Sococo Team Space - virtual office in four walls

October 01, 2010 | Author: Adam Levine
Sococo Team Space

How does a ordinary virtual office for the geographically-distributed teams look like? Probably something like Basecamp or Google Apps: user list with online status indication, chat, a page for shared files, calendar, tasks, forum. Looks minimalistic and efficient. But the lack of such online office is that the project participants don't have a team-feelings that comes when working in the same real office. Of course, there are already virtual worlds for business like Second Life, where you can create a realistic 3D-office and 3D-avatars. But for a small startup using such a 3D-world as an online office - is overkill. Sococo Team Space is something average between virtual reality and traditional online office.

Team Space looks like a computer game - realistic office environment where people work. Each employee has his own cabinet and there are some meeting rooms. You can walk around the office, come to co-worker cabinets (if the door is not closed), talk via chat or voice, transfer files, collaborate on documents and applications. Here is a great video.

Sococo Team Space

In large meeting rooms there are 4 flip-charts, and each can be used to show a document or application from user computers via screen-sharing. And you can switch with one-click between the flip-charts. Even Webex can't do that.

The great advantage of Team Space over traditional online office is that you can more flexibly and simply set your online status and to judge about how busy your colleagues are. In a typical messenger only 3 statuses are usually used: gray (invisible or computer is off), yellow (computer is on but user is out) and green (user online). In the Team Space when you login - everyone can see you in the office. But you can close the door or turn off the sound so that other don't disturb you. Or with a single click you can go to the smoking room to show that you have a break. And if you're having meeting with the boss, others will see it and will not bother you.

To use the Team Space you need to install their software (works only on Windows). At the moment service is in beta testing and is absolutely free (with some restrictions). Developers promise that the free version will remain in the future.

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Author: Adam Levine
Adam is an expert in project management, collaboration and productivity technologies, team management, and motivation. With an extensive background working at prestigious companies such as Microsoft and Accenture, Adam's in-depth knowledge and experience in the field make him a sought-after professional. Currently, he has ventured into entrepreneurship, owning a thriving consulting and training agency where he imparts invaluable insights and practical strategies to individuals and organizations, empowering them to achieve their goals and maximize their potential. You can contact Adam via email adam@liventerprise.com