2. Categories of collaborative tool
1. Voice over IP
2. Document collaboration
3. Agenda sharing
4. Offline communications
5. File Sharing
For this part of the group project, we looked at the following:
3. Why we chose our collaborative tools?
: Members of our group had casual experiences of using Skype and we felt that it would help
us communicate more efficiently in our group
: Many of us have successfully used Google Docs in the past to work on group
projects.
: While reading upon this program, we were excited that it had the capabilities to do all we need
to collaborate as a group.
: We found email inefficient and wanted to find more efficient ways to communicate
quickly. After looking up GroupMe, we briefly tried it to communicate with our group and
accepted it.
:One group member had used dropbox extensively to share files between his different
computers. Since we had team members familiar with it, we figured to give it a try
4. Pros of Skype: Cons of Skype:
-Easily stay in touch with
colleagues in many ways(text
messaging, voice/video calling,
one to one file sharing)
- Easy to install; no network
configuration required
-Easy to navigate
-Video calling limited to 2 people (Skype
premium calls are up to 10 people)
-Uses a large chunk of computer memory,
resulting in performance loss
-Security issues (IP address detection=
denial of service attack)
5. Pros
● Real time collaboration and
accessible 24/7 with
internet connection
● Accessible on computer,
tablet, or phone and won't
go missing if any of them
break
● Files Safely stored,
automatically set as private,
you decide if you want to
share
● Programs available; online
Documents, Spreadsheets
and Presentations
Cons
● Limited amount of free
online storage
● Considered weak
presentation program, only
has basics.
● Need internet connection
to work documents
6. Co-op
Pros:
• Can communicate using a message board like forum
• Can set an agenda and also post work due on a week to week basis
• Has a built in timer to be able to see what each member has been working on along
with how long they been working on it
Cons:
• There isn’t any notification options so new messages and agenda updates can
be overlooked or not attended to.
• There isn't any option to share files or have a video conference
• Even though it has a handy timer option, it does require an additional registration to
Harvest along with registration to Co-op
7. Pros
• Accessible on computers,
tablets, and smartphones.
• A group is allowed up to
50 members.
• Convenience of using SMS
for group members
without the app.
Cons
• Limited to the amount of
information/ data that can
be shared.
• Private messages can only
be sent to members with
the Groupme app.
• Lacks conference calling.
8. Evernote
Pros:
(1) All of our notes can be
grouped into customizable
“notebooks”.
(2) With a simple checkbox,
you can make any note
accessible to anyone with
public URL.
(3) The UI is simple to use
and the searching and
sharing capabilities are
second-to-none.
Cons:
(1) The security is weak, it
is not fully protected from
external attacks.
(2) When using a new audio
note, it will sometimes
crash
(3) Must be online with an
internet connection in
order to be used.
9. Dropbox - File Storage and Sharing
Pros
● Can share up to 2gb of files
between any number of email
address partners
● Store and access 2gb worth of
files across registered
computers.
● Very sleek and simple
interface, easy to use and
manage files.
● Can allow access to files across
all operating systems, including
smart phones.
Cons
● Free accounts are limited to
2gb worth of storage,
upgrading to 100gb is $9.99 a
month.
● The dropbox servers keeps a
copy of all documents,
presenting security issues.
● Not suitable for collaboration
on documents, as the files can
only be edited by one user at a
time.
10. WINNERS:
● We found the other collaborative tools we have researched during this project was
unnecessary since Google Docs and GroupMe fulfilled all the communications and
collaboration needed
We chose Google
Docs because we
found it the most
resourceful. It was the
easiest to collaborate
with and construct our
materials in an
organized manner
together.
We also chose GroupMe
since it was very helpful
in communicating
meeting times along with
discussing what task
needed to be completed
for each team member.
11. Reference of Collaborative Tools
Co-op: Burnham, Kristin. "15 Free Online Collaboration Tools for Business." PCWorld. PCWorld, 09 July 2010.
Web. 30 Sept. 2013.
Skype: Bell, Lee .“Skype investigate a potential security threat.” The Inquirer, 01 May 2012, Web.
Wenk, Fabian. “Is Skyp (mis)using your computer?” Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. 25 Jan. 2013.
Web.
GroupMe:
"The Best Way to Chat with Everyone You Know." GroupMe. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. <https://groupme.
com/>.
Kovach, Steve. "7 Reasons Why GroupMe Is The Best Group Messaging App Right Now." Business Insider. N.p., n.
d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. <http://www.businessinsider.com>
Dropbox:
"Dropbox." Dropbox. N.p., n.d. Web. <https://www.dropbox.com/>.
"Dropbox: The Pros and Cons." Dropbox: The Pros and Cons. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. <http://www.
businesszone.co.uk/topic/technology/dropbox-pros-and-cons/42935>.
Sileo, John. "Dropbox a Crystal Ball of Cloud Computing Pros & Cons." John Sileo Privacy Identity Theft Expert.
Solutions Blog, n.d. Web. <http://www.sileo.com/dropbox-a-crystal-ball-of-cloud-computing-pros-cons/>.
Evernote: Walker, Rob. “As Evernote’s Cult Grows, the Business Market Beckons.” Bloomberg Businessweek. 28
February 2013. Web. 1 October, 2013.
Google Docs:
Meghan. "Google Docs: A Good Fit For Your Business?" TrackVia, 4 Mar. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2013
