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What Is RSS and Why Is It Important to Business?
RSS, or as it is commonly referred, Really Simple Syndication, is a strictly defined standard used to broadcast corporate news and information. Using this standard, corporations can provide an easy-to-use communication channel between their customers, partners, and journalists. An RSS feed consists of a list of items, each of which contains a headline, description, and a link to a web page containing the article. A special news reader or aggregator is then used to collect and display the RSS service to your audience.
At one point RSS was only used to broadcast news headlines, but with the recent changes to the RSS 2.0 specification, a link to a file can also be included. This simple addition to the specification has opened the door to many new business applications with:
Documents
Meeting minutes, agendas, and notes can be saved as a PDF and included with a feed, allowing interested individuals to access information without having to deal with cumbersome e-mail attachments.
Power Point
Presentations can easily be distributed via an RSS feed. Power point presentations distributed in this manner can be managed from an iPod or similar handheld that reads RSS feeds vs. a laptop computer.
Video
Streaming videos can be viewed via an RSS feed. Continuous improvement training can be syndicated to all employees by department or group.
Images
Imagine land developers using the file link to display photos of land to prospective builders. Now they can carry a catalog with them to show builders while on-the-go.
File Downloads
Executable software updates can be syndicated across an organization's intranet, all controlled from a central location in an IT department.
As corporations begin to develop unique and creative applications for RSS, we will see the corporate communications landscape continue to evolve into a more dynamic medium.
The following resources are a good starting point to learn more about RSS technology: