees interact with other colleagues; it provides content management features to store and search for knowledge. Knowledge in SharePoint is usually stored in documents. These documents summarize implicit, explicit or organizational knowledge that is essential for your employees, organization or processes. Most of the knowledge is text-based.

What is a Professional Knowledge Base?

The main purpose of a professional Knowledge Base is to

provide knowledge quickly and easily for contact center employees. A professional Knowledge Base provides decision trees to design troubleshooting and service processes. Instead of reading an article, agents are guided step by step through their phone calls. A professional Knowledge Base lets employees store, create and update knowledge and ensures that all knowledge is accessible to all employees.

SharePoint Compared to Knowledge Center

SharePoint is designed for Content Management - In comparison to a Knowledge Base, the main purpose of SharePoint is to store and search documents. A Knowledge Base solution like USU Knowledge Management is designed to support service processes. This includes for example a learning search and topic overview search to find the right knowledge fast and easy or integrated e-learning to improve your onboarding and training time for new or existing employees.

Customizing vs. Out of the Box

Designing a SharePoint environment that fits to agent’s needs, takes a huge customizing effort. A professional Knowledge Base delivers the right features and usability out of the box.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to choosing a Knowledge Base there are many options to choose from, you can choose a professional Knowledge Base or you can choose to go with the Knowledge Base functionality of a software solution that you are using for another purpose. If you are taking the time, money and effort to build a Knowledge Base we want to congratulate you for doing the right thing for your company’s future. And we would urge you to consider the use of a professional Knowledge Base. Knowledge Center is professional Knowledge Base software that helps agents to be more productive.