Pingboard – Manage Employee Information

The year is 2014, and there are still far too many office managers are stuck maintaining company directories that were created in a different era. Company directories created as spreadsheets and Word documents had their place in the past, but they’re no longer viewed as the best way to keep employee information updated and accessible to large groups of people. Pingboard offers a solution for organizations that are looking for more streamlined ways to manage their offices.

As a web-based solution, Pingboard replaces the spreadsheets that many office managers use to organize employee contact information. Instead, you can use Pingboard to create a “modern” company directory that is extremely social and sharable. In addition to serving as an excellent place to store vital information, like the email, phone numbers, and birthdate of every employee at your company, you can also include details like what tasks certain people are good at and links to their social media profiles. Pingboard’s core service also includes basic messaging features that enable employees to send or receive notifications from office managers when they have a visitor or a package to sign for.

The data that office managers enter into their Pingboard accounts is automatically synced with Google Apps, along with any connected social profiles and human resources platforms. Pingboard also offers an API, which allows organizations to connect their directories to any larger apps that they already use.

Practical Uses:

• Keep employee contact information stored in a centralized place
• Ping people when they have packages that need to be signed for
• Track your employees’ social media accounts
• Recognize employees on their birthdays

Insider Tips:

• Import data into the system from your existing spreadsheets
• Messages can be sent via email or text
• Pingboard auto-syncs its users’ data with Google Apps

What we liked:

• The information that office managers store in Pingboard is easily shared
• Data is backed up frequently, which ensures a company’s directory won’t be deleted accidentally
• Receptionists can use Pingboard to quickly ping employees
• Larger businesses can connect their Pingboard directories to other business applications using the API

What we didn’t like:

• Nothing

Alternatives:

• Yammer – https://www.yammer.com
• organigr.am – https://organigr.am

Company Info:

• Launched: January 2014 (Pilot)
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: Austin, Texas
• Founded by: Bill Boebel and Rob Eanes
• Web site: http://pingboard.com

Costs:

• Free