Salesforce.com announced Tuesday a free Chat, a version of social collaboration software that includes a comparable "invite" that allows paying users to invite anyone, even non-Salesforce.com customers to use Chatter.
Chat uses familiar social networking functionality such as status updates user profile, real-time information streams, and file sharing. Now when users receive Chatter guests will receive a free license Chatter.
Free chat has some limitations compared to other versions of the software, such as Chat Plus, which allows users to "follow" the trade data and the use of custom objects. Salesforce.com hopes Chat Free users will want more time to time and decided to upgrade.
Some 60,000 of Salesforce.com 's about 87,000 customers have deployed the initial version of Chat from the public this year, the company said. However, it is unclear how widespread they are in general.
Free Chat features inviting, however, is "going to take Chatter across the enterprise," said Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff in a statement.
Chatter had a serious impact on the IT industry, in the opinion of the analyst Denis Pombriant Beagle Research Principal.
"First, do or definitely solidified a new niche for collaboration technology. Second, it is further proof of the freshness of the cloud computing model and the [Salesforce.com 's Force.com platform] in particular, and finally. That social media for pets, "he said in a blog recently.
"Chatter avoid the pitfalls seen in many other social media in part because it is designed for people who should use it as a condition of employment, and that seems to work well from the stories I've seen , "added Pombriant. "The result is further evidence of the social engineering of society, something less."
Benioff is expected to discuss and Chat Free Salesforce.com new services Database.com moment later speech Tuesday at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco.
