Summary: This guide helps Network Administrators set up a secure space for third-party partners, such as contractors, suppliers, franchise owners, or consultants, without giving up network privacy. It covers what external users can and cannot do, and how Speakap protects company-sensitive information from accidental disclosure.
1. Keeping your work environment secure
Restricting third-party access means external users can communicate efficiently with your team, without seeing the broader company-sensitive information shared network-wide.
Accidental disclosure safeguard: when an internal employee starts writing an update in a group that contains external members, Speakap shows a clear warning message right inside the text composer. This real-time alert reminds the author to review their text and avoid publishing internal-only documents, financial reports, or sensitive data in that shared space.
To invite external users, see How to invite users.
2. What external users CAN do
Inside their assigned groups, external users get the same smooth experience as your own workforce. Within their group boundaries, they can:
- Post updates: share posts, give shoutouts, and join open group conversations. Only if enabled in the group's preferences.
- View teammates: see the names and profiles of other members of the exact same group.
- Start conversations: send direct messages or start group chats with users who share their group membership. Only if enabled in the permissions.
- Read content: read group-specific news items and open shared document folders or files.
- Search: search and access results limited strictly to their own group.
3. What external users CANNOT do
To protect your network's privacy, the platform applies strict restrictions to all external account types. External users are completely blocked from:
- The colleague directory: global company profile information is hidden from external users.
- Group overviews: they cannot see the full list of all company groups in the discovery or overview panel.
- Cross-group communication: they cannot start a group chat or send direct messages to employees outside their assigned groups.
- Content outside their groups: they cannot view news articles, see search results, or open folders belonging to the network, business units, departments, or groups where they are not a member.
- Joining or leaving groups: external users cannot join or leave company groups on their own.
Frequently asked questions
How does Speakap prevent employees from sharing company-sensitive information with external users?
The platform shows an automatic, real-time warning whenever a regular user starts posting an update in a group that includes external partners, so the author checks their text for sensitive data before publishing.
Can external users start a group chat with anyone in the company directory?
No. External users can only message coworkers who are members of the exact same group. The rest of your organization's directory stays completely invisible to them.
Are external users allowed to join or leave groups on their own?
No. External users cannot join or leave groups independently. Adding and removing them must be handled by an authorized network administrator.
What can an external user see inside their assigned group?
They can read news items, download shared files, view group members, join the conversation in updates, and run searches within the group, as long as that content is published directly within the group they belong to.
Still stuck?
Email us at support@speakap.com with your network name and what you're trying to set up for your external users, and we'll help you out.