Wednesday
16Dec2009

Create Proposals Online

DateWednesday, December 16, 2009 at 1:25PM

There is a great service (still in Beta), called eintelli.  It's an online tool for creating proposals.  I've been looking for decent tool to use for a while, and early this year wrote about proposal collaboration software, Zapproved. Zapproved is an ideal tool for seeking proposal approval (hence the name), however, eintelli is the ideal tool for writing your proposal from scratch.

Eintelli, is one of the few vendors offering an online tool for proposal creation, at least from my research anyway.  I found a lot of outdated software vendors that offered proposal software, however, I'm sure you can relate, purchasing software has lost it's appeal! 

The idea of eintelli, is that you can create your proposal online, then send a link to your recipient to review, or you can export as a PDF.  The PDF comes formatted (as a proposal should look), and the table of contents is automatically created.  

Features for creating your proposal online

Create Proposal 

Create media rich branded proposals, that can be stored online and accessed from anywhere

Publish your proposal

Allow your recipients to view your proposal online, plus add a level of security by opting for password protection

Proposal Intelligence

Built in business intelligence; tells you who has viewed & for how long

Proposal Templates

Create & save proposal templates that are specific to a product or industry your pursuing

Real Time Collaboration

You can invite other users to collaborate on proposals.  The experience is in real time, so you can see your colleagues typing! 

There is a host of other features, that support optimized printing of your proposal, request approval, feedback & more.  

Overall, this is a very impressive online tool for creating proposals.  At the moment, it is in Beta & offered for free, so you can't go wrong!  

 

AuthorDavid Corcoran | CommentPost a Comment | | | in
Thursday
10Dec2009

Google Apps Presentation

DateThursday, December 10, 2009 at 9:57AM

Today I completed my first presentation on Google Apps!  In the presentation, I discuss the benefits of cloud computing & why Google is one of the leading vendors to support software as a service (SaaS).

Full screen mode including my webcam video here:  Google Apps Overview Presentation

 

Google Apps Overview

Google Apps empowers your business with Google Applications for your company domain. It features web applications with similar functionality to traditional office suites, including: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs and Google Sites, & the latest addition Google Video. Learn more about Google Apps for your domain.

Software as a Service:

As Google Apps is hosted in the cloud, and delivered as a service, you eliminate the upfront & on-going costs to support email in house.  Also, as Google Apps customers, you automatically receive the latest updates, with no interruption to your staff's workflow.

 

Batipi Professional Services

At Batipi, we are helping clients make the transition to Google Apps.  Our professionals service consultants work with your IT team to ensure a smooth migration & transition to Google Apps.  We have customized support plans, specifically for administrators, or we can extend the support directly to your end users.  Here's how we are helping clients today: 

  • coordination of google apps pilot program
  • google apps account set-up & activation
  • data migration from exchange & other programs
  • configure add-on's (postini, outlook sync, connector for blackberry enterprise server)
  • administrator & user training
  • administrator & end user support
  • quarterly consulting on new features

 Call us today, to learn more about using Google Apps, at your company.

 

AuthorDavid Corcoran | Comment2 Comments | | | in
Tuesday
08Dec2009

Adobe Connect Pro vs GoToMeeting 

DateTuesday, December 8, 2009 at 7:35AM

If your comparing Adobe Connect Pro and GoToMeeting, you should realize the full potential of Connect Pro, and why it is worth every penny more.  In this review, 3 areas are covered: 

  • Ease of use (how easy is it to get attendees into your meetings)
  • Flexibility & engaging experience (can you configure & personalize the service, & what tools are offered to ensure user engagement during your meeting)
  • Features for delivering training online (what additional functionality is offered to support eLearning)

Also, there are additional areas why Adobe Connect out performs GoToMeeting, I've highlighted these features towards the end.

Comparison of Adobe Connect Pro & GoToMeeting Corporate 

Legend

yes - included with product

n/a - not available

weak - weak in comparison

Note

We deliver Adobe Connect Pro as a service, so our opinion is obviously favored to Connect Pro side.  The comparison highlights some key areas why Adobe Connect is a premier service vs GoToMeeting & overall a better web conferencing technology.  Contact us for a personalized demo of Adobe Connect Pro suite. 

Ease of Use

When it comes to how quickly your users adapt and learn a new technology is determined highly by how easy the program is to use.  More importantly with web conferencing technology, it's important to have a simple streamlined process for your attendees to join your meetings.

Feature Acrobat Connect Pro GoToMeeting Corporate

Universally installed client:

No waiting for attendees to get set up as the Flash Player is already installed on over 98% of all systems

 yes n/a

Customizable URLs and persistent rooms:

Create personalized, re-usable URLs for persistent meeting rooms, reducing prep time for recurring events.

 yes n/a

Multi-language Capability: 

Choose from many languages beyond English 
 yes n/a

Multi-platform support:

Attendees are supported beyond Windows and MAC

 yes n/a

Multiple Deployment Options:

Choose between hosted and on-premise deployment options

 yes n/a

 

Superior Flexibility & Engaging Experience

The ability to fully customize the interface, whether that is changing layouts, or adding corporate branding contributes to a greater personal experience with the software.  With greater personalization, users are apt to use the technology more. 

Feature Acrobat Connect Pro  GoToMeeting Corporate

Meeting Windows Flexibility:

Create multiple meeting windows or pods of any kind and easily move or resize your meeting windows for a custom room layout that keeps participants engaged

 yes n/a

Meeting Room Templates:

Pre-built layouts and content can be saved and reused

 yes n/a

White Boarding: 

Annotation tools simulate use of a whiteboard in a real conference room
 yes n/a

Video Support:

Desktop video, multiple video sources, and recorded video without a third-party video client

 yes n/a

File Sharing:

Participants can easily download files by accessing the file share panel, without presenter intervention

 yes n/a

Administrative Policy Settings:

Add or remove windows or features, customize recordings, log chats, and designate room access for greater meeting control

 yes weak

Complete Branding & Personalization:

Change the colors, layout, and more at any time

 yes weak

Advanced Training and eLearning Functionality

When it comes to training online, it is important to replicate learning environments that would typically take place in person.  Group participation and the ability to create break out groups from within your web conference, encourages such an experience.  

Feature Acrobat Connect Pro GoToMeeting Corporate

Advanced Content Management:

Host and manage on demand content and track usage & viewing

 yes n/a

Breakout Rooms:

Allow participants to meet in sub-groups for sharing, discussion and collaboration

 yes n/a

Pre-Built LMS Integration: 

Easier integration with your LMS using pre-built integration to SumTotal, Blackboard, and Plateau
 yes n/a

Track Adobe PDF Documents As Training:

Trainers can define Adobe PDF documents as training courses that learners can obtain credit for reading

 yes n/a

Enhanced Online Training Reporting:

Customize training reporting to provide meaningful data sets

 yes weak

 

Additional Adobe Connect Pro Benefits

Meeting Add-on's

As Adobe Connect Pro is extensible with a flash api, there is a growing add-on community that offers simple plugins to enhance your meetings.  The add-on's are simple to install, and provide additional value to your meetings, beyond features that are included already.  Currently, there is

Recorded Meeting Playback

With Adobe Connect, the meeting playback is extremely simple.  You are presented with a URL that is ready for distribution.  After clicking on the URL, a user watches the recorded flash presentation right within their web browser.  There is no requirement to have windows media player installed & open, which is the alternative experience with GoToMeeting.

Multi-media & Content

The ability to upload & stream recorded video to your audience is possible with Connect Pro.  There are a variety of file types that can be included into your meeting: Flash Video (SWF, FLV),  Audio (WAV, MP3), Graphics (JPG, GIF, BMP, WFM, TIFF, EPG, PNG), PowerPoint, HTML, Printable Doc's (PDF, Word, Excel).  

As video and other content is uploaded to your content library, it displays to your audience without any delay.  With Gotomeeting, there is no option to upload content, and all programs or files would need to be open on your desktop, and shared through screen sharing.  The problem is screen sharing increase the bandwidth consumption, which could result in dimished quality to what is being shared

 

There is a recorded webinar by Adobe, which talks about these comparisons in more detail.  You can access the webinar here, however, you will need to login with Adobe credentials first.

We encourage your comments/experience on using these two web conferencing products...

 

AuthorDavid Corcoran | Comment3 Comments | | | in
Friday
13Nov2009

Google Wave Makes Collaboration Simple

DateFriday, November 13, 2009 at 8:39AM

I found a new invite in my email inbox this morning, to join Google Wave.  Finally, a chance to check out this cool new service from Google.  Let's see what all the hype is about!  Google Wave is still in private beta, however, I'm able to give out 8 invites.  If you would like an invitation, add your comment & I will send you one.

Google Wave Explained

Google Wave from Wikipedia standpoint is a personal communication and collaboration tool.  It is designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking.  Google explains a wave as being both conversation & a document, where you can discuss & collaborate together using richly formated text, photos, videos, maps & much more.  The much more part is where developers come in (similar to the iphone apps).  Google Wave is open source, so expect a ton of applications that you will be able to "one-click" add to your wave, in the near future. 

There is no limit to the imagination, as to how you can use Google Wave.  It is a communication tool.  So the next time you send your colleagues an email, you might think, hmmm...maybe we can do this better in a Wave.  There is also a very nice playback feature, which shows you exactly who said what & when. Do you ever get lost in a thread of emails, or even miss a reply?  I think this is part of the frustration, why Google Wave was developed.

Google Wave Solutions

Some suggested examples from Google, when to use a Google Wave:

Organizing Events

Keep a single copy of ideas, suggested itinerary, menu and RSVPs, rather than using many different tools. Use gadgets to add weather, maps and more to the event. 

Meeting Notes

Prepare a meeting agenda together, share the burden of taking notes and record decisions so you all leave on the same page (we call it being on the same wave). Team members can follow the minutes in real time, or review the history using Playback. The conversation can continue in the wave long after the meeting is over. 

Group Reports & Writing Projects

Collaboratively work in real time to draft content, discuss and solicit feedback all in one place rather than sending email attachments and creating multiple copies that get out of sync. 

Brainstorming

Bring lots of people into a wave to brainstorm - live concurrent editing makes the quantity of ideas grow quickly! It is easy to add rich content like videos, images, URLs or even links to other waves. Discussion ensues. Etiquettes form. Then work together to distill down to the good ideas. 

Photo Sharing

Drag and drop photos from your desktop into a wave. Share with others. Use the slideshow viewer. Everyone on the wave can add their photos, too. It is easy to make a group photo album in Google Wave. 

Google Wave Demo

This is a great demo of Google Wave.  Learn more about some of the suggested solutions, and what you can do with Google Wave.  

 

I'm still trying to confirm or verify if Google Wave will be included as another app for Google Apps customers.  If so, this would a compelling reason to evaluate Google Apps for your business.  Contact us at Batipi, to learn more about using Google Apps within your business.

 

AuthorDavid Corcoran | Comment2 Comments | |
Tuesday
10Nov2009

Office Collaboration

DateTuesday, November 10, 2009 at 9:25AM

If you have not already discovered Google Apps, and prefer using Microsoft Word applications, you should try the plugin for Microsoft Office, called Docverse.  This instantly turns your Microsoft Office applications for Word, Excel & PowerPoint, into an office collaboration tool.  

The plugin works similar to Google Docs, and allows you to collaborate on documents with your colleagues. Updates and edits made by your colleagues can be seen  in real time.  Also, a version of your file is stored on the Docverse cloud server, so you can access your files when your on the run.  

Here is an example of how Docverse integrates with your PowerPoint...

 

As you can see, you can easily add additional editors, leave comments, receive updates when your shared document is updated, and keep multiple versions of your Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file in sync with Docverse online.

For single user access, Docverse provides you with a free account, which could be ideal to keep your office files synced with an online version.  If you want to start collaborating with colleagues, then you will probably need their team edition, which is $49/month.  This lets you collaborate on 500 documents, with up to 10 users.  They also offer a 60 day free trial.   

 

AuthorDavid Corcoran | CommentPost a Comment | |
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