Tue 8 Jan 2008
Microsoft Office Groove is a collaboration software program and what it allows you to do is create collaborative workspaces. These workspaces allow all members of a team working on a particular project to have access to all the tools and information required for that project, from anywhere in the world. You can even work on a project in a Groove workspace while you are offline, then as soon as you are connected to the internet again Groove will automatically update your changes so that everyone else using the workspace has access to them (Synchronisation).
So how does it work?
- One person creates a workspace and then invites others to join (These could include people from within your organisation or outside of it, they could be situated throughout NZ or from around the world)
- Each person receives a copy of the workspace, which is stored with advanced security on each of their PC’s
- The team works together in the workspace adding information and tools like files, discussion forums, calendars and customisable business forms (the always on encryption helps protect all the data and activity). When one person makes a change, for example adding a paragraph to a Word document, and they save those changes Groove will automatically synchronise the changes with his team members PC’s.
Other features of Groove include: integrated alerts which will let you know about all the changes that have been made since you last checked the workspace, and communication tools like instant messaging with others who are active in the workspace.
Ultimately Groove allows team member to share revise and publish their work quickly and easily all from a one place.
We are just starting to use Groove here at LANcom so stay tuned for our review.
To learn more by visiting the Office Groove homepage click here.