Contextual Search: Going Beyond the Query

To journalists, a good tip is newsworthy information or documents that are shared exclusively with them. Yet to servers at a restaurant, a good tip is a sum of money given to someone as a reward for their services. This is just one example that shows how different people attach different meanings and context to the same keywords or phrases. It’s for this reason that contextual search has the power to deliver personalized search results. Without the benefit of context, a journalist must weed through results about gratuity, and servers may have to scroll past the Financial Time’s description of a good tip. 

Customized search is not just a marketing gimmick. Companies like Google accomplish a hyper-relevant experience through geo-location, personal calendars, search history and Gmail in our lives outside of work. It’s something consumers have come to expect and value in their personal lives, and it’s only a matter of time before business applications follow suit.

Every company has its own keywords, acronyms and system for organizing information. Contextual search helps employees avoid the arduous task of sifting through irrelevant information, and instead ranks search results so the most relevant, current data is shown first.

The best search platforms scan all available sources and contexts. In employees’ professional lives, that information comes from several different connectors, and it’s time we use those resources to determine relevancy for users who waste up to 2.5 hours per day searching for information.

Improving discoverability can impact far more than just employee productivity. Investing in an organization’s search experience can allow for more informed decisions, better business communication compliance, and improved re-use of existing content.

Finding insights within a company’s data repositories becomes more difficult due to the ongoing expansion of company data. But a search with context can locate the best results and assess the probability that a given result will address a query without the employee having to repeat the same search multiple times.

There’s no doubt that context enhances the value of your company’s data, whether it’s in a CRM system or an R&D database. This knowledge makes it easier for your employees to addresses what data is needed—at the right time and for the right person. With a 360-degree view of every department, employees will experience the contextual search that they’re accustomed to in their personal lives and how it can enhance their professional lives.

If you’re ready to illuminate insights for your team, we’re here to help.