How to best share documents, notes, links with coworkers?

[justice]

  is there any software that allows you to invite your coworkers to share notes, ims, links, documents etc and maybe collaborate? All messengers seem to focus on sending a file to someone (but not leave it available, or sorted by project), and one to one communication (in stead of group communication). Using a website is too slow and it should be running internally if possible. Pownce looks like it might go there, google groups would work but we are all in the same building.

Any ideas or suggestions welcome 

[Jimdoria]

You might check out Zoho office. It also has many of these features. Google's apps are a good choice too. Although they let you collaborate remotely, there's no reason they won't work just as well for an internal team.

There's also the 37Signals web apps, which integrate these features, but I think to get everything you have to sign up for more than one of them (at least Campfire & Backpack.) Check out http://37signals.com which has links to the individual apps.

[steeladept]

Since you are talking about work, there are two or three options for most companies, depending on what you already have or are willing to buy.  If you run LotusNotes Domino servers, they can setup QuickPlace if it doesn't already exist.  The MS alternative is SharePoint.  If you are looking for a more freeform package for a small group, you can also look at MS Groove.  I am sure there are many other alternatives, especially OSS alternatives, but I don't know any and even if I did, I couldn't tell you how good they are.

My experience is with QuickPlace and SharePoint.  I am not so fond of either, they just both seem very cumbersome.  However, they are capable of doing (more or less) what you are asking for.  Groove is new with Office 2007, but it looks promising if you want to try that out.  I have it, but have never had the need or opportunity to use it.  Microsoft offers a free trial of this as well to see if it would work for you.  It looks like it is good for 12 months, so it is worth checking out if you are seriously looking at it.  If you do, let me know what you think. 

[justice]

Actually we have office 2007 at work, I just never associated the name Groove with this. Bad naming. I'll have a look at that and get back.

[steeladept]

Just beware, Groove is only available as part of Office in the full Enterprise edition and Ultimate edition.  So it may well be that you don't have Groove even when you do have Office 2007.

[justice]

Right we do have groove but only the client, you'd need to set up a seperate groove server which we don't have. 

[justice]

Seems Skype is a good option. No server software to install. You can have group chats, send files to all of them, messages, call etc. You can bookmark the group chat (basically equivalent of a permanent project) then get back to it some other time. Unlimited filesize transfers. Free if you don't call landlines/mobile.

You can also enable contact groups, to group your coworkers.

[steeladept]

Right we do have groove but only the client, you'd need to set up a seperate groove server which we don't have. 

-justice (July 12, 2007, 02:47 AM)

Hm...My understanding (though it might be wrong) was that a Groove Server was not necessary.  If it was, what would be the point of SharePoint?  Groove is more local workgroup level, whereas SharePoint is much broader in scope.  Groove also allows for you to invite people not on the network (say a vendor for example) whereas SharePoint does not.  I can see a Groove Server needed for some of the extended functionality, but I could have sworn it wasn't critical.  I will look around and get back to you on this further.

Check out this link to a demo on Microsoft Groove.  Looking more into the server at the same time, and it appears to primarily be services for deploying Microsoft Groove.

Welcome to Microsoft® Office Groove® Server 2007, the new suite of Microsoft server software and tools for deploying, managing, and integrating Office Groove 2007 software in your enterprise.

-Microsoft

The Office Groove platform consists of two primary components: the Office Groove 2007 client software that installs directly on each user’s desktop or laptop computer, and the server software that extends Office Groove 2007 client software with centralized management, data relay, and data integration services. While all enterprise customers will deploy Office Groove 2007 client software, customers have two choices for server software based on the size of deployment and required functionality: Microsoft Office Groove Server 2007, which is installed and maintained by the customer, or Microsoft Office Groove Enterprise Services, which is hosted and maintained entirely by Microsoft.

-Microsoft

---FINAL EDIT---

The definitive guide of how the Server integrates into the system can be found here.  It is lengthy, but pretty much confirms exactly what I said.  The only thing it did not clarify is if Server is required to extend beyond your company network (which it may), or just makes it easier to extend.  The biggest advantage to this route over Skype is that it is completely internal...No need to worry about what sensitive data may be on Skype servers.  Otherwise there would be a plethora of services available to you.