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Socialtext Helps Southeastern Trains Connect, Communicate and Inform

UK’s Busiest Commuter Railway in London is First and Only UK Train Company to Use Social Transportation Management to Improve Customer Service

May 16, 2012, Palo Alto, California

Socialtext, the leading enterprise social software provider, has expanded its partnership with Southeastern, the UK’s busiest commuter railway, to provide support for increased internal collaboration, connectedness and information sharing company-wide. The organization is taking the innovative approach of attempting to use enterprise social networking tools to identify and address delays -- sometimes even before they happen. Employees will utilize Socialtext to engage and share information with their colleagues; including drivers, station staff, conductors and control center staff. A comprehensive rollout is expected to be completed in time for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, beginning on July 27, which will see 20 percent more passengers using its services every day.

"In recent times, our employees have regularly asked for social networking tools to engage and share information with their colleagues," said Sarah Boundy, Southeastern’s Head of Communications and Publicity. “Our customers demand accurate information quickly so it’s vital that our staff is connected to each other and have fast access to real-time information in a rapidly changing environment. Sharing knowledge and expertise with colleagues is key and with our original pilot program, Socialtext allowed us to do this in a quick and efficient manner. We look forward to rolling out this successful service to all of our 3,800 employees in the coming weeks.”

Southeastern is leveraging Socialtext Connect, a flexible and robust REST API that provides out of the box integration with any ERP, CRM, or other content management systems in a completely new and innovative way. Southeastern is now able to socialize train status information in real-time across its entire workforce, providing transparency that will lead to improved passenger information and resolution times. In August 2011, the company began a six month trial with Socialtext which determined that the enterprise social networking implementation could provide long-term benefits to the business. “Workmate”, Southeastern’s social intranet enabled by Socialtext, provides greater connectedness and information sharing amongst Southeastern employees.

In Gartner’s February 2012 “Agenda for Social Software and Collaboration, 2012”, authored by Research Director Nikos Drakos, one of the key findings highlighted states, “Social software and collaboration initiatives enable new ways of working together and doing business. The social media and collaboration spaces change fast as new technologies constantly emerge along with new ways to apply them. If IT leaders can bring forth the potential of social media, it can enhance business processes, decision making and other basic activities within the enterprise.”

“As the first company to deliver social software to businesses, we remain dedicated to delivering an unsurpassed social experience to each of our clients, offering the convenience and tools needed to grow enterprise social networking on a global scale,” said Eugene Lee, CEO, Socialtext. “The truth is, social software is not just for knowledge workers – and the way we see Southeastern using the Socialtext social collaboration platform to bridge the gap between front lines service and operations through distributed knowledge is an outstanding example of the type of innovation we are seeing. Because of the forward thinking leadership at Southeastern, and the flexibility inherent in our platform, their employees are able to communicate, collaborate and problem solve with colleagues regardless of location and in real-time.”

Socialtext offers social software that provides a resource for customers to communicate, collaborate on internal projects and connect on the information necessary to be more effective in the workplace. By providing Southeastern with a more efficient process for the sharing of knowledge, expertise, ideas and information, department silos that have traditionally hampered the company’s ability to quickly respond to change and serve customers efficiently, have been removed.

For more information about Socialtext, visit us at www.socialtext.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/socialtext or follow us on Twitter at @Socialtext.

About Socialtext

Established in 2002, Socialtext, a Bedford Funding portfolio company, was the first company to deliver social software to businesses. By unlocking knowledge, expertise, ideas and data, Socialtext eliminates information silos across the enterprise to drive superior business performance. Socialtext's enterprise social networking products — including microblogging, blogs, wikis, profiles and social spreadsheets — provide simpler ways for employees to share vital information and work together in real-time. Delivered in a variety of hosted cloud services, as well as on-site appliances, enterprise customers are provided with flexible deployment options that meet their security requirements. Built on a flexible, web-oriented architecture, Socialtext integrates with virtually any traditional system of record, such as CRM and ERP, enabling companies to discuss, collaborate, and take action on key business processes. More than 6,500 businesses worldwide have accelerated their business performance with Socialtext, including Egon Zehnder, Getty Images, Symantec, Meredith Corporation, NYU Stern, OSIsoft, and Epitaph Records. To learn more, visit www.socialtext.com.

About Southeastern

Southeastern runs train services into London from Kent and East Sussex, operating some 2000 trains a day, carrying more than 570,000 passengers a day, serving 179 stations and covering 540-miles of railway infrastructure. Southeastern is owned by Govia, a joint venture between the Go-Ahead Group (65 per cent) and Keolis (35 per cent). Govia is the most enduring partnership between transport operators delivering rail franchises in this country. It is the UK's busiest rail operator, responsible for 28.7 per cent of UK passenger rail journeys through its three rail companies, Southern, Southeastern and London Midland. Further information on Govia is available at: www.govia.info Go-Ahead Group plc is one of the UK's leading providers of passenger transport services operating in the bus, rail and aviation services sectors. Keolis is a French-based operator of transport services in 13 countries worldwide and is owned by SNCF, AXA Private Equity, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and Keolis management.

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