SFSU ISYS 363-1 Fall 2013-Group 49ers: Project Task 1

1. VIRTUAL TOOLS FOR
GROUP COLLABORATION
SFSU ISYS 363-1 Fall 2013

2. TOOLS FOR CONSIDERATION
 Project Mangement
 Tool Researched : Freedcamp
 Market Leader: Basecamp, Teambox
 Group Communication
 Tools Researched: Group Me and SocialCast
 Market Leaders: Chatter, Yammer, Skype
 File Sharing & Editing
 Tool Researched: Google Drive
 Market Leaders: Google Drive, Box.com, Dropbox
 Virtual Meetings & Live Discussion
 Tool Researched: Moxtra
 Market Leaders: AnyMeeting, WebEx, GoToMeeting

3. FEATURES THAT WE WANT
 Free!!!!
 Virtual Meetings
 Great for when it is not possible for
group members to meet in person
 Group messaging (instant, discussion
threads, forums, etc)
 Easy way to keep in regular contact
with group members which is
important for keeping everyone on
the same page
 File sharing
 Especially important when turning
in a collaborative documents
 Notifications
 So that you know when someone
posts a message, uploads a
document, etc.
 Easily Accessible
 Every user can understand it
without needing to read a “How To”
guide
 Mobile Tools
 So you can contribute to group
projects on the go, anywhere,
anytime
 Quick feedback allows group
members to work more efficiently
because there is less lag time
 Clean and Simple Design
 Least amount of Ads as possible
 Ads can be very distracting in the
project/workplace environment
 Personalized Settings
 Each person can change the way
they are notified, have a different
interface or dashboard than others,
etc.
 Manageable Security Settings
 Those we want to see the
information can, and those that we
do not cannot see it.

4. FREEDCAMP
PROs
• Can set task/milestone deadlines &
assign to individual group members
• Great options for time management and
planning
• Can upload different versions of a file
and is easy to see who did edits
• Customizable notifications
• Text and/or email
• Email notifications specify what
was posted and by whom
• Frequency
• Updates on upcoming task
deadlines
• Design
• Clean, minimal, professional and
easy to navigate
• Set profile pictures
Features:
Project Management resource includes discussion wall, forum, file
sharing, create tasks & milestones (a free alternative to Basecamp PM tool)
• No mobile app
• No web conferencing
• Text notifications only include
limited information, you have to
login to see what was posted.
• You have to go through
Dashboard before you go into your
project
CONs

5. GROUPME
Features:
Group messaging system
PROs
• Easy and quick to send updates and
receive feedback
• Mobile AND web browser app
• Great to access anywhere,
anytime
• Manage multiple group
conversations at the same time
• Fairly easy to use and fast set up
• Profile picture enlarges when clicked
on
• Conference call on demand feature
• Clear and customizable notifications
• Ability to split checks if out with
group
• You can receive and send messages
via SMS text OR through the
GroupMe app
• Need to login to app before you can
stop the SMS text messages
• No video conferencing or voice calls
• Recent update has some occasional
timing delays
• Message/data rates apply if using
SMS option
• When you haven't adjusted settings
the messages show up in GroupMe
app AND in SMS feeds which is
redundant
CONs

6. Features:
Online file sharing and online editing
• Easy collaboration for documents
• Clean interface
• Uploading files:
• Easy upload and editing
• Accepts .doc, .ppt, .xls,
images and videos
• 15BG of free storage
• Established application, most
people are familiar with
GoogleDocs
CONs
• Limited editing tools
• No ability to see who made
edits nor what they were
• No mobile app
• No real time feedback when
editing
PROs
GOOGLE DRIVE

7. PROs
• Mobile App and web browser app
• Live virtual
meetings/presentations
• Screen share option
• Drawing on images that can
be posted which is useful for
diagrams and such
• Real time updates
• Text communication as well
as voice chat
• Recording option
• Upload files during
presentation
• Quick sign up and start up
MOXTRA
CONs
Features:
Static discussion forum, host live virtual meetings/presentation
• Only meeting leader can upload
pictures
• Cannot schedule future virtual
meetings
• More of a presentation tool rather
than project management tool
• Sometimes freezes
• Everyone has to be logged in at the
same time all the time

8. SOCIAL CAST
PROs
Features:
Discussion Wall, file share,
• Only people in same ‘company’
can log on to the group which is
good for security
• Works like Facebook
• Can see what each team member
is working on
• Task timeline
• Easy to use
• Can manage multiple projects and
invite specific people to them
CONs
• LOTS of problems logging in
and finding our group
• Only admins can invite people
to the group who do not have a
“company” email address
• No conference calls
• Email notifications are not clear
where they are coming from

9. GroupMe
 We will use this tool for majority of communication because we
can easily respond and get feedback no matter where we are
Freedcamp
 We will utilize all Freedcamp’s features especially discussion
boards and the file sharing/storing ability.
Moxtra
 We will only use the virtual meeting feature
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!

10. REFERENCES
 GroupMe
 https://groupme.com/
 Freedcamp
 https://freedcamp.com/
 Moxtra
 http://www.moxtra.com/
 GoogleDocs
 https://drive.google.com/
 Social Cast
 http://www.socialcast.com/
 Misc Research:
 http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2012/02/0
6/four-best-web-collaboration-tools/
 http://www.techradar.com/us/news/internet/best-
cloud-storage-dropbox-vs-skydrive-vs-google-
drive-vs-icloud-1120024
 http://www.benkard.com/blog/webinar-tools-
state-market