ISYS 363.01; Fall 2013; Pacers

1. SFSU
ISYS 363.01
Fall 2013
Pacers

2. Group Collaboration Tools
 What we need and expect :
 The tools that have more different “collaborative” features like file sharing, instant
messaging , also can do visual or video conference.
 The tools that are easy and broadly to use.
 The tools that can be accessible, no charge.
ActiveCollab( Project Management)
Skype( Instant Messaging)
Tiny Chat( Video Conference)
Dropbox( File Sharing)
Google Doc( Document Sharing

3. Criteria, Concerns, and Market
Leaders
Concerns:
 Security
 Compliance
 Integration
Market Leaders:
 IBM
 Jive
 Communispace
Criteria:
 Inexpensive, usually free
 Instant communications
thru video conferencing,
text message, etc.
 Collaboration and
notifications tools are
available
 Centralized
communications
 Share file anywhere,
anytime
 Share different kinds of
documents, such as

4. • Mobility
You can easily access to Dropbox by using iPhone,
Blackberry, iPad and Android devices.
• Picture and video sharing
You can transfer picture and videos to your Dropbox
account and share them with your group members
• Keep your file safe and secure
You can just drag any file to your Dropbox and Dropbox
will automatically back it up in its server so you will be
able to access to you files no matter what happens to your
computer.
• Share files with non Dropbox users
You can share files to non Dropbox users by putting them
in public folder of your Dropbox. Then, simply right click
and copy the public link to the specific file.
• Difficulty finding files location.
It could be difficult sometime to find files location because no specific
tabs are available.
• Free version could only be used up to 2GB of storage
You can unlimited use free version but you can only use up to 2GB of
storage. If you want to add more GB you have to pay monthly or
annually.
• Everything you put in your Dropbox will be residing and occupying
space in your hard drive
You can not use it to archive files if you want to free up some space in
your computer.
• Inability to Collaborate on files.
The files that you have uploaded are the only files that could be
synchronized.
Pros Cons

5. Google Docs.
Pros:
 1. Document Sharing function instead of printing or writing things down ; do not need to
download or installed any software.
 2. making changes and reviews by any group member instantly.
 3. Quickly access to files in cloud anywhere around the world.
Cons:
 1.Need to be online to access; rely on Internet totally.
 2. limited feature compared with MS software( Word & Excel)
 3. Unsecure and there is no offline copy on your computer.

6. Pros:
● Able to simultaneously video
chat with 12 people at once
● Very user friendly and easy
to set up disposable
chatrooms
● No limit to outside viewers
and participants in text chat
Tiny Chat
Cons:
● Service does not provide in-
client file sharing
● Must have fast and reliable
internet connection to
stream videos
● Anonymous viewers may
pose risk to online safety

7. Skype
 Almost ubiquitous and is very easy to start
up.
 Does not take a long time to start
collaboration
 User interface is very easy to use
 Free!
 Does not have good audio/ visual
integration with large meeting rooms
 Multi-Party audio is not very clear and is a
reliability
 Skype does not run on a secure server
 Automatically reuses proxy credentials

8. ActiveCollab
 Pros
 useful for any team management project
 Has quite different and more features for business
 Open Source, Extensible, Fully Customizable
 Cons
 High Cost-not suitable for students
 Needs some time to learn and get used to
 Not a convenient tool to use

9. Google Doc
 Free program
 Easy to learn
 wecan access the database wherever we have an
internet connection.
 Has a few more "collaborative" features such as file
sharing. We can edit the file online right away instead
of downloading the file to our computers.
 It’smoreeffectiveandconvenientforateamprojectbecause
itcansaveourtimeandGoogle Docs imports and exports
most file types

10. docs.google.com
tinychat.com
skype.com
activecollab.com
dropbox.com
References