voato.com » Collaboration

Whiteboard ideas and doodles with Dabbleboard

Pete Wood — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:34:16 +0000

Remote working has its challenges when it comes to sharing ideas and diagrams. A picture paints a thousand words so being able to quickly whiteboard an idea can save so much time and eliminate any confusion. Dabbleboard is one of the easiest tools I’ve come across to start sharing ideas quickly and easily. It doesn’t require the complexities of screen sharing, and Flash is the only plugin you’ll need.

Go to dabbleboard.com and click on Get Started. The free version doesn’t require any signup so it’s quick to get started. The whiteboard session can be shared with any number of people by providing the unique URL of the whiteboard. In freehand mode, the pointer simply paints whatever you doodle. Switching off freehand causes dabbleboard to interpret a drawing and turn it into a tidy shape representing the doodle.

Dabbleboard also allows the upload of images which can be used as a background to sketch over. It also supports uploading of MS Word, MS PowerPoint and PDF documents making it possible to quickly mark up the documents. There is also a built in chat window supporting video and voice chat. The audio and video chat works beautifully and makes the whiteboard session much more personal and interactive.

Saving the image is simple and the free version supports download to PNG format, or the image can be saved online.

Dabbleboard

Use Dropbox to send large media files

Pete Wood — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:17:29 +0000

On voato we often write about neat tools and web apps for sending large media files such as MP3 and video. However, using an existing Dropbox account, sending a large media file couldn’t be easier. Simply use the sharing features of Dropbox to get a link to a file you’ve already uploaded using Dropbox. Life couldn’t be easier…

Select the file to share, copy it into the Public folder inside the Dropbox folder, and wait for the file to sync up with the web storage.

On completion, right click on the file, and select the Dropbox menu option, followed by the option to “Copy Public Link”, as displayed below. Simply copy that URL into an email, and IM message, and hey presto.

Here’s one we prepared earlier.

Cross-platform Remote Desktop with TeamViewer

Pete Wood — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:20:40 +0000

Supports Windows, Mac, Linux, and iPhone. TeamViewer is a completely free, simple and fast solution for remote control, desktop sharing and file transfer that works behind any firewall and NAT proxy.

To use remote desktop to connect to another computer, just run TeamViewer on both machines – no remote desktop software needs to be installed. When TeamViewer is first started, two automatic partner IDs are generated on both computers. Simply enter your partner’s ID into TeamViewer and the remote desktop connection is established immediately.

In addition, we really like the TeamViewer QuickSupport. This is a simple and light-weight remote desktop module which runs immediately without installation and does not require administrative rights – ideal for customers.

Further, in addition to remote desktop, TeamViewer contains a slick File Transfer app allowing you to seamlessly move files between all the supported devices.

Finally, TeamViewer has great cross-device support. Supported by a cool iPhone app, you can remotely access your PC or Mac just by installing the desktop viewer from the AppStore. This neat app gives you full remote remote desktop access to your Windows or Mac based system from the comfort of your palm.

Download [via TeamViewer]

Download SharePoint content with Colligo Reader

Pete Wood — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 10:37:17 +0000

Colligo Reader is free software to easily download content from SharePoint sites to your laptop so you can access the content offline, rather than having to copy files one by one through a browser. It’s completely free for non-commercial uses, and very simple to install and use. It’s ideal if much of your project work is stored in Sharepoint and you’re forever downloading one file at a time. With Colligo you can download entire sites to you laptop for offline reading. Ideal for the mobile consultant.

Colligo also allows you to select specific folders or libraries if you don’t need the entire Sharepoint site. And with automatic synchronisation, you can be sure that the content you have locally is up-to-date with what’s on the server.

Colligo Reader is a client-only application and no server modifications are required. The install package is just 5MB in size, so it takes less than a minute to install and no license keys are required.

This is a great tool for offline reading of Sharepoint, and we don’t know any any other tools which are this simple and effective.

Download free from Colligo

LogMeIn Express is the easiest way to share screens

Pete Wood — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:19:41 +0000

This has to be one of the easiest ways of sharing your screen for remote access over the Internet. Similar products require quite sizeable installations, or result in a very slow user experience. All you have to do here is download a very small application on the host (the screen you want to share) which is just 900K, and then give the session code to the person you need to share with. All they have to do is point their browser at the same URL, and enter the same session code without having to download anything at all.

LogmeIn Express also lets you send files, and chat and also pause or resume the session.

The whole session is secured using 256bit SSL encryption so you don’t need to worry about unwelcome intruders. It is permission based so the host user has to specifically grant access.

As if that wasn’t enough, it allows you to share your screen with up to 100 users. It’s completely free for both commercial and non-commercial use.

Host requirements
    •   Windows 7, Vista, XP, Server 2003 & Server 2008 (all including 64-bit)
    •   Broadband connectivity to the Internet (i.e., T1, cable modem, ISDN, or DSL)
Viewer requirements
    •   Flash Player 9, 10
    •   Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8 or Firefox 3 or Chrome 3 or Safari 4
    •   Broadband connectivity to the Internet (i.e., T1, cable modem, ISDN, or DSL)

Visit LogMeIn Express next time you need remote access or screen sharing.

The Best Free Online Collaboration Suite

Pete Wood — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:58:27 +0000

With more and more people working remotely, online collaboration is an essential tool for any self-respecting home-worker. With a fully featured collaboration and screen sharing application (white boarding), even the most distanced workers can be just as productive as if they were in the same room. And as more and more work is off-shored or near-shored, efficient collaboration can make the difference between project delivery or project doom.

Most people will have tried using Google Apps or Microsoft Office Online for online collaboration, with mixed levels of success. However, one of the best alternatives to Google Docs for collaboration and whiteboard application, is the lesser known, Zoho Productivity and Collaboration suites.

Supporting an huge number of collaboration applications, including free 1-on-1 web conferencing, online document management, online spreadsheets, note takers, online project planning, and web mail, this could be your one-stop-shop for your collaboration needs.

Perhaps one of the best features of Zoho is the free 1-to-1 conferencing. Online web conferencing and collaboration is notoriously tricky for remote workers due to firewall constraints, or administrator access to the PC. With Zoho Web Meetings, all you need to do is logon, create a meeting, send an email invitation to the other person, download a small light-weight app, and away you go. You’ll be sharing screens, PowerPoint presentations, and Word documents in no time. You can also give control to the other party for true collaborative creativity.

Other essential collaboration features of Zoho include a full online Wiki for sharing snippets of information and full document management capabilities. Zoho give you 1GB of space to store and share documents, with the option to pay for more storage if you need it.

There is also a fairly basic To-list and Track tracker, a word processor and an online presentation tool. Overall, a fairly comprehensive and free online collaboration suite.

Visit Zoho for the best online collaboration suite.

What do you use for online collaboration and white boarding?