A play on the word Internet, an intranet is a restricted-access network that works like the Web, but isn't on it. Usually owned and managed by a corporation, an intranet enables a company to share its resources with its employees without confidential information being made available to everyone with Internet access. Extranet is a new buzzword that refers to an intranet that is partially accessible to authorized outsiders. Whereas an intranet resides behind a firewall and is accessible only to people who are members of the same company or organization, an extranet provides various levels of accessibility to outsiders. You can access an extranet only if you have a valid username and password, and your identity determines which parts of the extranet you can view.
Intranets are surprisingly affordable to establish.
Uses for intranets and extranets include news feeds, recent rulings, etc. North Carolina firms are saving impressive amounts of money and time by using intranets to house Human Resource information, internal forms, marketing documents, and other firm data. Additionally, marketing is encouraged and successes are published over Intranets. Collaboration is greatly enhanced using Intranets and Extranets. Applicable case, calendar and other information are continually updated on the site and are available to firm and collaborating outside attorneys and clients 24 hours per day.