Federated Search: all requirements in search

Content ：

Nowadays, the amount of content and data in all walks of life is increasing year by year , Content fragmentation has become a real problem . Major companies have content in every direction on many platforms . When there are so many search options , How to ensure that users get the information they want ？

Learn about the business direction in this article （ In customer service 、 Marketing or operation ） How to centralize search to reduce the search work of customers and teams , And simplify the findability between content sources .

What is federated search ？

In short , Federated Search It allows users to query through a single search , Technology for receiving aggregated results from multiple information resources .

For your customers （ Website search ） Or salesman （ Internal search ） The main benefit of is to put everything in one place . such , They don't have to use multiple platforms to get answers .

What we say “ source ” What does that mean? ？

These can be anything that contains information （ Database etc. ）. for example ：

• Link to the company's website
• Intranet ： Website 、 Applications 、 Knowledge management system and project management software .
• Blogs and other content management systems

What are the different types of federated search ？

Federated search has two basic components . First ,“ Indexes ” Is to search for aggregation of data . The structure of the index is to promote effective search . secondly ,“ Search function ” It is an element that finds relevant information in the index in response to a specific query . The interaction between indexing and search functions makes joint search possible .

1. Search time merge （ or “ Query time merge ”）

In this type of federated search , Send queries to each data source separately . It requires that a separate index of each data location be included in the search . The results are presented in an unstructured format and according to the priority order of each data source . Adjustment is restricted , But there is no need for additional indexing of content .

This is the simplest solution , The flaw lies in Slow response time —— This may weaken users' awareness of speed 、 Demand for real-time response .

2. Index time merge

For this type of search , All contents must be in the same index . This allows you to search management data and get better results . under these circumstances , Search results are sorted by relevance . This is a more complex and expensive setup solution , Because it needs to build a complete index system . however , Worth the effort , Because it will ensure a first-class search experience and faster response time . Joint search tools make it easy to implement such a solution .

3. Hybrid federated search

Hybrid method Mixed query time merging and index time merging . You should try to create a central index for each data source （ Such as merging when indexing ）. In some cases , The data source cannot be represented in the central index , Must be kept separately . When searching , You must search all indexes 、 Central index and other indexes . Summarize the results to create a final list （ Such as merging when querying ）. Hybrid federated search provides better performance than query merging , Because it reduces the number of indexes to search . however , Because there are multiple indexes , Therefore, the search is slower than when there is only one index .

What are the benefits of federated search ？

– Higher reliability and security

Federated search not only sends search queries to all different data sources , You can also consider the user's credentials . This allows results that do not appear in simple web searches , No need to log in to every credential system and search .

- More accurate results

In traditional search , Results are not always prioritized in the way you want . When some information is more valuable to searchers , It may be placed under the stack . With federated search , Sources can be weighted according to the visibility that users want to give them in the search . such , The adjusted results can better prioritize the search data according to the needs of individuals or companies .

– Faster response

Software as a service (SaaS) The adoption of has increased significantly in the past decade , Some research shows that , Some companies use 100 Near 300 Applications , It depends on its size . Each platform contains data and information important to business operations . You spend most of the day commuting from one source to another to integrate information , Or worse , Unable to find information , This can be time-consuming and frustrating . Collecting all search results into one search solution can save people time .

– Improve user experience

Federated search enables people to search all existing content at the same time . It allows users to accurately find what they are looking for , Don't even think about where it might be . This improves the user experience , Increased participation and loyalty .

In addition to federated search solutions , It is also an intelligent search driven by artificial intelligence using natural language processing . Natural language processing helps computers to clearly understand what people input online , Whether there is a typo , Can better understand the user's intention