Baileur social de l'Aisne

About OPAL

OPAL is the Public Housing Authority (OPH) for the Aisne department in the Hauts-de-France region. It currently manages more than 14,000 housing units spread across more than 130 municipalities in the department. The agency positions itself as a tool for land-use planning and economic development serving all residents of the Aisne, with a particular focus on certain groups, notably students, seniors, and people with disabilities. Its headquarters are in Laon, and the organization has approximately 250 employees.

The Challenge: Messages Lost in a Sea of Emails and a Rarely Used Intranet

Like many organizations, OPAL relied primarily on email and the intranet for its internal communications.

Two tools with well-known limitations: When the Innovation Department was established in early 2025, it set a clear goal: to move away from relying solely on email and offer a more innovative, impactful form of communication capable of truly reaching every employee. Channels became one of its very first projects.

  • The volume of emails was so high that important announcements ended up getting lost in the flood,
  • and the intranet was used too infrequently to carry the information on its own.
« We receive so many emails every day that the message gets lost in the shuffle. Even I had important messages buried among my work emails. We wanted something with greater impact.»
Yoann DAUCHELLEInnovation and AI Project Manager, OPAL

Why OPAL Chose Channels

A Specific Need: Above All, Simplicity

Before making a decision, the Innovation team compared several competing internal communication solutions. The verdict: most alternatives were too complex, too extensive, or too expensive for what was a deliberately targeted need. Channels stood out for its ease of use and affordability.

“We wanted something simple and effective for communication. Some solutions were too broad or complex for our needs. So the decision naturally fell on Channels.”
Yoann DAUCHELLEInnovation and AI Project Manager, OPAL

No hardware investment required: the existing PC fleet is used again

A key selling point for a cost-conscious social housing provider: Channels leverages the existing fleet of Windows PCs. No additional hardware investment is needed, deployment is simplified, and the solution is ready to be rolled out across all workstations, whether in the office or while working remotely.

How Channels Are Used at OPAL: One Tool, Multiple ways of communication

The strength of Channels at OPAL lies in its versatility. The team has set up several communication channels and chooses, each time, the one best suited to the message.

Notifications: Never Miss a Thing

This is part of everyday use. A discreet notification appears in the lower-right corner of the screen, allowing the information to be seen and read immediately. Employees can then learn more by clicking on it. No more announcements buried at the bottom of an email inbox.

The Lock Screen's Visibility

This is the feature Yoann is most proud of. Visible to everyone as soon as the computer is turned on, the lock screen is used to highlight internal initiatives: the launch of a carpooling website for employees (with a QR code for access), reminders of internal events such as the Christmas dinner… The graphic design is updated regularly to keep employees engaged. This feature is very popular among employees.

“The lock screen, is our flagship innovation.”
Yoann DAUCHELLEInnovation and AI Project Manager, OPAL

Alerts for Critical Messages

For critical information (such as a water outage in a building), the alert ensures that no one misses it: a pop-up appears in the center of the screen, accompanied by a countdown that enforces a minimum display time before the user can close it. This makes it impossible to ignore critical information.

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The Results: Internal Communication Has Become Second Nature

A few months after the rollout, the evidence is clear: using Channels has become second nature for the teams. Notifications are achieving strong open rates, and the tool has far exceeded its initial scope.

Contests: A Catalyst for Embracing Change

The real masterstroke of the rollout? An Advent calendar designed to support adoption of the tool. Every day in December, a question was posted via Microsoft Forms and shared via a Channels notification. The prize: a chance to win a gift that could be picked up from the Sezaam smart lockers, which were rolled out at the same time. It was a clever way to highlight two innovations simultaneously.

The success was immediate: high participation, very positive feedback, and natural adoption of the new Channels tool by employees. Building on this success, the concept has already been repeated for World Cup predictions.

“The Advent calendar was a huge hit throughout the company. Employees looked forward to the daily notifications, and even the CEO got into the spirit of things.”
Yoann DAUCHELLEInnovation and AI Project Manager, OPAL
  • Cross-functional adoption: The Innovation, Communications, and HR departments use Channels on a daily basis.
  • A snowball effect: Impressed by the tool’s impact, the Accounting department spontaneously asked to use it as well.
  • Support all the way to the top: Adopted by all employees, Senior Management is now among the solution’s most loyal users.
“ Now, using Channels has become second nature.”
Yoann DAUCHELLEInnovation and AI Project Manager, OPAL

And tomorrow: OPAL’s internal communications roadmap

OPAL is already looking ahead, with several projects in the planning stages:

  • A silent alarm mode for reception staff (Phase 2 of the rollout). A keyboard shortcut will allow reception staff to instantly alert all nearby workstations in the event of an incident or if they feel unsafe. This is a real-world challenge that has been difficult to manage and for which no suitable, simple, or flexible solution had been found until now.
“Alert mode, provides greater peace of mind for the receptionist: with a simple key combination, she can alert all nearby employees.”
Yoann DAUCHELLEInnovation and AI Project Manager, OPAL
  • Enhancing the Intranet and Optimizing Its ROI
    We are currently exploring integration with the intranet to automatically trigger a notification whenever a new article is published. Thanks to its APIs and targeting features, Channels enhances the intranet by sending push notifications to targeted users when an article is available. Users simply need to click on the Channels notification to access the article on the intranet.
FAQ

Alert and Push-communication

Questions You Might Have.

How can we improve internal communication without overloading email inboxes? +

By supplementing email with more visible channels: desktop notifications, lock screen, and alerts. These formats have helped important messages stand out instead of getting lost in the inbox.

Does Channels require specific hardware? +

No. The solution leverages existing Windows PCs without requiring any additional hardware investment—a major advantage for organizations looking to keep costs under control.

How can you encourage adoption of a new internal communication tool +

By pairing it with an engaging campaign. OPAL launched Channels through an Advent calendar (daily contest), which accelerated and adoption of the tool by all employees.

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