What is Yammer? Everything to know about Microsoft's exclusive social network for businesses
Redeem now - Yammer is a social network for businesses built into the enterprise editions of Microsoft 365.
- Like a closed version of Facebook, Yammer lets co-workers chat, share files, hold surveys, and more.
Yammer is a social-networking platform designed for communication and collaboration within organizations.
Originally launched in 2008 and purchased by Microsoft in 2012, Yammer is now a part of the Microsoft 365 enterprise suite.
Because Yammer is a closed platform — only employees within a corporate domain have access — it's available exclusively to business users who are part of a Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan.
What Yammer does
Yammer is often described as Facebook for businesses. It's available via a browser or as a stand-alone mobile app, and has features common to social networks.
There's a news feed, for example, which surfaces the latest posts made by coworkers and departments within the company. There are Groups which allow employees to follow specific topics within the company and post comments and questions for rapid feedback. There's also an instant messaging tool to directly communicate with colleagues.
The Advantages of Yammer
Here are some of the ways Yammer can be used:
- An organization can use Yammer to deliver news, announcements, policies, and procedures directly to employees.
- Employees can get answers to questions by querying Yammer groups without knowing exactly whom to ask.
- Yammer integrates with other Microsoft 365 tools. Yammer feeds can be added to SharePoint pages, for example. It also works with Salesforce, enabling organizations to deliver Salesforce CRM activity to Yammer in real time. That's just scratching the surface; Yammer can also be accessed from within Microsoft Teams and a range of other apps where employees need to find and use it.
- Managers and employees can celebrate successes and recognize accomplishments in a Facebook-like environment.
- Media (including photos and videos) can be shared with colleagues and groups.
- Yammer allows organizations to conduct polls and surveys.
How to get Yammer
Yammer is available as a part of any of the Microsoft 365 enterprise plans (except for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise).
Office 365 E1 is available for $8 per user per month. Depending on the features your organization requires, you can also choose Office 365 E3 ($20 per user per month) or Office 365 E5 ($35 per user per month).
Dave Johnson Freelance Writer Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider. Read more Read lessncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyowcidnKxnpJqwqXvWoZitZZmoerqtzKacq2WRpb0%3D