Technology Tool & Training Recommendations Table

YSM Communications & Department Communications

Please refer to the table below to see which tools are currently being recommended to use in the office. If you have specific questions about the tools you’ve been granted access to, please refer to our Technology Onboarding document for more information.

The Office of Communications uses MAC computers. To learn more about these machines please refer to LinkedIn Learning.

Other important links for employees to know: Yale School of Medicine website, Yale Medicine, It’s Your Yale, Yale Links, and MyYSM.

Tools	Functionality	Company	Yale License?	Team that Uses the Tool	Description	Recommendation	Trainings and Links	Web-based or Desktop App
Accessibilitynow.com	Digital accessibility	Crawford Technologies	No	All Communications Officers	Tool to make documents digitally accessible for posting online, comes with a small fee.	Any document posted online must be digitally accessible according to Yale’s Digital Accessibility policy.	Product Overview Video	Web-based
Adobe Acrobat	PDF Reader	Adobe	Yes	All	Create, edit, and review PDFs. E-sign documents, and collect signatures.	Any pdf to be posted online must be digitally accessible according to Yale’s Digital Accessibility policy.	Adobe Resources	Both
Adobe Express	Social Media Graphics Videos Websites	Adobe	Yes	Multimedia	All-in-one content creation software	Contact the multimedia team for needed graphic creation.	Adobe Tutorials	Both
Aha!	Story Ideation Idea Management Solution	Aha! Labs Inc.	No	Communications Officers Technology Team	Online tool used to collaborate on new story concepts and crowdsource and vote on ideas.	Contact Mark.Albis@yale.edu to learn more.	Ideas Support	Web-based
After Effects	Visual Effects & Motion Graphics	Adobe	Yes	Multimedia	Video/motion graphics editing software	Contact the multimedia team for video creation and After Effects technical support. Contact Kimberly.Conner@yale.edu for support	Adobe Tutorials Creative Cloud Training	Both
Altmetric	Data Reporting Engagement Tracking	Digital Science	No	Audience Development	Use for online engagement tracking to reveal how and where research is making a difference.	Ask Audience Development team for insights into research performance	Resources	Web-based
AI / Chat-GPT	Content Generation General Assistance	Microsoft	Yes, usage fees apply	All (upon request) Technology	Specialized instance of the GPT for general use.	Contact Tech team/ Mike Friscia to discuss	Contact Mike Friscia at michael.friscia@yale.edu	Web-Based
Airtable	Data Reporting Database Builder Project Management Spreadsheet Program	Airtable	Yes	Multimedia YM Content Team	Helpful with project and data management, and in creating workflows.	Recommended for projects that require a lot of collaboration or a lot of data that needs to be viewed in different ways. Examples include: a year-long project, assignments for photographers/writers/illustrators for an annual report, etc.	Demos Guides	Web-based
Beatrix	Content Management System	Yale School of Medicine	Yes	All Technology Team Web Services	A proprietary content management system that was created by the Office of Communications, but is available to everyone at Yale University. It helps to organize and share news, events, faculty information, and more on our websites.	Use Beatrix for people profiles, YSM news, events, and multimedia to be posted to YSM websites. Contact Ysm.editor@yale.edu to learn more.	Videos Support Documentation	Web-based
Box	File Storage & Sharing	Box, Inc.	Yes	All Support Staff Technology Team Web Services	Content and file management, file sharing, and asset storage work space.	Use Box for files you want to share and co-edit between people or devices. It has an integration to display on YSM websites giving web owners access to update their online files directly.	Training videos and more	Web-based
Bookings	Public Scheduling	Microsoft	Yes	All	Customize appointment details and booking requirements; integrates with your Microsoft 365 calendar to help quickly find available times that work.	Recommended for building a schedule or making appointments for office hours.	Microsoft Resources	Web-based
Brandwatch	Social Media Management	Cision, Ltd.	No	Social Media	Professional social media toolkit for post scheduling, analytics and brand monitoring across multiple platforms.	An enterprise social intelligence platform that analyzes online conversations and offers meaningful insights to better understand the return on one’s marketing spend.	Training Videos	Web-based
Campus Groups	Campus Experience Management Event Registration	READY Education	Yes	All	Private community platform, uniting student organizations, departments, teams and every group on campus.	The official platform at Yale that student organizations and front-line student service departments host their events on.	Resources	Web-based
Canva	Graphic Design & Templates	Canva	No	Communications Officers Social Media	Simplified, web-based graphic design softwares for social media.	Not recommended.	Tutorials	Web-based
CapCut	Video Editing	ByteDance, Ltd.	No	Audience Development Social Media	Mobile-compatible video editor for social media tools.			Web-based
Cision	Media Monitoring	Cision, Ltd.	No	Audience Development	All-in-one brand monitoring and media outreach tool.	Contact Audience Development team for more info.	Tutorial at Otter PR	Web-based
Clarity	Website Analytics and Heatmaps	Microsoft	Yes	Technology Team Web Services YM Content Team	Tool for website analytics, heatmaps, videos, and more.	Use with Google Analytics.	Documentation	Web-based
Confluence	Project Management Team Collaboration	Atlassian	No	All Technology Team Web Services	A collaborative workspace where dynamic pages can be created to capture and share knowledge and ideas. It can also save and organize project-related materials.	Recommended to use for team documentation storing, maintaining institutional knowledge, or user guides for our custom tools. Multiple people can be given access to edit a page or workspace.	Youtube getting started Confluence does change often so this video may be a little outdated	Web-based
Constant Contact	Email	Constant Contact, Inc.	No	Communications Officers	Email tool used to find, attract, and engage customers. Can be used for sales, marketing, leads and ROI tracking.	Not recommended. Communications recommends using Yale Message, as it contains Yale templates and connects to Yale HR listings.	Resources	Web-based
Doodle Poll	Scheduling	TX Group	No	Support Staff	Online poll creator that allows you to find the best time for everyone to meet.	Recommended for simple meetings involving outside/external invitees. For Yale employees, use Outlook to schedule meetings and events.	Video and Resources	Web-based
DPHOTO	Photo Asset Management	DPHOTO	No	Multimedia/Photo	Photo asset management & distribution (used for contact sheets) tool.	Not recommended for external use. Used internally by YSM photo team.	Updates	Web-based
EventBrite	Registration event and Management	EventBrite	No	Support Staff	Customize event pages and market events through the Eventbrite Marketplace and integrated email and social media integrations.	Recommended for small events.	Help Center	Web-based
Excel	Data Reporting Spreadsheet Program	Microsoft	Yes	All	Use cells and spreadsheets to budget, plan, categorize, and calculate.	Recommended to share spreadsheet files with all employees and University members.	Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses Yale Learn and Grow	Both
Facebook	Social Media/Networking	Meta	No	Audience Development Communications Officers Social Media	Social networking site to connect people and create communities. Posts are shared with Friends.			Web-based
Figma	Web Design/Collaboration	Adobe	No	Technology Team Web Services	Use to create and share web design files.	Contact Mark.Albis@yale.edu to learn more.	Design Basics Documentation	Both
MS Forms	Online Surveys & Quizzes	Microsoft	Yes	All	Customize surveys with real-time results.	Not recommended. The office prefers if employees use Yale’s Qualtrics tool.	Microsoft Resources Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
Forms	Online Forms	Salesforce	Yes	Business Office Support Staff	Tool for housing official YSM forms, such as finance forms, built by the Salesforce health team.	Recommended for when there’s a need to create any official YSM forms.	Contact YSM F&A	Web-based
Freshpaint	Data reporting HIPAA Compliance Website Analytics	Freshpaint	YSM and YNHH are currently paying for a combined account	Technology Team Web Services	Helps to scrub potential PHI data that is sent to third parties, i.e., Google.	Contact Mark.Albis@yale.edu to learn more.	Freshpaint Documentation	Web-based
Getty Images	Stock Photography, Images, and Video	Getty Images	Yes	Communications Officers Multimedia YM Content Team	Users can access a media library full of stock images, photos, video, and music. Getty Images holds the rights to these assets, but YSM purchases a set number each year for Communications Officers to use.	Recommended to find new stock photos. Communications officers can be given access to YSM’s licensed images on Getty. Please contact ysm.editor@yale.edu for access.	Search the preview of images YSM has access to here.	Web-based
Google Analytics	Data Reporting Website Analytics	Google	Yes	Communications Officers Technology Team Web Services YM Content Team	Tracks, reports, and creates dashboards in regards to website traffic and stats.	Contact Ysm.editor@yale.edu to learn more.	Google Analytics Academy	Web-based
Google Drive Google Docs Google Sheets Google Slides	File Storage & Sharing	Google	No	All	Google Drive stores files, spreadsheets, documents or slides that can be shared and co-authored, making it very handy for collaboration. Google Docs is good for quick writing collaboration opportunities. YSM websites have an integration with Google Sheets and can display them on websites, giving web owners access to update their online files directly. Google Slides is helpful for presentations that need to be shared across devices.	Overall, it’s recommended to use Box or MS OneDrive (integrated with Microsoft365 and SSO) for storing important Yale files, instead of Google Drive or Google Docs. One limitation of Google Drive is that Yale users have to register their Yale email address (or use a personal email address) to be used with Google in order to access the services. If any Yale content is housed in Google Drive, owners have to be aware that no one can access the information in case of emergency unless they’ve been given edit access in advance.	Google Drive Training Links to more trainings for all Google products are there as well	Web-based
Illustrator	Graphic Design	Adobe	Yes	Multimedia	Use for vector editing & creation, design.	Contact multimedia team for graphic creation.	Creative Cloud Training	Both
InDesign	Publishing & Page Layout Design	Adobe	Yes	Multimedia	Use for desktop publishing and page layout design software.	Contact multimedia team for InDesign support.	Creative Cloud Training	Both
Instagram	Social Media/Networking	Meta	No	Audience Development Communications Officers Social Media	Social networking site with free photo and video sharing features. Posts are shared with Followers.			Web-based
Issuu	Digital & Electronic Publishing	Issuu, Inc.	No		This tool prepares web-based print-like books.	Not recommended. We do not recommend posting to YSM websites as they create usability and accessibility issues for users. Alternates: We would recommend using the Beatrix publications tool or posting an accessible pdf if a specific layout or ability to print is necessary.	Help Center	Web-based
iStock	Stock Images and Illustrations	Getty Images	No	Multimedia	A website that has stock images and illustrations.	Not recommended. YSM has a license with Getty Images, so we recommend using Getty instead. Using IStock will require purchasing images separately.	FAQ	Web-based
Jira	Project Management Project Requests Task Assignment Track Progress	Atlassian	No	Business Office Multimedia Support Staff Web Services Technology Team	This is the ticketing system the Office of Communications uses to track and manage website projects and software-related developments.	Jira is a powerful tool for assigning project tasks, ticketing, bug tracking, and project management that requires substantial set up time and learning. The majority of employee needs can be met by using Qualtrics (for forms or tickets), or Airtable or Microsoft Project (for project management). Contact Mark.Albis@yale.edu to learn more.	Training for Jira may be best handled locally, we have many plugins and customizations that training videos will not cover.	Web-based
Lightroom	Photo Editor	Adobe	Yes	Multimedia	Bulk image organization & processing tool.	Recommended for bulk image processing and editing. Can contact multimedia team for support. Contact abigail.campbell@yale.edu for support.	Creative Cloud Training	Both
LinkedIn	Social Media/Networking	Microsoft	No	Audience Development Communications Officers Social Media	Business-focused social media platform for people to present their professional careers and build connections.			Web-based
LinkedIn Learning	Learning Management System	LinkedIn	Yes	All	A learning platform full of video courses and tutorials taught by industry experts in a variety of skills.	Recommended when needing a new online course. Search LinkedIn Learning for a variety of reasons, i.e., a refresher course on software or information you already know; to learn something new if you have been tasked with a project; or browse and see what trainings might be interesting to you or helpful in your position.	No training required. This tool is meant to provide you with training for everything else.	Web-based
Linktree	Social Media/Networking	Linktree	No	Audience Development Social Media	Helps to combine website and social links in one place to easily link from bios.	Recommended to be used when working with YSM social media channels.	Help Center Features	Web-based
Looker Studio	Data Analytics tool	Google	Yes	Communications Officers Technology Team Web Services	Data analytics tool	Recommended to use when building reports with data. Contact Ysm.editor@yale.edu to learn more.	Looker Studio Help	Web-based
Music Vine	Royalty-free music for videos	Music Vine Limited	No	Multimedia	A library of royalty-free music for videos and posts.	Contact multimedia team for usage	Not Needed	Web-based
NetX	Digital Asset Management System	NetX	Yes	Multimedia	Houses archive of YSM photography and video; can be searched and shared.	Contact the multimedia team for image search and collection, and contact Ysm.editor@yale.edu to learn more.	Videos	Web-based
New York Times	News Articles	The New York Times Company	Yes	News & Publications	Daily newspaper with online articles.	Yale faculty and staff get a free subscription and the office recommends utilizing the opportunity.	Sign up for a free Subscription	Web-based
OneDrive	File Storage & Sharing	Microsoft	Yes	All	Use to store and share files, images, videos and more.	Recommended for sharing, storing and editing files with Yale colleagues. Box should be used to share files on websites or when working with a broader list of collaborators.	Microsoft Resources Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
OneNote	Note Taking & Saving	Microsoft	Yes	All	Designed for free-form information gathering and multi-user collaboration. Create digital notebooks to organize ideas.	This tool is available in our Microsoft suite, but it is not often used office-wide; employees can use it to keep their own notes/tasks/projects organized.	Microsoft Resources Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
Outlook	Email Calendar Scheduling Meetings	Microsoft	Yes	All	Yale’s preferred email and scheduling tool.	Recommended for emailing and scheduling meetings or events with Yale employees. Review our YSM branded email signature guidelines.	Microsoft Resources Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
Photoshop	Photo & Graphics Editor	Adobe	Yes	Multimedia	Graphics & photo editor	Recommended for image editing and output. Contact abigail.campbell@yale.edu for editing support	Creative Cloud Training	Both
Planner	Project Management Task Assignment Track Progress	Microsoft	Yes	All	Assists in creating project plans and status updates, sharing files with colleagues, and organizing and assigning tasks throughout projects.	This tool is available in our Microsoft suite, but it is not often used office-wide; employees can use it to keep their own notes/tasks/projects organized.	Microsoft Resources Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
PolicyTech	Document Management System	Navex	Yes	All	PolicyTech houses all official YSM policies, guidelines, references, and procedures.	Work with YSM Policy to add any official YSM policy, guideline, reference, or procedure.	Policytech Help For general questions, email YSM Policy	Web-based
PowerPoint	Presentations	Microsoft	Yes	All Support Staff	Make a customized presentation using a variety of slides; add text, images and video.	Recommended for creating presentations, or to create visual-heavy PDFs for Yale employees. Use our PPT branded templates. Use Google Slides to share presentations across multiple editors or devices.	Microsoft Resources Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
Premiere	Video Editor	Adobe	Yes	Multimedia	Non-linear video editing software.	Contact kimberly.conner@yale.edu for support & video creation.	Creative Cloud Training	Both
Project	Project Management Task Assignment Track Progress	Microsoft	Yes	All	Helps Project Managers develop schedules, assign resources to tasks, track progress, manage budgets, and analyze workloads.	This tool is available in our Microsoft suite, but it is not often used office-wide; employees can use it to keep their own notes/tasks/projects organized. Not everyone may have a subscription to use all the features.	Microsoft Resources Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
Qualtrics	Online Surveys & Polls	Silver Lake	Yes	Support Staff Technology Team Web Services	Create, design, and distribute online surveys and polls.	Recommended to create online surveys and forms. They can be displayed on YSM websites giving web owners access to update their forms directly. Qualtrics is PHI-approved.	Yale’s Qualtrics tool and Support	Web-based
Rev.com	Audio and Video Transcription Management	Rev	No	Multimedia YM Content Team	Provides closed captioning, subtitles, and transcription services.	Recommended to transcribe audio and video files.	Not Needed	Web-based
Scheduler	Public Scheduling	Microsoft	Yes	Multimedia	Scheduling beyond meetings	Recommended for building a schedule that perpetuates, such as for headshots.	Microsoft Resources	Web-based
SDL Tridion	Content Management System	Tridion	Yes	Technology Team Web Services	CMS used to manage static content and structure of YSM websites.	Only the Web Team has access to SDL Tridion. All other members of the YSM community use Beatrix.	Contact Ysm.editor@yale.edu to learn more.	Web-based
Semrush	Analytics Data Reporting Engagement Tracking Online Visibility Management	Semrush	No	Marketing YM Content Team	Content management SaaS platform that marketers use to build, manage, and measure campaigns across multiple channels.	Recommended for optimizing SEO for all content.	Help Center	Web-based
SharePoint	Collaboration File Storage News Posts Shared Calendars	Microsoft	Yes	All	Share and manage content, knowledge, news, and applications that encourage teamwork and collaboration. Can also be used to create internal websites.	Recommended for YSM departments to use when creating specific site pages and/or if they want to host internal files and content, i.e. Departmental Intranets	Microsoft Resources Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
Siteimprove	Data Reporting Website Analytics	Siteimprove	Yes	Communications Officers Technology Team Web Services	Website monitoring tool that aims to improve the quality of site content, increase accessibility compliance, and enhance visibility with improved search engine optimization (SEO).	Contact Ysm.editor@yale.edu for access and to learn more.	None Needed	Web-based
Storyblocks	Stock footage	Great Hill Partners	No	Multimedia	A library of stock images and video.	Contact multimedia team for usage	Not Needed	Web-based
SurveyMonkey	Online Surveys	Momentive Global	No	Yale Community	Survey tool that helps users create, send, and analyze surveys. Users can also email surveys and then post them on social media to increase response rates.	Not recommended. Communications recommends using Qualtrics, as Yale holds a license and provides support.	Not Needed	Web-based
Teams	Chat Collaboration Online Meetings	Microsoft	Yes	All	A communications and conferencing platform that allows users to connect via video, audio, phone, and chat.	Recommended for internal video collaboration and team meetings. The chat feature should be used for quick, informal conversations with Yale employees. Teams is recommended to be the leading inner-offie collaborative tool, but greater officer or departmental messaging and announcements should still be shared via email. Use Zoom video when hosting more formal meetings internally, webinars, or with external clients.	Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
TikTok	Social Media/Networking	ByteDance, Ltd.	No	Audience Development Communications Officers Social Media	Social media video-sharing platform that allows users to create and share short-form videos. Posts are shared with Followers.			Web-based
Vimeo	Video Sharing and Viewing	IAC	No	Multimedia Social Media	Video sharing website that makes it easy to create, watch, upload, and share online videos.			Web-based
Viva Engage (formerly Yammer)	Chat File Storage & Sharing Polls Praise/Recognition Social Media/Networking	Microsoft	Yes	All	Similar to a personal news feed, use this tool to share information and connect with coworkers.	Use Teams chat instead for informal communications across Yale colleagues. Yammer is not heavily used throughout the office, though you may find a broader use for it across the University and discover interesting communities to participate in.	Microsoft Resources Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
Wall Street Journal	News Articles	News Corp	Yes	News & Publications	Daily newspaper with online articles.	Yale faculty and staff get a free subscription and the office recommends utilizing the opportunity.	Sign up for a free Subscription	Web-based
Word	Text Document	Microsoft	Yes	All	Write, share, and make real-time edits to documents.	Recommended when sharing text documents and files with all employees and University members.	Yale LinkedIn Learning Courses	Both
Workday	Human Resources Information System	Salesforce	Yes	All	Manages payroll, benefits, time off, and other HR and employee data.	Use Workday when you need to request time off, view your W2, change your benefits, and all other HR-related tasks.	Yale Workday Training Workday Video	Web-based
Writing Style Guide	Journalistic Writing Consistency	The Associated Press Stylebook	Custom YSM	News & Publications	The Guide is a way of making common elements consistent across multiple writers, such as those working with the Yale Medicine clinical practice web site, or those writing for Yale Medicine Magazine and Medicine@Yale newsletter. It follows the journalistic style manual published by The Associated Press Stylebook.	Use YSM style first, then use Associated Press Style. YSM does not follow Chicago Style guidelines. Writers and editors should also consult Webster’s New World College Dictionary or Merriam Webster online for questions regarding spelling and hyphenation. Also be familiar with the Disability Language Style Guide published by the National Center on Disability and Journalism.	Writing style guidelines	Web-based
X (formerly Twitter)	Social Media/Networking	X Corp.	No	Audience Development Communications Officers Social Media	Social media platform that lets users communicate and stay connected via quick written messages. Posts are shared with Followers.			Web-based
Yale ALERT	Campus Safety Notifications Emergency Management	Yale University	Yes	All	The Yale ALERT system notifies students, faculty, staff and members of the New Haven/extended Yale communities during emergencies.	Recommended to use to stay up-to-date on urgent messages and/or emergencies around campus.	Yale ALERT Homepage	Voice, Email, and/or Text Messaging
Yale Conferences & Events (CVent)	Event Registration and Management	Blackstone, Inc.	Yes	Yale Education Administration	Use for online event registration, attendee engagement, venue selection, marketing, and event management for virtual, hybrid, or onsite events.	Recommended for Yale events requiring a fee. For small events, EventBrite is recommended.	Training Courses	Web-based
Yale Message	Enterprise Email Tool	Salesforce & Workday	Yes	Communications Officers Support Staff	Sends targeted email messages to students, faculty, and staff across the university.	Recommended for when theres a need to send broad email messages to Yale communities. Yale Message recipient lists are updated from Workday, so people who have left will no longer receive messages.	Contact Yale message team for access and training Creating Accessible Emails	Web-based
YouTube	Video Sharing and Viewing	Google	No	Multimedia Social Media	Video sharing website that makes it easy to create, watch, upload, and share online videos.			Web-based
Zoom	Online Meetings Webinars Video Calls	Zoom	Yes	All	A communications and conferencing platform that allows users to connect via video, audio, phone, and chat.	Recommended when hosting more formal internal video calls, webinars, or meetings with external clients. Use MS Teams for ease of setting up internal meetings with co-workers and teammates, and to have more casual/collaborative conversations.	Yale’s Zoom Quick Guide Branded backgrounds for zoom are available.	Both

YSM Communications & Department Communications

Tools

Functionality

Company

Yale

License?

Team that Uses the Tool

Description

Recommendation

Trainings and Links

Web-based or Desktop App

Digital accessibility

Crawford Technologies

No

All

Communications Officers

Tool to make documents digitally accessible for posting online, comes with a small fee.

Any document posted online must be digitally accessible according to Yale’s Digital Accessibility policy.

Adobe Acrobat

PDF Reader

Adobe

Yes

All

Create, edit, and review PDFs. E-sign documents, and collect signatures.

Any pdf to be posted online must be digitally accessible according to Yale’s Digital Accessibility policy.

Adobe Express

Social Media Graphics

Videos

Websites

Adobe

Yes

Multimedia

All-in-one content creation software

Contact the multimedia team for needed graphic creation.

Aha!

Story Ideation

Idea Management Solution

Aha! Labs Inc.

No

Communications Officers

Technology Team

Online tool used to collaborate on new story concepts and crowdsource and vote on ideas.

Contact Mark.Albis@yale.edu to learn more.

After Effects

Visual Effects & Motion Graphics

Adobe

Yes

Multimedia

Video/motion graphics editing software

Contact the multimedia team for video creation and After Effects technical support. Contact Kimberly.Conner@yale.edu for support

Altmetric

Data Reporting

Engagement Tracking

Digital Science

No

Audience Development

Use for online engagement tracking to reveal how and where research is making a difference.

Ask Audience Development team for insights into research performance

AI / Chat-GPT

Content Generation

General Assistance

Microsoft

Yes, usage fees apply

All (upon request)

Technology

Specialized instance of the GPT for general use.

Contact Tech team/ Mike Friscia to discuss

Contact Mike Friscia at michael.friscia@yale.edu

Web-Based

Airtable

Data Reporting

Database Builder

Project Management

Spreadsheet Program

Airtable

Yes

Multimedia

YM Content Team

Helpful with project and data management, and in creating workflows.

Recommended for projects that require a lot of collaboration or a lot of data that needs to be viewed in different ways. Examples include: a year-long project, assignments for photographers/writers/illustrators for an annual report, etc.