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Unleash the Power of Internal Collaboration
By Dale Walls
You already know the power that the web holds for disseminating information quickly and efficiently. Often businesses are looking for some powerful tools to use internally to operate more effectively and provide quick easy access to much needed business information such as key documentation; project tasks and assignments; logs of proposals, incoming calls, orders or upcoming bids. What about that still much sought after collection of contacts that seems to have outgrown the capabilities of Outlook or Exchange Public folders. What if you could get your business loaded with such a internal web of communication without having to purchase new software for your server?
Introducing Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
The latest release of Microsoft’s web-based collaboration portal has proven to be a much needed improvement to business team productivity. Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) combines the integration of the Office 2007 suite with a searchable repository of internal information. Take for example that most offices maintain their documents from Word, Excel, and the like to a matrix of complex file folders on a server share in the office for which it is often difficult to find the document that you’re looking for, let alone track version history or information on who was the last to modify the file. That same collection of files in a SharePoint document library will not only provide you to such modification and version information, but also provide you with capabilities to search, monitor, and restrict that information. Another improvement to the efficiency of a document library maintained in SharePoint is the ability to not only search for words in the name of a document, but from the words within the document as well.
The search capabilities in the new SharePoint Services allows for a business to quickly pull all relative information from an entire site quickly without an exhaustive search through countless shared folders. SharePoint’s indexing feature can easily include access to not only information within your document libraries but your SharePoint Calendars, Contact lists, Task Lists, Logs, and etc. If you can populate SharePoint with it, you can quickly search and find it.
Previous versions of SharePoint Services included the option for users to be Alerted to changes to information within the system. For example if a SharePoint base Customer List was updated, an Account Manager could opt to get an email notification of the change, alerting them to the update. Now with the integration of RSS, rather than cluttering your inbox with even more emails you can get RSS Alerts to your Outlook 2007 client or another RSS reader such as Vista’s RSS Gadget or Google Reader.
For those of you that use Excel spreadsheets to share information in the office but often find the file locked because another user has the it open, you’ll be delighted with the ability to import these spreadsheets or Access tables into a Web-based list in your new SharePoint site. This allows for all SharePoint site users to use their browser to quickly access data without delay or interruption to other users. Furthermore, users can see this information update as other contribute to or modify items. Coupled with the advantageous search and RSS features, your Excel file went from a classic spreadsheet to an online tool of information.
You may be saying to yourself, “This is great for when I’m in the office, but I’m always on the go using my Laptop or Windows Mobile phone…” In that case, you’ll be happy to know that SharePoint 3.0 workspaces are accessible through your portable computer or PDA. The information can also be synchronized and taken offline.
Another advantage of the new 3.0 version of Windows SharePoint Services is the ability to have your Outlook client directly communicate with your SharePoint workspaces making it easily integrated into your regular routines and familiar application.
Finally, unlike a tradition web site, SharePoint Services was designed with you in mind making it one of the easiest platforms to update, expand, and secure internally without requiring help or additional cost for simple updates from a Web Designer or IT professional. Additionally, Microsoft has available for download ready-to-go Application Templates for use in your SharePoint workspaces such as Request for Proposal, Timecard Management, Inventory Tracking, Job Requisition and Interview Management, Sales Lead Pipeline, and much more.
Take a chance to read more about SharePoint Technologies at www.microsoft.com/sharepoint where you’ll find much more useful information and resources on features, benefits, and training.
Dale Walls is President of Corsica Technologies, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner & Small Business providing complete IT Solutions for businesses, government, and home computing in Maryland, DC, and Virginia. Feel free to contact Dale at 443.262.9290, or by email at dale@corsicatech.com.
