Adobe has launched a new version of its web conferencing app, Connect Pro, that adds the ability to integrate existing telephony/VoIP solutions. (Adobe calls this “Universal Voice.“) This feature should make Connect Pro more attractive to organizations with existing telephony packages in place, as it won’t add to phone costs. As well as being able to use any existing telephony service inside the app, you can record audio from telephone-based participants along with your web conference, and stream audio from them to those using VoIP. Other enhancements in this release include improved security controls and an increased maximum number of conference participants (now at a mammoth 80,000 users).
Adobe also has announced that it is working on various native mobile apps for Connect Pro, with an app for iPhone and iPod due to be released first.
Does Universal Voice make Connect Pro more attractive for your company?
At the Enterprise 2.0 conference today in San Francisco, PBworks (formerly PBwiki, see our previous coverage here) announced that it is adding built-in, real-time collaboration tools to its wiki software. The new suite of tools will include in-app IM, Live Notifications of changes to an organization’s workspaces, Live Editing of documents, and Voice Collaboration.
The planned changes should make collaboration using PBworks much easier and faster, with less need to rely on external services. For example, imagine that you’re working on a document and you’d like some input from your team. You could use the built-in IM tool to see who’s online, direct them to the page, start a Live Editing session (which lets them see any changes you make to the document in real time), and even set up an ad hoc conference call using the Voice Collaboration component.
IM Collaboration, Live Notifications, and Live Editing will be available for free to customers with Project Edition and Legal Edition plans beginning Nov. 17, while the Voice Collaboration component should be available in early 2010 (pricing hasn’t been set yet).
Would you use built-in voice chat/conference calling if it was added to your favorite collaboration suite, or would you continue to use an external conference calling app, like WebEx?
With the official release of Windows 7 on deck for later this week, Microsoft Press has released a free, 332-page downloadable e-book, “Deploying Windows® 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet Magazine.” The book — which reuses material from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet — covers a wide range of topics related to deploying Windows 7, including:
- Deployment Platform
- Planning Deployment
- Testing Application Compatibility
- Migrating User State Data
- Deploying Applications
While primarily aimed at system administrators rather than home or small business users, if you’re looking to make the move to Windows 7 there will undoubtedly be some information in here that will help. The book is a free download (6.5 MB PDF) from Microsoft.com.
Are you moving to Windows 7?
(via gHacks)
Last week, I reported on the surprisingly low numbers of American information workers using collaborative technology (just one in four uses IM at work, for example). Another study, released today, shows why businesses should be adopting these tools: Businesses that invest in advanced collaborative technology perform better, and they net a good rate of return on their investment.
The Frost & Sullivan report, “Meetings Around the World II: Charting the Course of Advanced Collaboration,” sponsored by Verizon and Cisco, surveyed 3,662 decision-makers in organizations in 10 countries. It found that 44 percent of organizations had deployed collaborative tools (VoIP, document sharing, videoconferencing and IM). The study found that as businesses invest more in these technologies, their return gets proportionally greater. Read the rest of this entry »
As someone who covers cutting-edge tools for WebWorkerDaily, it’s very tempting to think that everyone uses the kind of technology that we rave about every day. Clearly that’s not the case, but some figures in a new Forrester report, “The State Of Workforce Technology Adoption: US Benchmark 2009,” which surveyed 2,001 U.S. information workers, in companies of 100 or more employees, really surprised me. For example, according to the study, one out of every five information workers shares a computer:
Read the rest of this entry »
GooSync, a handy third-party service that lets you sync Google Calendars, Tasks and Contacts to your mobile device that we’ve covered previously, has announced that it will discontinue its free offering. Starting Oct. 18th, the GooSync Free service will be suspended and users will be migrated to a new plan, called GooSync Lite, that costs £5.99 ($10) per year. GooSync say that this change is the result of “exponential demand for GooSync over the last 12 months.” GooSync Premium users are unaffected by this news.
File-sharing and syncing service Box.net (previously covered on WWD) yesterday announced that it plans to acquire Increo Solutions, the developers behind document embedding service Embedit.in and feedback app Backboard, tools that we’ve also written about previously.
Over time, this acquisition should improve the ways that you can view, share and collaborate on documents within Box.net, as the Increo Solutions tools become integrated into the service. Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box.net, said, “We really like what Increo has accomplished with their technology, which supports our goal of providing Box.net customers with a better way to share and work with documents and content in the cloud.”
However, for now, the Increo Solutions products remain standalone, and users can continue to work with the products and get technical support as before, according to this handy FAQ about the acquisition for current Increo customers.
Is this acquisition good news for Box.net customers?
Web workers who use LinkedIn have been known to be creative with their names. Instead of just listing themselves as “Jane Doe,” for example, one often sees “Jane Doe (jane-doe@domain_name.com)”. LinkedIn for Marketing is reporting that accounts with such additional information are being suspended.
I’ve been unable to find where these rules are spelled out in LinkedIn’s help files, but it’s probably a good idea to keep name information to a minimum. You can, if you wish, get creative in the “Professional Headline” field that appears below your name.
LinkedIn is an excellent tool for networking, but it’s a private enterprise that has the right to make its own rules. I think that it provides sufficient opportunities for profile creativity without trying to sneak additional information into the first and last name fields.
How do you get creative with your LinkedIn profile?
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
