Vancouver-based Colligo Networks Inc. is set to target the mobile workforce with the launch of its collaboration and messaging software product called Personal Edition.
Running on the Windows-based operating system, the software allows for file transfers, e-mail, chat and instant messaging from desktops, notebooks, handhelds and Tablet PCs without the need for a server or Internet access, the company said. This is handled via the use of short-range wireless capabilities, such as 802.11 and Bluetooth.
Kirstin Gulbransen, product manger at Colligo said the software allows a maximum of 10 users to connect at a time, and added that the company seeing demand for the product from audit teams and other vertical markets such as management consultants. OEMs, she said, are also tuning into the possible advantages collaboration can offer.
But the problem with wireless collaboration remains that neither the concept nor the business benefits are well understood. While demand has sprouted in several niche markets, the industry as a whole has yet to see any widespread adoption because organizations can’t seem to clearly find any tangible business benefits. Gulbransen agreed that business is yet to firmly embrace the benefits, but shared her own thoughts on how to get companies to get on board.
“The secret to a collaboration solution is that it has to basically take all the disparate components that exist within a company such as e-mail, document sharing and knowledge sharing and find a way to bring those all together and make them work,” she said.
The Personal Edition will be available starting at $19.95 at the end of September. A Workgroup Edition, that will include integration with applications such as Lotus Notes, will be available in early October, the company said.
Colligo is on the Web at http://www.colligo.com.