I spoke over a year ago with John Payne, CEO of CircleUp, a group communications platform and service that organizations are using to manage group communications across email, instant messaging, Facebook and other networks – see CircleUp – Enhancing Group Messaging. Recently, I received an update from Brad Cooper, their VP of Marketing.  The big new moves include the offering of a new private label SmartMessage Platform to provide messaging integration for membership applications, content management systems and destination Web sites. CircleUp has also developed a new SmartMessage Toolbar for Microsoft Outlook, with new functionality for groups and businesses. Here is a demonstration of how the Outlook Toolbar works.  You also still use CircleUp direct from their web site or withing their application on Facebook.

Brad and I talked about how email is a terrible way to coordinate group communications.  Yet many people resort to it out of habit, lack of an alternative, or obstacles in the alternatives.  Then you can get your email inbox clogged with reply messages. I recently experienced this when the coordinator of a group of ten people asked for times when everyone was available. He said to only respond to him. Yet eight of the ten hit reply all as I got their replies. I was pleased to be one of the two who followed his instructions but I have been guilty of this infraction on other occasions.  Brad said that at least one government agency may start fining people you hit reply all on an emails at the wrong time.

Some companies like IBM and Novell use wikis for event planning and group communications to avoid the email nightmare. This can work in certain environments but many people resist going to a new destination site.  I have seen this first hand.

Rather than serving as a destination site like a wiki, CircleUp is an application that runs horizontally across the messaging networks to improve group communication. It is a standalone service that can also be embedded in team or group sites, run through integration with Microsoft Outlook and can connect with instant messaging networks.

CircleUp works like this. When you want to send a message to a group (such as who can attend a meeting, who can provide rides, etc.) CircleUp aggregates the responses so you get one message back that summarizes the responses. A message summary screen is shown below. This summary can be a tally, a chart, a spreadsheet or other format. With CircleUp, the message recipients do not need to install an application, become part of a group, nor do they need to download an application.

There is also a feed page that works like a Facebook or Twitter feed as a stream of current messages. Below is screen shot on the Group Feed tab that also shows the other feature tabs.

With the new SmartMessage Center, CircleUp is offering their service through business partners, such as Active Network’s eteamz, a major online resource for team sports. It delivers two key benefits to partners. First, it provides an organized message page of all Internet communication including messages from emails, instant messages and Facebook. Second, messages can be delivered across any network, including email, instant messaging, social, commerce and media networks. Another business partner for SmartMessage is Blackbaud, a leading technologies and services provider in government, education and non-profit sectors.

With eteamz the SmartMessage Center offers an easy way for network sports team coaches to organize and communicate with players, other coaches and parents. Thus, saving them countless hours of sorting and collating hundreds of team emails and instant messages on a daily and weekly basis. Having been a coach of my daughter’s soccer team for eight years, I can appreciate this. I also this same benefit easily applied to business steams. Below are some of the templates that have been developed for business messages and these can be easily customized for partner applications

SmartMessage allows partners to focus their development resources on their core business rather than communications infrastructure across multiple networks or devices. It offers the opportunity for incremental premium revenue streams beyond advertising that are shared between CircleUp and its partners.

I like the fact that CircleUp tackled the group message problem by adding functionality within the existing communication channels that people are already using instead of providing a new channel.