Q&A platforms are online discussion platforms that enable employees or customers to ask and answer questions. Businesses implement these tools as a searchable knowledge base, either internally for employees or externally for customers, to retain all the questions and answers provided. The kinds of questions asked by employees usually revolve around how they can get their job done, while customers ask questions about products, services, and purchasing support.
While Q&A platforms are used as a knowledge repository, they differ from traditional knowledge base tools. The information is in question-answer format rather than long-form articles. When deployed as an internal resource, employees use these tools to ask questions and colleagues provide answers. Externally, customers use them to ask questions and the support team members offer answers. This knowledge management format can help customer service teams, managers, and colleagues rapidly answer questions and provide answers that can take specific context into consideration. The content collected on Q&A platforms also helps businesses build a knowledge base that highlights common questions from employees or customers.
Q&A platforms can exist as standalone tools, or they are often integrated with the more robust knowledge management software. Some Q&A platforms integrate with other knowledge sources in businesses, so answers can be pulled from existing content, which helps ensure the consistency and accuracy of the information provided on the platform.
To qualify for inclusion in the Q&A Platforms category, a product must:
- Offer a dedicated platform for knowledge gathering through a question-answer format to provide support to employees and customers, such as answering work-related questions for employees and answering product and purchase-related questions for customers
- Allow users to post questions and answers in a text-based format
- Maintain a searchable archive of past questions and answers
