Deploying Yammer to 10,000's of colleagues that don't have corporate email

[Karl_Brooks]

Does anyone know if Microsoft are going to allow employees that don't have corporate email to be able to have accounts on Yammer?

These frontline workers are mobile-first (in fact mobile-only), spread around the world, grouped by location and by brand (so dynamic group/community assignment would be useful).

This would be a cost effective way of including and engaging with our frontline workers without having to licence them for Office 365.

I suspect that now Yammer files are on SharePoint this isn't going to be possible.

btw Workplace by Facebook (and other competitor products) do have this capability.

[#2]

@Karl_Brooks I don't know the detailed answer I'm afraid, but based on SharePoint Online learning and similar bits and pieces I've picked up, I would imagine that you can federate users by one method or another - I believe there are login options that use Google, for example.

I have field workers in a similar situation so I'll be interested to see what more detailed answers gradually appear here.

[#3]

Hi, isn't this what Microsoft Kaizala is intended for, not the same as Yammer but you can sign up with just a phone number and the app, aimed at firstline workers and it's being integrated into Teams going forward.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-kaizala-blog/microsoft-kaizala-rolls-out-to-office-...

Not a free option though but is included in Office 365 F1 along with various other plans.

[#4]

@Karl_Brooks I didn't have a chance yesterday but just did a search and found an entry on answers.microsoft.com "How do I add members to yammer without a work e-mail address?", which contains a link to this article.

Let me know if this is of any help.

[#5]

@jhobdell thanks, but moving away from using personal email addresses is a goal.

The way I saw it working at a Workplace by Facebook demo was we'd create profiles for prospective employees (which could be automated from the HR system), they then access a published link, enter details we already know about them (e.g. name, location, NI number, etc.), then they'd enter a phone number to receive an activation code, and if they don't already have the mobile app a link to it. That way there is no activity at all on our part for them to gain access ( no lists to create and maintain).

Just seems to me that something like that for a Yammer only solution could be a cost saver over an F1 licence, which then provides tools that aren't required (like email ... it's 2020 !!)

[#6]

@Cian Allner thanks, but my understanding of Kaizala (which is not extensive!) is that it's for companies that don't have any Firstline worker systems.

What I'm after is a social business tool which can dynamically create communities, and is self-managing in terms of joiners and leavers ... we have 10,000's of firstline workers (in 35 countries and many different brands) and the nature of the business means that there's a relatively high turnover.

I don't get integrating Kaizala with Teams, unless it's intended for small companies.