BT dot.com/Infoweb

INFOWEB
Making the Web work for you
New connectivity software is allowing CEOs to create virtual workplaces.

By Hasnain Zaheer

So you're networking. But are you Net-Working? The ever-widening reach of the World Wide Web, coupled with the fattening of bandwidths, now makes it possible to set up a virtual workplace, bringing together people in different places and time-zones without compromising on collaborative work. And the enabler is a set of new software tools designed specifically for this purpose. From conversations to document-exchange, from brainstorming to joint work on spreadsheets or designs-everything can now be accomplished by leveraging the connectivity of the Web, and its multimedia channels. Many of the facilities are, of course, borrowed from the connectivity tools spawned by the Net: chatrooms, newsgroups, bulletin-boards et al. BT opens up the digital collaborator's toolkit:

THE SERVER. Lotus Sametime (Price: Rs 3.10 lakh), a server software created specifically for collaborative work on the Net, is setting the pace. It begins by telling every member of your virtual office the whereabouts of their colleagues so that everyone knows at any given point whether a particular colleague is available for discussion. Then, it goes on to play host to the actual applications that your company can use to keep your virtual office running, such as Sametime Connect, Lotus Notes, or Microsoft Netmeeting.

THE APPS. While normal e-mail and other document-sharing facilities are available, these packages are more valuable because of the options they provide for real-time conferences, one-to-one chats, and instant messaging-using not just text, but also audio and video-as well as for collaborative project-work. The latter, for instance, will enable members of a globally dispersed team to use a whiteboard just as they would in a real-world conference-room. The technology that makes it possible is driven by Java and DirectX. Java applets-small, hardware-neutral applications that are available to users only as long as they are working with that application-are, of course, at the heart of most real-time chat and conferencing applications on the Net, while Microsoft's DirectX is a multimedia-channelling technology.

THE DEVICES. You can also use virtual office software, like Microsoft Exchange (Rs 1.25 lakh for 25 clients), or Lotus Notes (Rs 3,500 per user), or Rebus Knowledge Server, to set up devices that enable synchronised and collective work. This is crucial because not all collaboration can take place in real-time. For starters, you can use calendaring and scheduling software to set up virtual meetings required for real-time collaboration. This will, automatically, look at everyone's schedule, and create the time-windows when the cyber-meeting can take place. Then, collaborative workspaces, offering shared access to documents, charts, diagrams, and even audio- and video-creations can be set up for people to contribute whenever they're free. And bulletin boards, newsgroups, and discussion groups will give the denizens of your virtual office the power to share news, thoughts, and ideas by posting messages which can be read by everyone-in the same way that Netsurfers, in general, share their views.

THE VALUE-ADDITION. Obviously, collaborative operations will be more powerful if they can involve collaborative computing too. Tools like Microsoft Netmeeting allow just that, so that every member of a networked team can use the same application-complex forecasting software, for instance-taking turns to control and run it. They can also share the contents of a common clipboard, which makes for seamless use of the application, and the content it is being used to generate. At a simpler level, suites like Microsoft's Office 2000 (Rs 24,000) and Frontpage 2000 (Rs 6,500) allow the same facility with word-processing, spreadsheets, and Webpage-design.

Worried about the security breaches from so much sharing of data using what is, after all, a public network? You should be. But security-both internal, in terms of who gets access to which files, and external-is built into every collaborative-work software package. Packages, like Microsoft Exchange, work with public and private folders, which control access to content. With software widely available, you could even pick up packages like ACD System's Express Communicator, or TeamWave Workplace, free of cost-off the Net. Why not e-construct your new cyberoffice right away?

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