Social Software Suggestions?

Howdy folks,

I have some specific needs for software and hope that one of the board folks may have some suggestions for a solution.

I run a small business and need the software to manage several tasks and hopefully combine as many of these features into one product as possible. I would prefer to not spend a fortune on the software but I have a decent budget for it since this software will be a strong part of our infrastructure.

What I need is:

• Conferencing Software like Live Messenger or Skype. Ideally I need software that will allow a few folks into a web-cam meeting. Maybe up to 3-5 separate web-cam groups.
  
• Instant Messaging is also important for us.
  File transfer ability - since we are all working in this shared space, the ability to drag a file to the other users and then we all collaborate online would be wonderful.
  
• Remote control / assistance - some of my users are pretty low on tech skills - the ability for me to take over their mouse or something similar to help them walk through applications would be very helpful.
  
• I could also use suggestions on a file sharing platform like Sharepoint or Skydrive. I've been using Google Docs and I have to admit - its the first Google product I've used that I am truly underwhelmed by. I need an online shared library that all of my workers can access from anywhere, edit, collaborate, and save. I've had issues with GD where some documents fail to show up for some users - we are all in the same user group, but only 3 of 5 people see the docs, and its not always the same 3 people and the documents are different every time. And I have the paid Google services

Anyway, I truly appreciate any suggestions folks have on good software to help my business be a bit more efficient and effective.

Thanks!

 

If having the stuff hosted by a third party(say Microsoft) is not an issue, I believe Office 2010 + Live Messenger seems to have all you want.

SharePoint Workspace(which is Groove being renamed, has nothing to do with SharePoint other than the name) is also pretty good at colleberation.

 

If you are already using Google Docs and are not comfortable with it, then an alternative would be Windows Live like how Chimpanzee above mentions. You could do all what you have listed by integrating Office Web Apps into your workflow. Currently, I do this because like you I am not very fond of Google Docs and secondly, at our workplace we extensively use Office 2010, which allows for a relatively seamless integration with online collab tools.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Aside from the hosting / Google Docs issue, will Windows Live allow me to address the other three bullet points? Last time I tried to use WLM for video conferencing it had a limit of two parties at once - including myself, so it didn't work for multi-location offices.

 

If you want multiparty conferencing, there is a paid service called Live Meeting.

Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007: features and benefits - Live Meeting - Microsoft Office

@ 5 bucks a month, I think it is pretty reasonable.

The performance is very decent and it has desktop sharing feature which can be used for remote assist (though Windows 7 already has remote assist but live meeting's one is easier to use especially when a machine is behind firewall/NAT).

 

If you are on Win 7, I think you can use the remote access setup therein. Else, I am sure there are some good (and possibly free) 3rd party apps floating around.

File Transfer...yes on Live; IM, obviously, yes on Live;

 

What about TeamViewer?

Test it with your family first (free for personal use)

 

I would look into Microsoft Business Productivity Service (BPOS) it has everything you are looking for and it is designed for Small Businesses. BPOS-S and BPOS-D are the two skus...

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Services Standard Suite | Microsoft BPOS

HTH,