Chapter 
4

Enterprise Search Use Cases

Enterprise search has remarkably diverse applications across industries.

Key use cases include:

Digital Workplace

  • Example: Employees can quickly locate the latest benefits information, project templates, brand guidelines, or even past meeting notes without navigating complex folder structures or sending frustrating "Does anyone know..." emails.

Customer Service

  • Example: Support agents find troubleshooting guides for a specific product issue, pull up customer history within seconds during a call, and even access knowledge base articles to improve their overall expertise and reduce resolution times.

Knowledge Management

  • Example: New hires easily find onboarding checklists, access department-specific procedures, and locate up-to-date best practice documents relevant to their role. This accelerates their onboarding process and empowers them with the knowledge they need to be successful.

Expertise Location

  • Example: A project manager needs a developer with Python experience and familiarity with machine learning concepts. Search results reveal several employees across different teams with the right skills, even uncovering potential collaborators they weren't previously aware of.

Talent Search

  • Example: HR recruiters search resumes, internal profiles, and even past performance reviews to identify potential candidates with specific experience or skillsets for an open position. This enables the organization to leverage existing talent and reduces the time and cost associated with external hiring.

Intranet

  • Example: The company intranet becomes a fully searchable hub for policies, announcements, forms, contact directories, and even the cafeteria menu. This reduces the volume of inquiries to HR and other support departments, freeing up valuable time.

Insight Engine

  • Example: Analysing sales data across regions and demographics reveals patterns in customer preferences, allowing for targeted marketing campaigns and data-driven product development. Business intelligence reports can be generated in minutes, rather than relying on manual data collection and analysis.

Legal Sector

  • Example: Lawyers quickly search case law precedents, contracts, regulatory documents, and even internal expert depositions related to their specific case. This streamlines legal research and helps build stronger arguments.

Finance & Banking

  • Example: Financial analysts pull up-to-the-minute market reports, customer profiles, risk assessment data, and news feeds for comprehensive, informed decision-making.

Regulatory Compliance

  • Example: Companies automate checks of new customers against sanctions lists, monitor internal communications for potential red flags, and streamline the reporting of suspicious activity. This helps ensure compliance, reduces risk, and protects the organisation's reputation.

Field Operations Support

  • Example: Technicians on the road access repair manuals, safety guidelines, real-time updates on parts availability, and even customer-specific notes directly from their mobile devices. This minimises downtime and ensures quick and accurate problem resolution for customers.

E-commerce

  • Example: Customers effortlessly find the product they need on online stores using intuitive search that understands natural language and offers helpful suggestions. Search can even be personalised based on browsing history, resulting in increased sales conversions and happy customers.

Ishaan Gupta
Written by

Ishaan Gupta is a writer at Slite. He doom scrolls for research and geeks out on all things creativity. Send him nice Substack articles to be on his good side.

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