What is a knowledge base?

Any of the following can be considered a knowledge base:

• FAQs (frequently asked questions)
• PDFs
• Word documents
• Spreadsheets
• Web portals
• Wikis
• Help center (content management system)
• Browser extensions that bring knowledge to the apps you love
• On-premise databases

An external knowledge base, also called a customer service knowledge base, stores information your customers and clients can use. An internal knowledge base, også kendt som en employee intranet eller virksomhedens wiki, gemmer virksomhedens private eller fortrolige informationer og er kun tilgængelig for ansatte.

What is knowledge base software?

Knowledge base software is a powerful tool that can help businesses capture, organize, share, and update information efficiently. By leveraging the right knowledge base software, businesses can optimize their operations, enhance employee productivity, and improve customer satisfaction.

However, not all knowledge base software is created equal, and not every solution may be suitable for your particular business needs. Før du investerer i et softwaretilbud, er det vigtigt at evaluere dine specifikke krav og vurdere, om softwaren kan levere de funktioner, du har brug for.

Intern vs. ekstern vidensdatabase: Hvad er forskellen?

An internal and external knowledge base are different systems organizations use to store, organize, and share information. Her er de vigtigste forskelle mellem de to:

Access

Internal knowledge base: Only members of an organization or a specific group within the organization can access it. It requires authentication and authorization to access the information.

External knowledge base: It is accessible to the public or a wider audience outside the organization. It may or may not require authentication, depending on the nature of the information.

Content

Internal knowledge base: It contains information that is specific to the organization, such as company policies, procedures, employee handbook, project documentation, and internal communication.

External knowledge base: Information for people outside the company, like customers, partners, or the public. This can include product documentation, user manuals, FAQs, and troubleshooting guides.

Purpose

Internal knowledge base: It supports the internal operations of an organization by providing employees with the information they need to do their jobs well.

Ekstern vidensdatabase: Dens primære formål er at give information og støtte til eksterne interessenter, såsom kunder eller partnere, for at hjælpe dem med at bruge organisationens produkter eller tjenester effektivt.

Sikkerhed

Internal knowledge base: often holds sensitive or confidential information that is not meant for public access. Therefore, it requires strict security measures to protect the information from unauthorized access.

External knowledge base: information for public use, may not need as much security as internal knowledge base. However, it may still require some level of security to protect against spam or malicious content.

An internal knowledge base assists with tasks within a company. It provides information and assistance to employees. An external knowledge base offers information and help to individuals outside the organization. It serves as a resource for external users.

The main differences between the two lie in their accessibility, content, purpose, and security. Vi dykker dybere ind i interne vidensbaser nedenfor.

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Types of knowledge base systems

There are five main types of knowledge bases. They include the following:

• Internal knowledge base
• Hosted knowledge base
• Self-hosted knowledge base
• Open-source knowledge base software
• Customer service knowledge base

Internal knowledge base

An internal knowledge base is created by your organization strictly for employees to access information as needed. Discover how a knowledge base integration with Guru can be so much more useful for your team than a traditional knowledge base.

Ways to use an internal knowledge base

An internal knowledge base is incredibly versatile in the way it can be used. Some ways to make the most of your internal knowledge base software include bringing in key information, such as:

• Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about everything from employee benefits and onboarding protocols to brand guidelines and customer communications
• Company policies and handbooks
• Best practices and guides for sales strategies, handling customer issues and dealing with coworker conflicts
• Organizational structures and important internal contact information
• Recruitment, interviewing and employee assessment information for managers

Maintaining a well-organized, easily searchable, and accessible internal knowledge base means your employees can find answers quickly, without re-asking common questions.

Internal knowledge base software enables your company to focus your communications on new and critical information. Time spent introducing new employees to company policies and procedures, as well as training those taking on new roles, could be significantly reduced. Lettere og hurtigere adgang til information betyder, at dine kunder vil være gladere for dit salgsteams hurtige respons på deres spørgsmål og bekymringer, og du vil vide, at den samlede ekspertise hos dine medarbejdere er gemt på en sikker, søgbar placering til fremtidig brug.

What is internal knowledge base software?

Internal knowledge base software supports your employees by giving them a one-stop shop where they can search for the resources they need to best do their jobs. An effective internal knowledge base reduces employee frustration and promotes productivity by reducing the need for repetitive searches, integrating with employee workflows, encouraging contribution and collaboration, and ensuring content relevance and accuracy.

Some additional examples of software that could be considered internal knowledge base software include documents and spreadsheets, content management systems (CMSs), web portals, FAQs, or wikis. 

Some questions that can help you choose the best software for your team are: 

• Does this software let us share information with everyone who needs to see it?
• Is it easy to alert people about important articles?
• Are you able to quickly see when the article was last updated? And will the software prompt SMEs to update older information on a regular basis?

Internal knowledge base example

Hosted knowledge base

A hosted knowledge base collects and stores information for both your (internal) team and your (external) customers or stakeholders, keeping data well-organized and easily searchable.

Self-hosted knowledge base

Denne type vidensdatabase er hostet på din organisations egne servere. This approach gives you more control over security, privacy, and uptime but also means you are responsible for handling concerns and fixing any issues that arise.

Open-source knowledge base 

Open-source knowledge bases are openly accessible to the public and may or may not be free of charge. Open-source knowledge base software can be helpful if your organization wants to allow developers or programmers to customize the source code according to business needs. 

Examples of open source knowledge bases

• Documize
• eXo
• myBase
• OpenKM

Customer service knowledge base

A customer service knowledge base organizes information to make it easy for your customers to access and use. Also called a customer knowledge base, it contains publicly accessible knowledge about a product and/or company. Because this is customer- or public-facing, it would not be appropriate for confidential or private information. Learn more about external knowledge bases here.

How is customer service knowledge base software used?

Customer service knowledge base software, also known as a help center software or external knowledge base software, is designed specifically for external, non-expert users to navigate and find information quickly. Mens den vedligeholdes af interne eksperter, bør softwaren være offentligt tilgængelig og/eller indlejet i en kundevendt webside.

Benefits of knowledge bases

Software that is intended to be used as a knowledge base has specific benefits over solutions that can be used many other ways, like long documents, PDFs, internal wikis, shared drives, or spreadsheets. 

• Mindre tid brugt på at søge efter information  – Formålsbygget vidensdatabase software gør det lettere at overflade specifik viden når det er nødvendigt. This improves contact center efficiency by making it easy for agents to resolve customer issues on the first call. It also improves company-wide productivity by making it easy for everyone to find the information they need to do their jobs well.
• Hurtigere onboarding  – Nye ansatte behøver ikke længere at stille tonsvis af spørgsmål i deres første uger. A quality internal knowledge base enables them to effectively self-serve and stops repeat questions from interrupting your most critical staff.
• Nem vedligeholdelse –  Dokumenter og regneark kan let blive forældede, og versionskontrol kan føre til duplikering og forvirring. Knowledge bases allow users to update individual items as necessary (instead of having to update and republish an entire document). A quality knowledge base includes a simple way to quickly see whether information can be trusted, and automation to remind SMEs to keep their information up-to-date.
• Roller og tilladelser  – Vidensbaser tillader granular adgang og redigering. While some other solutions (like Google Docs and Google Drive) can also be limited this way, the settings often require more time to maintain. 
• Designet til at blive brugt i arbejdsgang  – En kvalitetsvidensdatabase løsning er designet til at blive brugt til at give svar der og når du har brug for dem, mens andre løsninger kræver betydelig kontekstskift og søgning. For eksempel gør Gurus Chrome-udvidelse, Microsoft Teams og Slack-integrationer det muligt for alle hurtigt at få adgang til den viden, de har brug for, uden at forlade de apps, de bruger hver dag.

What makes a great knowledge base?

• Clear and concise organization: a great knowledge base is well-organized and easy to navigate, with intuitive categories and subcategories that make it easy for users to find what they need.
• Up-to-date and accurate information: a great knowledge base is regularly updated to ensure that the information is accurate and relevant, through a combination of automated updates and regular reviews by subject matter experts.
• User-friendly interface: a great knowledge base is designed with the end-user in mind, with a user-friendly interface that allows users to quickly find the information they need.
• Søgefunktionalitet: en god vidensdatabase inkluderer en robust søgefunktionalitet, der gør det muligt for brugere hurtigt at finde den information, de har brug for, med en søgefunktion, der giver relevante resultater baseret på brugerens forespørgsel.
• Collaboration tools: a great knowledge base encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing, including tools that allow users to contribute to the knowledge base such as wikis, forums, and commenting features. This helps to keep the information up-to-date and relevant, while also fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous learning.

How do I choose a knowledge base?

Først skal du afgøre, om du har brug for en intern vidensdatabase eller en ekstern vidensdatabase. Derefter skal du overveje din vidensstyringsstrategi. Disse to faktorer i kombination bør give dig en fornemmelse af dine tekniske krav.

• Hvis du hoster et eksternt hjælpecenter, der skal opdateres 1-4 gange om året, kan et indholdsstyringssystem (CMS) være dit bedste valg.
• Hvis din viden kun skal tilgås i et eller to specifikke kontorer af sikkerhedsmæssige årsager, er en database, der kun kan tilgås fra lokale computere, det rigtige valg.
• Hvis du har brug for en intern vidensdatabase, der opdateres en gang om måneden af 1-2 brugere, men læses af mange, kan en wiki-løsning fungere.
• Hvis du har brug for en intern vidensdatabase, der både opdateres af mange mennesker og læses af mange flere flere gange om måneden, kan et webportal være dit bedste valg. Hvis disse personer arbejder i flere apps, skal du kigge efter en med en browserudvidelse.

Hvorfor har du brug for en vidensdatabase

Vidensstyringsløsninger lader fagfolk (SMEs) “brain dump” deres ekspertise ind i en online ressource, der kan opdateres og redigeres som de vil. På den måde kan teammedlemmer gå direkte til kilden for svar uden at skulle forstyrre den faktiske kilde. Desuden fortæller en verificeringsfunktion som Gurus brugerne, at den tilgængelige information er pålidelig og opdateret, hvilket eliminerer behovet for at dobbelttjekke med SMEs.

Sådan ved du, om du har brug for en vidensdatabase 

Hvis et People Ops-team skal sikre, at alle ser de rigtige oplysninger om fordele, er en central adgangsplacering, der kan vise, hvem der har læst hvad, essentielt. Det er her vidensbasen kommer ind.

Det samme gælder for en leder, der ønsker at effektivt onboarde og træne nye medarbejdere, eller for et medlem af dit team, der har brug for information om deres fordele, kompensation, eller virksomhedspolitikker. Hvis du ser muligheder, hvor din organisation kan spare tid, forbedre produktiviteten og skabe større sammenhæng og nøjagtighed i den viden, der formidles til medarbejdere, kan din virksomhed drage fordel af intern vidensdatabase-software.

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