Use channels for team communication

Use channels in the SotaERP Discuss app to organize discussions between individual teams, departments, projects, or any other group that requires regular communication. With channels, employees can communicate inside dedicated spaces within the SotaERP database around specific topics, updates, and latest developments having to do with the organization.

Public and private channels

A Public channel can be seen by everyone, while a Private one is only visible to users invited to it. To create a new channel, navigate to the Discuss app, and then click on the ➕ (plus) icon next to the Channels heading in the left-side menu. After typing the name of the channel, two selectable options will appear: The first is a channel with a hashtag (#) to indicate that it is a public channel; the second option is a channel with a lock icon (🔒) next to it, to indicate that it is a private channel. Select the channel type that best fits the communication needs.

View of discuss's sidebar and a channel being created in SotaERP Discuss.

Tip

A public channel is best used when many employees need to access information (such as company announcements), whereas a private channel could be used whenever information should be limited to specific groups (such as a specific department).

Configuration options

The channel’s Group Name, Description, and Privacy settings can be modified by clicking on the channel’s settings, represented by a ⚙️ (gear) icon in the left sidebar menu, next to the channel’s name.

View of a channel's settings form in SotaERP Discuss.

Privacy and Members tabs

Changing Who can follow the group’s activities? controls which groups can have access to the channel.

Note

Allowing Everyone to follow a private channel lets other users view and join it, as they would a public one.

When choosing Invited people only, specify in the Members tab which members should be invited. Inviting members can also be done from the Discuss app’s main dashboard, by selecting the channel, clicking the add user icon in the top-right corner of the dashboard, and finally clicking Invite to Channel once all the users have been added.

View of Discuss' option to invite members in SotaERP Discuss.

When the Selected group of users option is selected, it reveals the ability to add an Authorized Group, along with the options to Auto Subscribe Groups and Auto Subscribe Departments.

The option to Auto Subscribe Groups automatically adds users of that particular user group as followers. In other words, while Authorized Groups limits which users can access the channel, Auto Subscribe Groups automatically adds users as members as long as they are part of a specific user group. The same is true for Auto Subscribe Departments.

Finding channels

Click on the settings ⚙️ (gear) icon, located in the left sidebar, to the right of the CHANNELS collapsible menu item. Doing so will lead to a mosaic view containing all the public channels available. Users can join or leave channels on this screen by clicking the JOIN or LEAVE buttons that appear in the channel boxes.

There is also the ability to apply filtering criteria and save them for later use. The Search… function accepts wildcards by using the underscore character [ _ ], and specific searches can be saved by using the Favorites ‣ Save Current Search drop-down menu.

View of a channel being searched through filters in SotaERP Discuss

Linking channel in chatter

Channels can be linked in the chatter (log note) of a record in SotaERP. To do so, simply type: # and the channel name. Click or press enter on the channel name. Upon logging the note a link to the channel will appear. After clicking on the link a chat window with the channel conversation will pop up in the lower right corner of the screen.

Users are able to contribute to this group channel (either public or member based) by typing messages in window and pressing enter.

Channel linked in chatter with the channel open on the lower right quadrant.