Corporate tools for online business

The sharing of information and professional work are essential for communication and productivity of a company. With some tools on the internet, employees can create, share and edit files of work (e.g. calendar, word files, excel) in real time. These web applications are easy to use. Enabling people to improve internal communication within the company.

What is a corporate tools for online business?

A corporate online software to share files between employees of a company. The shared media can be used for different tasks:

- Organization and planning followed by a (shared calendar)
- Monitoring the budget, organizational structure and accounting (excel file)
- Creating forms (surveys, market research)
- Internal communications, rules of procedure, ads (word files, pdf)

Why to use these tools

The benefits for the company are:

- The files online (calendar, Word documents, Excel) are available and changed at any time
- Multiple users can update the same file simultaneously
- The files are searchable and editable from any internet (e.g. at home)
- Thanks to some online tools, you can synchronize files with mobile devices (e.g. Blackberry, smart-phone)

Privacy and data backup online

On some websites of corporate work, you choose which users have access to share files. Two precautions are necessary:

- Do not share sensitive informations about the company (directory of mail, bank details, etc)
- Backup regularly shared files online on a fixed medium (HDD)

Free Corporate Calendars on the Internet

Several online tools allow you to easily keep a diary. They have similar functions, but some offer solutions that meet the specific needs of the business.
Public agenda. MySN (My Small Notes) is a small web application that allows you to upload and share a calendar between multiple users. A preference for SMEs and TPE that have limited organizational needs.

- You must open an account on the site using an email account
- Once registered, please e-mail address and password to your employees: All can see the calendar and update it simultaneously.
Collaborative business calendar: adapted to different categories for professionals: lawyers, businessmen, human resources services. In addition to monitoring and sharing calendar, it can organize schedules complexes (e.g. holiday planning).

Example of multi-purpose collaborative tools: Google Docs and Google Calendar

Google Doc and Google Calendar are tools for online collaborative work very complete. To take advantage of these free services, each user must create a mail account on Google.

==Using Google Documents and Google Calendar in business==

Shared agenda: using their Gmail account, multiple users can view and edit the same calendar. It is visible from any email account by clicking on the "Agenda". Note that you can synchronize the calendar with a Google e-mail software like Outlook Express.
Storage and sharing of documents from your computer, you can import many types of documents on your Google account (e.g. photos, PDF documents, Power Point, Excel, word etc.). You choose which users can access documents from the icon "share" (or "share." Two possibilities: the "read only" or the "collaboration". In the second case, only authorized users can edit these documents.
Office tools. You can create documents using tools similar to traditional desktop software: Word, Excel, Power Point. These online tools are obviously more limited functionality than the Microsoft or Office. They allow to perform many tasks. Three main tools:
- Spreadsheet (calculation, planning, monitoring controls, budget, etc.)
- Word processing (internal communication, collaboration on a writing project)
- Slide Show (presentation of a product, market research, activity).

Additional features of Google Documents

- File transfer. Once the documents created, you can always save them on your computer in different formats: XLS (Excel), DOC (Word), PPT (Power Point). But also in other extensions: ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, etc.).
- Another very useful feature: you can save your PDF files.
Manage sharing documents Google in the enterprise

All employees need not have access to the same files. You must match the documents accessible to people or services concerned. They can then collaborate on the project that affects them directly (eg inventory management).
If you plan to use the collaborative platform Google docs, you will need to circulate a charter use. As users have the ability to share documents with any user of a Google account, it is important to enforce a code of confidentiality.