Collaboration Technology: How Corporate Are Our Home Lives Becoming?
Andrew Donnelly, 06/07/2010, posted in "Analysis"
Andrew Donnelly is the Online Marketing Manager for BeamYourScreen. Founded in 2005, the German-based company is now a major international provider of online collaboration solutions for thousands of companies worldwide. ...more info
Andrew Donnelly is the Online Marketing Manager for BeamYourScreen. Founded in 2005, the German-based company is now a major international provider of online collaboration solutions for thousands of companies worldwide. Andrew comes from a background of Business Administration, having studied in Australia, Denmark as well as Sweden, in conjunction with his experience in sales and marketing. Today Andrew leads BeamYourScreen’s international online marketing operations, primarily for one of the company’s main products for Web conferencing and remote support – Mikogo. ...less info
It’s not that long ago that we were completely unaware of the Web and collaboration possibilities. But today, our after-office lives can be packed with time spent in front of the home computer. Why? Because Internet is bringing collaboration into our homes to the point where collaboration technology has now become a part of our daily lives. You might think that this does not refer to you – read on and think again.
Email is the easiest example of collaboration technology. It has become a business standard form of communication. There are many different methods though for corporate users to collaborate in the workplace. Desktop sharing has become another key piece of technology allowing people to interact in real-time without having to travel. This cuts expenses, yet still allows users to work together as if they were in the same room.
Collaboration technology is not all about business
Home users are also benefiting from this same technology. By using desktop sharing collaboration technology, home users can help each other out by getting together to share information from the screen or for the sake of supporting someone remotely. That is just one example. Home users often forget that their instant messaging conversations are a form of collaboration. When they add in VOIP and document management, they are performing the same functions as their corporate counterparts. Many of these tools came out of the corporate environment.
And let’s not even get started on just how many hours people must be spending day, after day, in front of their computers collaborating and communicating with friends via MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and more…
The last part of collaboration technology is also something many of you will be familiar with. Shared calendars can be a powerful and yet easy collaboration tool. In a corporate environment they can be a form of project management, though depending on the complexity of the service, can have many features beyond a shared calendar. Home users often use them to synchronize schedules with friends, family, and colleagues.
So as you can see, collaboration technology is very much a part of our daily lives and enhances many parts of it. After reading this blog post and as you sit at your computer, think of the applications you are currently running and if you are actually making use of some of those tools. Then think about different ways to use them. You might be surprised at just how “corporate” you are becoming.
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