Microsoft earlier this week at CeBIT 2009 rolled out its Online Services feature to 19 new countries (it has been available in the U.S. since November last year). Online Services is part of Microsoft’s “Software + Services” strategy, with cloud-based services complementing local software functionality.
Online Services offers access to a range of products. The Business Productivity Online Suite is basically a hosted version of Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and Live Meeting, available for a subscription fee of £10 ($14) per user, per month in the UK.
The collaborative features of SharePoint and Live Meeting, in particular, are very good and might be handy for web workers with distributed teams, especially if your team members are used to using Microsoft products. However, the upfront costs of the standalone products — running into the thousands — are hugely off-putting for any small business or independent web worker, so a monthly subscription is attractive.
Need a quick break from the grind? WWD sister site NewTeeVee Station brings you Watercooler Clips, a selection from our collection of what’s good, interesting and/or of note in the online video world — whatever the web is talking about at the virtual watercooler.
Today, we offer The Website is Down’s dramatization of that most epic of clashes — the sales guy versus the web dude. Told from the perspective of the Web Guy’s monitor, this breakdown of office relations will seem all too familiar to those on either side of the screen.
For those who have Microsoft Exchange as their email system, they know its utility for keeping multiple devices in sync with emails, contacts, calendars, tasks, and so on. However, buying and managing an Exchange Server is a time consuming and expensive proposition. Mail2Web features a hosted Exchange account with “limited access”.
With their free service, you can:
Have a personal calendar, tasks list, contacts, reminders, journal
Have 100MB of free storage
Sync with your mobile device
Automatically fetch emails from other accounts
The syncing happiness begins with setting up your Mail2Web Live account and configuring your devices. If you have a Windows Mobile device, this will involve configuring ActiveSync to work with your Mail2Web service.
Arranging meetings with co-workers and team mates can often be a very tedious task. The main issue with meeting scheduling the is time wasted trying to arrange meeting times. Microsoft Exchange tools help solve this inside the enterprise, but outside your own company efficiently scheduling meetings becomes difficult if not impossible. Another issue with scheduling meetings is having to work with timezones.
In conclusion, time is wasted arranging meetings because they involve multiple email transactions and/or phone calls.
A newcomer to the meeting coordinating scene, Tungle is an add-on application that tries to take some of the frustration out of arranging meetings.
For those who have Microsoft Exchange as their email system, they know its utility for keeping multiple devices in sync with emails, contacts, calendars, tasks, and so on. However, buying and managing an Exchange Server is a time consuming and expensive proposition. 
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
