Recently someone asked me what applications and tools they should be using to collaborate. The majority of her team live in the Bay Area, but more and more the team is becoming dispersed. A couple team members are in Europe, one in the East Coast and one just moved to the Northwest. Some are not near an office so they work from home. The extended team and partners are even more dispersed as they support other groups and cannot be co-located with them.
My advice for the simplest and best introduction to Collaborative Tools is Instant Messenger (IM). It is free, easy to get started with and most people already have it. There are numerous Instant Messengers, so the first step is for the team to agree on which one to use. She is lucky because all badged employees already have an IM account. Since partners and customers may not use the same Instant Messenger network (Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Google Talk), use an application that can connect with different networks (Adium, Pidgin, iChat, Meebo).
Instant Messenger (IM) is actually the first Baseline Tool we recommend. Baseline Tools are Collaborative Tools that enable co-located and distributed teams to work together. The other Baseline Tools we think everyone should be using are: Shared Calendar, Profile (Social Network), Desktop Video and Data Collaboration. For more information, visit our Getting Started with Baseline Tools wiki
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Bluetooth multipoint testing (part 2)
After torturing myself and unsuspected friends and co-workers for the past 2 weeks, I still haven't found a reliable multipoint headset. There have been highs where we have been shocked at how well it works, YEAH! And then there are the lows where nothing works at all - frustration!
One piece of advice I learned the hard way, only pair one headset to your computer and phone at a time. I think my they are both mad at me for having 4 or 5 headsets paired at the same time ...
Here is a summary so far:
1) Jawbone Prime most success so far. My co-worker and I tested using Skype, iChat and iPhone. We were able to go back and forth between the computer and phone amazingly well. We didn't even have to hang up one before calling the other. A couple of times, we were even able to hear without any interruption. We had a Skype video call going, called iPhone and answered call through Prime and was able to hear instantly without hanging up the Skype call. Granted the audio quality isn't the best, but once the Skype call is hung up, the audio quality improves to normal phone quality. Without hanging up the iPhone, called iChat video, heard the ringing through the Prime, hit the Accept button and magically, it worked! Now there's true multipoint for computer and mobile phone =) Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get it to work consistently -- stay tuned!
2) Plantronics Discovery 975 kind of works. To be fair, they do say "Multipoint" technology pairs earpiece to two phones -- but worth a try because the case is AWESOME! Not only does it have a case for the headset, but it is also a battery boost (1 1/2 charge). Needless to say, I really want this one to work... and it does, kind of. Only hiccup, you have to hang up one before you can answer the other. I'm willing to give it another shot!
3) Jabra Halo kind of works. They say "Multiuse" connect to 2 devices at the same time. Although I called technical support and they say it only works for 2 phones, not a computer. But, I'm willing to give it a shot, because I like the headset in stereo. Of course, the Halo can't be used in a car. So, if successful, it will be good for people who use the phone in a stationary location often (can't say in the office, since people work at locations that aren't "offices"). This has been less successful, I actually turned on my iTunes instead of video conference! I gave it to my co-worker to test out. I think my computer's mad at me for pairing too many bluetooths...
One piece of advice I learned the hard way, only pair one headset to your computer and phone at a time. I think my they are both mad at me for having 4 or 5 headsets paired at the same time ...
Here is a summary so far:
1) Jawbone Prime most success so far. My co-worker and I tested using Skype, iChat and iPhone. We were able to go back and forth between the computer and phone amazingly well. We didn't even have to hang up one before calling the other. A couple of times, we were even able to hear without any interruption. We had a Skype video call going, called iPhone and answered call through Prime and was able to hear instantly without hanging up the Skype call. Granted the audio quality isn't the best, but once the Skype call is hung up, the audio quality improves to normal phone quality. Without hanging up the iPhone, called iChat video, heard the ringing through the Prime, hit the Accept button and magically, it worked! Now there's true multipoint for computer and mobile phone =) Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get it to work consistently -- stay tuned!
2) Plantronics Discovery 975 kind of works. To be fair, they do say "Multipoint" technology pairs earpiece to two phones -- but worth a try because the case is AWESOME! Not only does it have a case for the headset, but it is also a battery boost (1 1/2 charge). Needless to say, I really want this one to work... and it does, kind of. Only hiccup, you have to hang up one before you can answer the other. I'm willing to give it another shot!
3) Jabra Halo kind of works. They say "Multiuse" connect to 2 devices at the same time. Although I called technical support and they say it only works for 2 phones, not a computer. But, I'm willing to give it a shot, because I like the headset in stereo. Of course, the Halo can't be used in a car. So, if successful, it will be good for people who use the phone in a stationary location often (can't say in the office, since people work at locations that aren't "offices"). This has been less successful, I actually turned on my iTunes instead of video conference! I gave it to my co-worker to test out. I think my computer's mad at me for pairing too many bluetooths...
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Day in Review... Sept 2
Highlights from Wed, Sept 2, 09
9:00 am tour of MPK16 with Linden Labs -- one word, AWESOME! Chris and Amanda were great. And of course, they loved what we were doing =) Inevitably something goes wrong while doing a demo, Second Life was down so we couldn't demo MPK16 replicated in SL. Chris hopped on the computer and gave it a go to fix the issue. In the end, the SL developers were all over it and we were able to do our demo after all. We had about 12 people in MPK, physically and "virtually" (Second Life and HD Video). Amanda and Chris gave us great feedback and helpful links, blogs, YouTube videos to check out. We are now following Amanda on twitter @workinginworld... We're collaborating on a Case Study with Second Life, how cool is that?
11:30am Cloud Computing Social in MPK16 Break Area -- We had about 70 people in the next gen area! 40-50 people were expected, but with people traveling to the Bay Area for the All Hands, there was a full house, boy was the place buzzing! Even a Senior VP was spotted in a Breakaway in Studio Two eating pizza and having a quick discussion with a couple Directors. It was amazing how well the sound masking worked, even when the party was roaring in the Break Area, Labs folks were able to continue working with the usual noise level. The smell of the pizza now is another story. Pictures of the event are available on the Open Work wiki
9:00 am tour of MPK16 with Linden Labs -- one word, AWESOME! Chris and Amanda were great. And of course, they loved what we were doing =) Inevitably something goes wrong while doing a demo, Second Life was down so we couldn't demo MPK16 replicated in SL. Chris hopped on the computer and gave it a go to fix the issue. In the end, the SL developers were all over it and we were able to do our demo after all. We had about 12 people in MPK, physically and "virtually" (Second Life and HD Video). Amanda and Chris gave us great feedback and helpful links, blogs, YouTube videos to check out. We are now following Amanda on twitter @workinginworld... We're collaborating on a Case Study with Second Life, how cool is that?
11:30am Cloud Computing Social in MPK16 Break Area -- We had about 70 people in the next gen area! 40-50 people were expected, but with people traveling to the Bay Area for the All Hands, there was a full house, boy was the place buzzing! Even a Senior VP was spotted in a Breakaway in Studio Two eating pizza and having a quick discussion with a couple Directors. It was amazing how well the sound masking worked, even when the party was roaring in the Break Area, Labs folks were able to continue working with the usual noise level. The smell of the pizza now is another story. Pictures of the event are available on the Open Work wiki
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