Welcome to the Senate. Do you know who to contact if you have suggestions, feedback or problems?

Please send suggestions, feedback or problems that you have to support@senatesense.com. We will get back to you ASAP.

Do you know you can ask members of the Senate a question and they will provide a fast indicative answer?

Members of the Senate will answer your question yes, no, unclear and with an indication of complexity. Comments are included to give greater clarity. This gives you an indicative actionable answer, fast.

Is there a place where I can find everything I have asked and answered?

Visit your My Senate page by clicking your name, top right on the menu bar and selecting My Senate from the drop down menu. You will find all your interactions listed: your questions, your answers, answer requests you have sent, and answer requests sent to you, along with your watchlist and questions you have shared to other members watchlists.

Do you know you can share your question with another member by sending it to their My Senate page?

Visit a SenseCheck answer page. Select "Answer request" or 'Watchlist" and type in the name of a Senate member. When you send these requests, the question is automatically sent by email. It also appears on the member's My Senate page, ready for them to answer or follow.

Is the Senate a private platform?

In your header bar, if there is only a "Sign in" button, then you are on a closed Senate platform. It is private and intended for members only. Membership is controlled by your Senate admin. You can request them to invite your colleagues but no one else can see or share questions or answers.

In your header bar, if there is both "Join" and "Sign in" buttons, then it is an open Senate.

An open Senate allows members to sign themselves in and they can share questions and answers publicly. Your Senate admin can impose some limits to access, ask them for details.

Can I share my question or answer to someone outside my Senate?

Yes, if you have an open Senate, you will find a range of share options beside each question. This allows you to introduce colleagues and friends to the Senate by sending the question by email or posting on social media.

It is not possible to share on a closed Senate, because a closed Senate is private and intended for members only. Membership is controlled by your Senate admin. You can request them to invite your colleagues.

To introduce the Senate to your colleagues or peers, you can share our website: https://senate2sense.com/index.html

Do you know you win reward points the more you interact with the platform?

Engaging with Senate platform results in reward points for members: 10 points for asking / answering a question; 2 points for adding / sharing to watchlist; 1 point for viewing latest questions. Point totals illustrate who contributes most to the site. You can compare performance on the Members page.

Can I add to, or edit, My Senate profile?

You can add, or edit, your social media addresses and your profile picture. To add details, visit your My Senate page, click your name, top right on the menu bar, and select My Senate from the drop down menu. Click the pencil icon beside your photograph. This allows you to update or add any details or change your photograph. Then save changes.

Can any type of question be asked on the Senate?

No, the Senate is designed to use closed questions to drive clear, actionable answers. You can therefore ask any closed question which can be answered with yes, no or unclear. Almost all questions can be re-phrased as closed questions, this FAQ section demonstrates closed questions.

The Senate platform that you are using will have a specific focus, the headline banner on the home page gives you details.

In addition, the Senate has an Acceptable Use Policy that applies across all Senates.

Do the answers to these questions constitute legal advice?

No, the opinions expressed in the Senate are a market view from the your Senate users. However the answers on the Senate enable you to target appropriate expert advice.

Are all questions on the Senate closed questions, if so, why?

The Senate uses closed questions to help you ask better questions and therefore get better answers. Closed questions give you facts, allow you to SenseCheck your position and drive clear, actionable answers.

Closed questions can start with: are...?, can...?, is...?, does...? This FAQ section demonstrates closed questions. A closed question can invite further information by adding: if so, how? For example, "can I do [X] in [Y], if so, how?"

Do you know you will get an aggregated indicative answer to your question?

Visit a question's SenseCheck page, the pie chart gives your indicative actionable answer.

Can I answer more than yes, no or unclear?

Yes, first answer a question with yes, no or unclear, then add a complexity rating, finally you can add comments and links to explain your answer and provide detail.

Do you know your question will be given a complexity assessment?

When Senate members answer your question they are prompted to add a complexity rating. To see the outcome, visit a question's SenseCheck page. The bar chart shows complexity. This complexity rating can help you evaluate how long, and how expensive, it will be to determine the precise outcome of your question.

Do you know that you can improve searching by adding hashtags to questions on the Senate?

Hashtags help to identify and group similar questions. You are prompted to add tags to your own question as you ask it. In addition, on any question's SenseCheck page you can add tags at any time. Look for the "Add tags" text below the question.

Can I filter search results, if so, how?

Yes, tags are listed below the search field. Clicking will select ones that are relevant and will filter your search.

Can I use the Senate across my organisation?

Yes, an enterprise version is available, ideal for larger, more complex institutions. Visit the Senate website for more details or contact support@senatesense.com

Can the Senate be used worldwide?

Yes, the Senate is ideal for distributed working. The Senate platform hosts a targeted range of users. It is these users who are responsible for compliance.

Does the Senate save time internally?

Yes, material issues can be identified quickly resulting in a fast internal consensus, an agreed internal position, identifying the need for external advice.

Utilising the Senate across my team will establish a new way of working. Will my email inbox become less of a burden?

Yes, the platform will help reduce email traffic by quickly capturing all answers and comments, increasing transparency and reducing the need for lengthy email chains.

We've been using email for years - its use is widely established, its proven, universal and flexible - I can contact individuals or bespoke groups (both inside and outside my organisation), store and search past communications and filter traffic. Will the Senate provide a greater user experience ?

Yes, we believe so - the Senate utilises a private network, is simple and intuitive to use, allows for attachments, provides indicative answers and consensus positions across a group, is transparent to all users, aids knowledge sharing across your organisation and helps to identify areas of expertise.

Is the Senate a knowledge management tool?

Yes, the Senate delivers knowledge management by helping to institutionalise the sharing, capturing and storing of advice.

Does the Senate act as a business enabling tool?

Yes, it enables team members to consult openly across their colleagues; it helps identify hidden expertise and also delivers consensus at speed. It can help manage team change and institutionalize knowledge.

Can we collaborate with the Senate?

Yes, the Senate is a collaboration tool. The Senate is founded on concepts of collaboration - we would love to hear from you, please visit the Senate website or email support@senatesense.com

Is the Senate secure against cyber threats ?

Yes, the Senate is a cloud based private platform hosted by Microsoft Azure (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/overview/security/) (or Amazon Web Services) who provide mult-layered security across data centres, infrastructure and operations, globally. The Senate and our customers benefit from the thousands of global cybersecurity experts that form part of the Microsoft community.