Share Your Files and Brain Power, the Web Way
A new wave of collaborative software has become available to help you connect and empower your social and employee groups. Though the genre is still in its adolescence, it's already showing signs of great things to come.
Microsoft Groove 2007
Microsoft's Office applications, with their revision-tracking features, have garnered legions of fans. Now the company offers Groove 2007 ($229), a collaboration component designed to help coworkers trade both their Office files and their ideas. Groove allows a group of users to share a "workspace" in which they exchange files, discuss ideas forum-style, chat, track project issues, and handle other tasks, all within a single, common interface. Unfortunately, Groove provides little real integration with the rest of the Office suite: Though it enables users to share files created by the other components (Word, Excel), it does not permit them to edit those files together in the workspace. Users still can go offline and make separate, simultaneous edits in Office documents, but the various drafts must be reconciled later through Office's "compare documents" function. Still, Groove is a decent one-stop desktop product for a business.
WebEx and Same-Page
Some business users might prefer a library-type system where documents are checked out and unavailable until they're returned, as you find in the online collaborative services of Same-Page and WebEx. Both Web sites are best known for their online meetings, where you can invite others to view your presentations, share your desktop windows, chat, and even pass control from participant to participant (or share control, via Same-Page). However, both services also offer forum-style discussions, a contact manager, polls, and other collaborative features. They are easy to understand and navigate, but like Groove they are a bit on the expensive side. WebEx Office costs $60 per month for five users; Same-Page eStudio 6 costs $50 for an unlimited number of users.
Low-Cost Options
You'll sacrifice a little sophistication, but for collaboration on a strict or nonexistent budget, you have a surprising number of cheap and free options to choose from. Free online applications like Google Docs & Spreadsheets, ThinkFree, and Zoho all allow multiple users to work on the same documents at the same time (for more, see "Get to Your Data Anywhere and Anytime"). Most of the apps require users to press <Enter> after making changes before other users see them and get access to the document to make their own edits. Zoho's beta Notebook application, however, allows multiple users to edit a file simultaneously.
The Google and Zoho apps also work well if you simply want an easy way to share a calendar or info about upcoming meetings, or to collaborate on a newsletter with members of your local sports league or garden club, for example.
Chat vs. Forums
When weaving the collaborative concept into your company or group's workflow, don't overlook chat, forums, and wikis.
Several free, stand-alone chat apps, including AIM, Microsoft Live Messenger, and Skype, let you network users through voice or videoconference calls so you can resolve problems immediately. Text chat has become a preferred method of support for the simple reason that the entire conversation is easy to reference in real time, as well as during future sessions. You can also embed text-only chat modules, such as AddonChat, ParaChat, or X7 Chat, directly into your Web site.
For slower-paced, more thoughtful communal discussion, you can always turn to a forum. Forums can help businesses talk through work issues, offer nonemergency support, garner feedback, and provide fertile ground for new ideas. They also can help social groups get in touch to discuss hobbies and other common interests.
Two big names in forum software are free: Phpbb and Simple Machines Forum, which require a MySQL database (a free download, often provided by your Web host). Or you might try vBulletin or IP.Board, affordable options with their own database engines.
Jon L. Jacobi
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