Socialcast, a provider of on-demand corporate social networks, have officially launched Socialcast 3.0. This new micro-blogging-based version is the first corporate social network to feature a self-service model. As a result, small to medium-sized businesses can now sign up, customize and use Socialcast’s enterprise messaging platform immediately, to swiftly harness the collective knowledge of team members and foster internal collaboration.

Socialcast’s self-service model represents a new method of deployment for secure, private enterprise social networking sites, bypassing the traditional sales model that often requires weeks or months of set-up and approvals. This empowers small businesses to easily complement or replace a traditional intranet and utilize a full-featured network for their workgroup, department or entire organization. The service equips enterprises with the same resource it offers Fortune 500 companies, without the need for a knowledge manager or chief information officer. Customer service and support is also included and the software is fully scalable, allowing companies to easily add new users.

“Socialcast operates as a ‘Twitter for the enterprise,’ enabling SMBs to capture the tacit knowledge of workers and leverage mindshare to bridge the gap between generations of co-workers,” said Tim Young, CEO of Socialcast. “The integration of the self-service model into our platform provides our SMB customers with sophisticated social networking tools. Our knowledge-sharing and collaboration portal is easily deployable, uniting the minds of a company’s entire workforce, while deeply engaging employees in their daily work.”

Workers can also leverage their organization’s social network via email or smartphone while away from the office. Whether at their desks or on-the-go, employees can send in questions, ideas and status updates, enabling uninterrupted collaboration and idea sharing. The software’s latest version includes a simplified user interface, improving the overall flow of communication through an enhanced activity stream that features customized settings based on user preference.

Other key features included in Socialcast 3.0 are in-line commenting and social searching, enabling users to comment on items directly within activity streams. This makes conversations easily accessible and connects users searching for similar content within the community.