MIT's Enterprise Yammer Instance

On this page:

What is Yammer?

Yammer is a social media network for organizations, allowing coworkers to collaborate and communicate in groups organized around projects and topics.

June 2016, IS&T announced the migration to enterprise Yammer. As part of the Institute’s move to Office 365, MIT’s Yammer instance was automatically upgraded to the full Enterprise version. Previously, MIT community members had access to the free version of Yammer, which had some restrictions around user, group, and content administration, and did not provide analytics. With the upgrade, all users, groups, and content was migrated to the new system. Current MIT users will be able to login in now via touchstone, and valid external users will be able to login via their current password. Any new external users wishing to join will need to be invited by group owners.

Enterprise Yammer offers end users advantages such as single sign-on via Touchstone authentication, customization functions, and full integration with Office 365. It also offers administrators significantly enhanced controls, including:

• Reporting capabilities
• Administration of users, groups, and content
• Ability to create groups for external collaboration
• Support for third party application integration

How do I signon to O365 and Yammer?

To access MIT’s instance of Yammer, go to the MIT Yammer home page. Since Yammer is fully integrated with O365, Yammer can also be accessed from the O365 apps page.

Who can use it?

All users with a valid O365 license will have access to Yammer. This means all students, faculty, affiliates, etc. at the Institute. The ability to log on and join groups is restricted to only those people with "work email" addresses, that is, an address associated with businesses, universities, and organizations. Yammer will not accept "anonymous" or "personal" email addresses, such as gmail, hotmail, yahoo, etc. If you attempt to add a gmail address or other such personal address, you will get the error message saying:

This is true for both Internal and External groups, only work email addresses are accepted.

Networks and Groups: What is available to me?

MIT Yammer has both an Internal network and External networks. Within each, both internal and external groups can be created.

Within the internal network, there are internal groups that are open only to members with an MIT email address. External users can only join external groups and then by invite only. Personal email addresses will work with external networks.

At the time you create a group, you will be asked to select between the two and whether your group will be private or public.

Whoever creates or administers a Yammer group controls who is allowed access. The group can be invite-only, where the Admin has to invite members, or it can allow MIT people to join at will, but not external users.

To discover existing groups, go to the lower left panel and click on Discover groups. A window displays showing groups in the MIT internal network, each with a join button alongside.

To invite a person to a group, go to the Group Page and from the right panel, click the Add Member button:

Information on administering Yammer groups can be found in the Yammer Admin Guide

What are External Networks?

External networks are essentially their own networks, separate from the MIT instance. They are available by request for people who need to collaborate with persons outside of the Institute and/or with personal emails.

How do I request an external network?

Clients requesting an external network for their DLC or MIT Organization will be evaluated on a case by case basis. Requestors will have to cite why they will need an external network. Any requests for an external network can be sent to helpdesk@mit.edu. Please include the following details:

• DLC or Organization Name
• DLC or Organization Contact
• Explanation on why your DLC would need an external network

How do I view or change to an external network?

From the lower left edge of Yammer page, click on the Settings icon (gear wheel) and from the menu choose Browse External Networks

A new Yammer page displays listing external networks. To return to the Internal network environment, click the Home button or use your browser's back arrow.

How do I create groups on an External Network and add members?

To create a group on an External Network and to add members is the same as for the Internal network. First, switch to the External Network, then from the lower left off the screen, choose +Create New Group. Add/invite members using the Add New Member button.

For information on getting started using Yammer, editing your profile, joining a group, participating in a group, and more go to the site Work like a Network

I used to be able to access my Yammer group from my gmail account but can't now. What do I do?

If you used to have access to a page on MIT's instance of Yammer using a personal email account (like gmail, hotmail, yahoo, etc.), you will need to be invited to the new page by the group admin and use a commercial email from a corporation or institution.

How does the MIT community use Yammer?

Yammer is a secure way to share work-related content and to collaborate. Ask a question and get informative answers that others can also learn from. Alert colleagues to upcoming workshops or compelling links. Start a discussion on a topic that speaks to your peers.

Yammer features open groups that anyone can join (such as Training at MIT and Event Planners); private groups anyone can request to join, but for which membership must be approved by a group’s administrator (e.g., for a department or team); and secret groups (private groups not listed in the directory and by invitation only).

Resources

• MIT’s instance of Yammer - Where to register for and access MIT's instance of Yammer.
• Introductory Training Videos from YammerInc:
  • Yammer 101
  • Yammer Overview
• Yammer Essential Training Course
  (You will need to login to linkedinlearning.mit.edu first.)
• Using Yammer at MIT - Step-by-step instructions created by Anne Lafleur. (To see this page, you will need to login to MIT's instance of Yammer.)
• A list of the ways you can use Yammer - by Stephanie Hatch Leishman, formerly MIT’s Social Media Strategist.
• Tips for using MIT's Yammer Instance