13 Feb Taking Collaboration Up a Level
Collaboration is a term that is used to describe a broad range of solutions offered in the marketplace today. Everything from Chat, web conferencing, content management, file share and sync and more can be described as a collaboration solution.
At SavvyDox we looked at collaboration and wanted to recreate an environment similar to a face-to-face meeting.
The first area we focused on was the ability for users to have “real-time” conversations. There is a natural flow to the conversation when you are in a meeting, with everyone having the opportunity to participate, hear what others are thinking within the context of the topic under discussion.
As Giga OM put it “Contextual conversation is likely to become the dominant social motif of the next generation of work-technology applications”. At SavvyDox we have focused on providing the ability for users to have a conversation, in context, through Notes.
SavvyDox Notes provide users collaborating on the creation, review and approval of content with the ability to ask questions, provide comments, or suggested changes. These Notes can be delivered to everyone involved, just the owner of the content, or as a personal note to reference at a later date.
The key is the automatic distribution of comments that are shared in real time to other members of the team who are involved in the collaborative process. For users who are not connected – they will immediately get new comments when they connect and are working on the content. To provide more visibility we have delivered the SavvyDox Timeline to provide an easy way for users to see what is happening across everything they are working on.
The ability to have conversations is an area we will continue to enhance based on working with our customers to continually improve communication while collaborating
Of course it is also necessary to ensure that everyone is working on the correct content just like a meeting. Unlike a meeting, we know we need to make the content available to a user regardless of the time of day, where they are located, or the device they are using.
With SavvyDox we ensure users are always working with the most up to date information regardless of when, where and what device you are using, and just like a meeting where you can review the minutes of a previous session, SavvyDox will let you see any previous version. One difference – you don’t have to figure out what has changes since a previous meeting – SavvyDox will tell you what has changed between the current version and any previous version.
We also asked how do we recreate the minutes from a meeting and the action items that may result. With SavvyDox we have integrated the ability to create tasks and dates associated with content that involves collaboration and then providing an personalized view of both the tasks a user is expected to complete and the status of tasks the user has assigned to others.
There is no longer a need to try and track through task list, spreadsheets, project management software or some manual process. Everything is integrated in the SavvyDox solution.
At SavvyDox our focus is on collaborating on items that are critical in nature. Because this is our focus, we have also taken the concept of the meeting chair or presenter. With SavvyDox there is someone in control of the content. Although anyone can contribute / comment, only one person can make changes to the source content and make the decision that there is something new for everyone to work on.
We see this as a critical requirement when it is imperative to ensure the integrity of a document, where version control is critical, where the risk of having something out of date reviewed, approved, or distributed is a business risk that is unacceptable.
At SavvyDox we want to work with our users to create the most natural, effective and efficient approach to collaboration. What do you think makes a great collaboration solution? We’d like to know.