Presence applications poised for takeoff By John Fontana (Network World, 09/06/04) says that yes, presence is the next killer app. We'll soon see it as a separate service from the familiar instant messenger buddy list icons that tell you who is online.

In fact, you'll see it everywhere, letting you know not just whether you can IM someone at the moment, but if you can phone them or invite them to an impromptu video conference. Applications and other network services can get in on the act as well, letting you know that the printer is available, or the latest update to that big specification document has been released.

'...presence ultimately is seen as a real-time communications, messaging and routing infrastructure that not only supports collaborative applications for user-to-user interaction, but also supports communication between applications and users. It also supports application-to-application integration, whereby presence infrastructure is used to announce which applications are up, what their functions are and what types of protocols they accept.'

IBM and Microsoft are both jumping on the presence bandwagon. IBM's Lotus Notes and Microsoft's Live Communication Server provide the foundation for enterprise use. Jabber Inc.'s XCP platform, IMLogic's IM Linkage, WiredRed's e/POP, and Nortel's Multimedia Communications Server are just some of the smaller vendors and products that are leveraging presence to provide new functionality for users.

5:00:15 PM    
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From the press release on PRWire, CoCreate Software Releases OneSpace.net 2005 for Team Collaboration, CoCreate has announced a new product to enable easy collaboration between 'multi-site, contract, and outsourced project teams' without compromising security. Leveraging XML web services and Microsoft's InfoPath technologies, the tool includes an online team workspace with file sharing, whiteboard, application sharing, instant messaging and online meetings, among other features.

'...OneSpace.net 2005, an online project data management and team collaboration solution that enables engineers, suppliers, customers, and experts to work efficiently and effectively across a distributed project team.'

Mark Wessel's User Review in Machine Design's August 2004 issue says the simple download and intuitive interface allowed his team to start using OneSpace immediately, without any training.

4:21:36 PM    
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According to the article, Talking heads are catching on as Web meetings take off By Barbara De Lollis, (USA TODAY, Sept 7, 2004), voice, video, and data conferencing are replacing travel to some extent, but perhaps not as much as anticipated shortly after the events of Sept. 11th.

' "What 9/11 really did was force senior executives to try this stuff," says Mitchell of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents corporate travel departments. "Many of them had never really experienced it. They tried it. It worked." '

The trends suggests that conferencing is becoming more popular not just as a substitute for travel, but as another communication tool available to workers.

'Providers of remote conferencing services are seeing sessions become shorter and more frequent. That, they say, shows the practice is becoming just another daily business tool, and not only a substitute for business travel. '

3:42:12 PM    
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Collaboration for the Masses By Cade Metz (PC Magazine, August 10, 2004) takes a look at three collaboration tools suitable for use by small and mid-sized businesses, or smaller groups within larger enterprises.

Groove Virtual Office, version 3.0 of Groove Networks' groundbreaking collaboration product, requires users to install a 40MB software client to collaborate instead of storing everything on a server like the other tools reviewed. When not actively in use, Groove runs quietly in the background, ready to alert you if someone in your workgroup is trying to get in touch with you.

Basecamp, by 37Signals, is a new addition to the collaboration tools marketplace that offers basic communication tools at a very attractive price. The tool is basically a quick-to-establish website for secure use on either the Internet or intranets.

"Basecamp gives users the basic tools needed to post messages, tasks, and schedules. You can quickly add and remove users. You can customize the colors and basic layout of your site. You can even adorn each page with a small company logo. One interesting feature power users will like: Basecamp lets you export items to an XML file, which can be used with other sites and applications. You can even arrange for Basecamp to send updates to an RSS reader each time your site changes."

Intranets.com while similar to Basecamp, offers more features in its browser-based product.

"As the name implies, it's ideal for collaboration within your company. But it works just as well as an extranet, letting you interact with outside clients. Its tools are far more advanced than those offered by Basecamp. In addition to sharing to-do lists, calendars, and files, you can set up and manage your own online databases. You can easily share expensive reports. You can even do Web conferencing a la WebEx or LiveMeeting, giving others a live view of PowerPoint presentations and other documents and applications running on your desktop."

3:14:56 PM    
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Study: Traffic costs billions of hours a year Small, mid-size cities not immune to problem (USA Today, September 7, 2004).

'WASHINGTON (AP) -- Los Angeles for years has had the nation's worst traffic jams, but these days even the streets and highways in small and medium cities from Brownsville, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, to Honolulu, Hawaii, are giving rush-hour drivers fits.'

'The average Los Angeles commuter spent 93 hours snarled in traffic in 2002, the most of any city in the survey. In San Francisco-Oakland area, drivers lost 73 hours to rush-hour slowdowns. And in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, motorists spent 67 hours stuck in traffic on average in 2002.'

1:45:42 PM    
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