What Is External Communication? A Business Guide
Strong communications are fundamental for business success. But that does not only refer to communications between teams and departments. It is also about communications that are outside the business, with its partners and suppliers, its investors and other external third-parties that support it.
These outside entities play a part in a business’ ultimate success, whether that is through interest, investment, or some other sort of support. Organisations therefore need to keep external entities in-the-know and up-to-date so they can collaborate and succeed together. For that, they need strong external communications.
What Is External Communication?
External communication covers any and all communication between a business and external entities. Those entities include partners, suppliers, investors, and clients, among others. Businesses communicate externally all the time. They do it through press releases, newsletters, emails, marketing materials, collaborative proposals, etc.
These kinds of communication are critical for a business to succeed or even just to survive, because if companies do not communicate with external stakeholders, collaboration becomes impossible. Projects fall apart without free-flowing and secure communications, idea exchange, feedback, etc.
Today, this is more important than ever, because so many organisations work internationally, teaming up with third-party agencies and suppliers that are not merely local or regional, but global. They have to find ways to speak with those third-party partners that are secure, compliant, and convenient.
Internal vs. External Communication
Feedback sessions, team meetings, and online forums are a few examples of internal communications. The term refers to communication that happens within the business, exclusively between the teams and people that are on the inside. A sales department collaborating with a marketing team, for example, is internal communication.
This is just as important as external communication, and there is the same onus on entities to make sure their internal communications are fluid, logical, and secure. Otherwise, they may face problems. Problems like project delays, information silos, or even data leaks and compliance failures.
Why Is External Communication Important?
If external collaboration with stakeholders is simple and accessible, then those involved naturally feel more confident and comfortable working together. They will be more willing to share information, exchange files, etc., without the fears of security issues or the inconveniences of systems that are slow or unreliable, holding them back.
That, in turn, leads to better outcomes, and enterprises with good external communications tend to have:
- Stronger relationships with customers, investors, suppliers, and so on
- More helpful information and insights from external stakeholders
- An easier time building brand identity and shaping the way external parties perceive you
Note, though, that strong external communication does not just refer to being completely open with all outside parties. Getting external communications right is more of a delicate balancing act between transparency and security, especially in the higher-risk industries out there, like healthcare or government.
Types of External Communication
There are conventional forms of external communications, i.e., print media and phone calls, or even direct interactions at point-of-sale locations. There are also more modern, digital-oriented varieties, i.e. email, social media, SMS, web content, blogs, etc. Businesses can also adopt a cloud communication platform to manage calls, SMS, and messaging from a single interface, streamlining external communications at scale. Brands today have more options than those before, thanks to the advent of modern technology, and that brings both opportunities and challenges.
It is easier now, through digital communications, to interact and collaborate with partners even if they are on the other side of the world. At the same time, there are risks of data leaks, breaches, compliance chaos, etc. Organisations have to choose the modes of communication that let them achieve that aforementioned transparency/security balance. Of those modes, extranets are a choice that is gaining popularity.
Extranets: The Future of External Communication
Those familiar with intranets should have little trouble understanding extranets. Where an intranet is a private network businesses use internally to share files and collaborate on projects, an extranet moves that concept outside the business. It is like your own private network or internet that you can share with clients or partners. They can log in and access shared files or collaborative workspaces and other tools.
Extranets have a lot of advantages over other means of external communication, especially in security. Email is not secure, for example, because it is so easy for accounts to be compromised or for unencrypted messages to be accessed. Similar issues plague social media, SMS, etc. Furthermore, if your company’s email server is compromised, you should regularly check Spamhaus status to ensure your domain hasn’t been blacklisted, which would block all outward communication to your secure extranets, like those provided by Kahootz, are different.
They are independently audited and secure by design, made with high-risk industries and all of their compliance regulations in mind. You can use them to make safe and customisable cloud-based spaces, or portals, for your partners and investors to access for collaborating on documents, exchanging ideas securely, and even sharing sensitive files with minimal risk.
Key Features of Extranets
Extranets vary in their feature sets, but leading examples offer the following:
- Secure Access Controls: Extranet administrators control which external users are able to log in to the extranet and can adjust permissions at any time. This helps keep sensitive information safe while facilitating collaboration and seamless external communications.
- Controlled File/Data Sharing: Admins also have full control over which pieces of data external users can view, modify, or download. This makes it easy to keep the more sensitive files under wraps and prevent unauthorised access situations.
- Collaborative Workspaces and Tools: Extranets often function as collaborative platforms. They are spaces where external stakeholders and internal teams can share ideas, collaborate on problem-solving, and discover new approaches to advance their projects.
- Integration: Many extranets integrate quite seamlessly with other elements of an organisation’s tech stack, Elements like databases or project management tools, for instance. They can extract key data points, like customer records, to become even more useful.
- Round-the-Clock Availability: Typically, extranets are online and operational on a 24/7 basis. So external users can log in and access important files, updates, and resources as and when they want. This is particularly helpful when liaising with external parties in different time zones.
Benefits of Extranets
Particularly when compared to more conventional channels of external communication, extranets bring unique benefits. The biggest of these is arguably security. With extranets, you are fully in control of your external communications. You can control access, block out unauthorised users, invite the exact partners you wish, and create safe, efficient spaces for effective collaboration.
The security controls available with modern extranets make them a much safer proposition when it comes to exchanging important data among external stakeholders. Admins control access to resources, including who can access what, for how long, so only those with the relevant clearance and authority can see, read, or modify the most confidential and sensitive pieces of data.
Leading extranets also make collaboration between internal and external teams drastically simpler. Kahootz, for example, allows you to generate cloud-based collaborative workspaces or client portals in which you can interact with external users to move your projects forward. These can be scaled up or down accordingly, with new workspaces generated and managed with a few quick clicks.
When used correctly, extranets also help brand reputation and trustworthiness. External clients or suppliers appreciate the ability to log into their own private partner platforms to better connect with the brand they are investing in, supporting, or doing business with. The brand itself appears more open, honest, and professional, which in turn helps with sales, acquisitions, retentions, and conversions.
Secure External Communication Platform
Security has been a recurring theme throughout this guide, because communications that are not secure are simply not feasible for the vast majority of organisations nowadays. Government agencies, ministries, healthcare firms, and similar entities cannot do what they do if their communications (internal, external, or both) are not safe. They not only risk devastating data losses and breaches, but also major compliance issues, as well.
That is why, even though we have looked at numerous modes of external communication and tools that allow entities to speak and collaborate, organisations cannot simply use them all or pick whichever it find easiest or most conducive to their operations. They must, instead, make security a priority and find a platform to communicate that keeps their data safe while allowing for collaboration.
That platform is Kahootz. A cloud collaboration platform that is trusted by leading public sector organisations like the MoD and NHS, Kahootz makes secure and seamless communication and collaboration possible.
As an example of this in action, Kahootz was chosen by the NHS to power FutureNHS. This is a platform bringing 1.3 million health and social care workers together. It is already in use by over 200,000 users and facilitates secure knowledge exchange between providers nationwide. Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals use it to access patient records, lab reports, etc.
FutureNHS powers initiatives like the NHS Vaccination and Screening Programme and Patient Safety Strategy. It makes UK healthcare more efficient, accessible, and impactful, quite literally saving lives, and it is all powered by the cloud-based collaboration software of Kahootz.
Conclusion: Secure Your External Communications with Extranet Technology
For any business to succeed, it has to communicate not just internally, but also outwardly. It has to reach out to its existing and prospective customers, its partners, its suppliers, and the various other entities that can influence or invest in its future and drive its success.
That is why external communication cannot be an afterthought or mild concern for organisations today. It must instead be a priority, and for businesses wishing to reap the rewards of secure and reliable external communications, one clear option exists: secure extranet technology.
With the Kahootz platform at your disposal, your organisation can also create, manage, and share collaborative online spaces for communication and the exchange of ideas with ease. Reach out to our team to learn more today.
