Looking for examples of federated search

[GlennD]

Hi,

I am looking for some examples of federated search between a support site and a community. I thought I would ask here if anyone has done this and would care to share a link? 

Thanks

[Drew_C]

Hi Glenn,

We've got federated search on our support site, but not on the Community (or KB). We've discussed options for replacing the Community search with our federated search, but have no plans to do so at this time.

It's not really a secret that we use Coveo for this. You can check it out here: https://mysupport.netapp.com

Cheers,
-Drew

[MrB77]

Hi @GlennD 

One of our customers (Swisscom) has federated search in place on their corporate page.

With this link you'll see how it looks like for a dedicated search term https://www.swisscom.ch/de/privatkunden/finden.html#/?query=fritzbox

Best 

Jan 

[ArnaudL]

Hi @GlennD , i have 3 very different examples for you.

1) Red by SFR (French Telco) : seamless search into ecommerce website, faq and forums (last being Khoros)

https://www.red-by-sfr.fr/recherche/?q=iphone+sim&u=tout

2) Analplan : very well structured & clear multi sources global search

https://community.anaplan.com/t5/Search-Results/ct-p/SearchResults?q=level%201

3) Dell : this one is different, using a component to bring external relevant content ion addition to our own search engine results.

https://www.dell.com/community/forums/searchpage/tab/message?advanced=false&allow_punctuation=false&...

Hope you find those interesting 😃

[JCTatRedSail]

Hi @GlennD -

Unfortunately since I'm behind a login, I can't have you see for yourself, but we use federated search with Coveo. I'm not 100% pleased, but it works.

Choose one of the gray pills to narrow down to an area and/or click a product at the left.

Results vary by multiple factors:

1. Users only see content for products they own. Some of our boards are wide open while others are product specific.
2. Filter options (type and product) are based on the search results.

We haven't looked into incorporating private boards and Group Hubs.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you want to discuss further.

[StanGromer]

@JCTatRedSail Curious what you dislike about Coveo? (Did you implement and manage the instance yourself or using third party/iTalent). I'm in the camp of Coveo being one of the most amazing tools one could have in their arsenal, yet at the same time recognize most companies do a horrendous job of utilizing it to its true potential (myself included with the Anaplan example above). 

Leads into my .02 for Glenn - When looking at options, figure out the legitimate 100% realistic amount of time someone will have to dedicated to this program ongoing. Unified search is to often thought to be a one-time install/config, and it is so so far from it. It's a full time job to do it right, a part time job to do it minimally. It will fail to give real value if you set it and forget it (Which is why search is such a horrendous problem on most web experiences, and why it's just easier to Google it). 

Worked on the Anaplan example above for years, happy to chat more if ever interested.  Been awhile since I had direct access, but happy to share learnings!

[JCTatRedSail]

Hi @StanGromer -

iTalent helped us / helps us setup and config.

Despite my dislikes (below), I believe federated search is the way to go, so don't read too much into it.

1. In many ways this is a losing battle, as everyone expects your search engine to work like Google, and it never will.
2. Content (on us). We're light on content. It doesn't matter how good we are with the search engine if there's nothing to find.
3. Design (on us). We're in the middle of a usability study right now. Some users don't recognize they can click the gray pills. They also don't recognize the option for preview.
4. Separate code in the community forum and the rest of our site. [We have an open issue at the moment as the suggested terms are different between the 2.]
5. We haven't invested the time to tune. I have issues with how much effort should be invested in this activity. More than I've been able to invest is required, but on the other hand...  see #1.

I believe the top 2 tasks to overcome the Google expectation and really search in general are:

1. Content. Well written and breadth. People search because they can't find what they're looking for. Not having the content they are looking for is a great way to get them to search (and search and search).
2. A site that is easy to browse, so search isn't needed as often.

And if you're not behind a login like me, spend significant effort in nailing SEO.

[GlennD]

Thank you all, lots for me to dig into.

[sleslie2017]

My friend has federated search from the .com site but as others stated below- the search from community is not. 

https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/search#q=global%20protect%20download&sort=relevancy

Best, Sara Leslie 

[frwalter]

Hello GlennD, 

There have been a number of references to Coveo and different integrations. We have delivered Coveo integrations at a number of the companies listed below, and more. Coveo has a strong search capability with AI/ML and recommendation engine. We have been working with Coveo over 5 years now and have found it to be very flexible, extensible, and powerful.

Would be happy to set up a quick session with have Vikas, who leads our Search and Personalization Practice, so he can address any questions you may have and review some of the examples we have delivered. Simply information sharing - we would not try to sell you, just share our perspectives.

Best regards,

Fred 

Partner at iTalent