Softline Intranet

Softline is a focused developer and supplier of accounting, payroll and taxation software applications to the small and medium size business community.
From its origins in South Africa, Softline has expanded to establish a strong position within its core area of focus across 16 cities located throughout Australia, Canada, South Africa and the USA. Every single day more than 340 000 businesses, encompassing 5.5 million individual users, rely on software applications developed by Softline to operate their businesses.

Softline, being an international holding company, required an intranet that would cater for international communications within the group companies. The intranet had to enable document sharing, communication and collaboration between employees and key members within the Softline group.

Softline were also challenged with imposing a standard for all group companies’ methodologies and branding across the world to bring about a unified global marketing image.

The solution needed to be accessible worldwide, it had be easy-to-use and was required to run in a secure environment. This was all made possible with the AbsolPublisher Content Management System. AbsolPublisher is a CMS that empowers businesses to perform what would otherwise be complex and time-consuming tasks relating to media and content updating, and this went a long way in helping Softline manage the intranet themselves.

The Softline Intranet exposed the following features:

• A document repository that allowed administrators to the site to share group policy documents and project management guidelines
• Live world clocks showing the current time in each of the group companies locations around the world
• Company news and press releases
• A full classifieds feature allowing employees to buy and sell goods internally between group companies
• Events calendar that updates the Microsoft Outlook calendar automatically with reminders, sent directly from the intranet
• Company and departmental organogram
• Telephone and email contact directory enabling employees to locate and contact people in other group companies
• Free-text searching across the whole intranet
• Integration with a 3rd party travel agency allowing employees to book flight tickets online at a discounted fee

All Softline group company staff have their own unique username and password attached to a profile and security group. Security groups and user profiles are handled by the AbsolPublisher User Manager module, making SMS and email sending to selected user groups possible.