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, also known as an employee intranet or company wiki, stores your company’s private or confidential information and is accessible only by employees.

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. Before investing in any software offering, it's crucial to evaluate your specific requirements and assess whether the software can deliver the functionalities you need.

Internal vs. external knowledge base: What’s the difference?

An internal and external knowledge base are different systems organizations use to store, organize, and share information. Here are the main differences between the two:

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.

External knowledge base: Its primary purpose is to provide information and support to external stakeholders, such as customers or partners, to help them use the organization's products or services effectively.

Security

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. We'll dive deeper into internal knowledge bases below.

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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. Easier and faster access to information means that your customers will be happier with your sales team’s rapid response to their questions and concerns, and you will know the collective expertise of your employees is stored in a safe, searchable location for future use.

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

This type of knowledge base is hosted on your organization’s own servers. 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. While it’s maintained by internal experts, the software should be publicly accessible and/or embedded into a customer-facing webpage.

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. 

• Less time spent searching for information – Purpose-built knowledge base software makes it easier to surface specific knowledge when needed. 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.
• Faster onboarding – New hires no longer need to ask tons of questions in their first weeks. A quality internal knowledge base enables them to effectively self-serve and stops repeat questions from interrupting your most critical staff.
• Easy upkeep –  Documents and spreadsheets can easily become outdated, and version control can lead to duplication and confusion. 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.
• Roles and permissions – Knowledge bases allow for granular access and editing. While some other solutions (like Google Docs and Google Drive) can also be limited this way, the settings often require more time to maintain. 
• Designed to be used in-workflow — Una solución de base de conocimientos de calidad está diseñada para ser utilizada para proporcionar respuestas donde y cuando las necesite, mientras que otras soluciones requieren un cambio de contexto y una búsqueda importantes. Por ejemplo, la extensión de Guru para Chrome, las integraciones de Microsoft Teams y Slack permiten a todos acceder rápidamente a los conocimientos que necesitan sin salir de las aplicaciones que utilizan todos los días.

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¿Qué hace que una base de conocimientos sea excelente?

• Organización clara y concisa: una gran base de conocimientos está bien organizada y es fácil de navegar, con categorías y subcategorías intuitivas que facilitan a los usuarios encontrar lo que necesitan.
• Información actualizada y precisa: una gran base de conocimientos se actualiza periódicamente para garantizar que la información sea precisa y relevante, mediante una combinación de actualizaciones automatizadas y revisiones periódicas por parte de expertos en la materia.
• Interfaz fácil de usar: una gran base de conocimientos está diseñada pensando en el usuario final, con una interfaz fácil de usar que permite a los usuarios encontrar rápidamente la información que necesitan.
• Funcionalidad de búsqueda: una excelente base de conocimientos incluye una sólida funcionalidad de búsqueda que permite a los usuarios localizar rápidamente la información que necesitan, con una función de búsqueda que proporciona resultados relevantes en función de la consulta del usuario.
• Herramientas de colaboración: una gran base de conocimientos fomenta la colaboración y el intercambio de conocimientos, incluidas las herramientas que permiten a los usuarios contribuir a la base de conocimientos como wikis, foros y funciones de comentarios. Esto ayuda a mantener la información actualizada y relevante, al tiempo que fomenta una cultura de colaboración y aprendizaje continuo.

¿Cómo elijo una base de conocimientos?

En primer lugar, determine si necesita un base de conocimientos interna o una base de conocimientos externa. Entonces, considera tu estrategia de gestión del conocimiento. La combinación de estos dos factores debería darle una idea de sus requisitos técnicos.

• Si aloja un centro de ayuda externo que necesita actualizarse de 1 a 4 veces al año, un sistema de administración de contenido (CMS) puede ser la mejor opción.
• Si por motivos de seguridad solo se puede acceder a sus conocimientos en una o dos oficinas específicas, la elección correcta es una base de datos a la que solo se pueda acceder desde ordenadores locales.
• Si necesitas una base de conocimientos interna que entre 1 y 2 usuarios actualicen una vez al mes, pero que sea leída por muchos, una solución wiki puede funcionar.
• Si necesita una base de conocimientos interna que muchas personas actualicen y lean varias veces al mes, un portal web puede ser su mejor opción. Si esas personas trabajan en varias aplicaciones, busca una que tenga una extensión integrada en el navegador.

Por qué necesita una base de conocimientos

Las soluciones de gestión del conocimiento permiten a los expertos en la materia (pymes) «volcar» su experiencia en un recurso en línea que se puede actualizar y editar como mejor les parezca. De esa forma, cuando los miembros del equipo tengan preguntas, pueden ir directamente a la fuente para obtener respuestas sin tener que molestar a la fuente real. Además, una función de verificación como la de Guru indica a los usuarios que la información disponible es confiable y está actualizada, lo que elimina la necesidad de verificarla con la pyme.

Cómo saber si necesitas una base de conocimientos

Si un equipo de People Ops necesita asegurarse de que todos están consultando la información correcta sobre los beneficios, es esencial contar con una ubicación de acceso centralizado que pueda mostrar quién ha leído lo que es esencial. Ahí es donde entra en juego la base de conocimientos.

Lo mismo ocurre con un gerente que quiere hacerlo de manera eficiente incorporar y capacitar a nuevos empleados, o para un miembro de su equipo que necesite información sobre sus beneficios, compensación, o políticas de la empresa. Si ve oportunidades en las que su organización pueda ahorrar tiempo, mejorar la productividad y crear una mayor cohesión y precisión en los conocimientos que se difunden a los empleados, su empresa puede beneficiarse del software de base de conocimientos interno.

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