Tools and tasks
Probably the most important communication channel today is still e-mail. It can be sent from the web environment to have a very classic (e-mail from the List) to a highly experimental (Spike) form. It is suitable to control the e-mail client (whether online or installed applications such as Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird) and reflect its parameters or set up an e-mail inbox on your domain and connect to Google Apps. Alternatively, it is possible to use various e-mail assistants such as Pega or x.ai, which use artificial intelligence to support work with mail.
The problem with e-mails is how to ensure that large attachments are sent. You can use simple services, such as Air Mail or Depository, which are fast and very simple but unsuitable for sending sensitive data or information that should remain confidential. If you want to share such content, it's helpful to use file-sharing services like Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneNote. Tools for sharing and collaborating online on documents are another necessary means of collaboration and communication.
The second important communication channel is instant messengers (IM), i.e. various communicators. Facebook Messenger has a strong position among personal contacts, which is connected to the social network and, in addition to text communication, also enables (video) calls or file transfers. Slack is very popular in the work environment, but the possibilities of Teams or the new Skype are interesting (all products are from Microsoft). WhatsApp is also an essential communication platform.
However, today's critical communication platform is social networks, which are also among the most valuable online companies. The largest social network is Facebook, followed by YouTube and Instagram. Twitter and Reddit are also virtual networks in the Euro-American environment. It is important to emphasize that each of these services works differently and has a different way of communicating, interacting, and sharing content. Google (apart from YouTube, a very unusual social network) has not been successful in this area for a long time.
Complex environments that allow you to manage tasks or communicate effectively in a group are also necessary for team collaboration. For these purposes, it is possible to use Basecamp, one of the most well-known groupware tools, or its alternatives such as Redbooth, Asana, or Podium. These tools offer comprehensive team administration and management, requiring competencies for control and online team collaboration and task fulfillment.
An essential element for online collaboration is also a calendar and the ability to work with tasks. For tasks, it is possible to use Microsoft To-Do (formerly Wunderlist) or Remember The Milk, which uses the GTD method, or AnyDo. All these tools allow you to work with your tasks and share them with others. The best-shared calendar is Google Calendar, which has sophisticated sharing and meeting management or web embedding. A doodle is also an essential tool used to find a suitable date for a meeting. Another helpful tool is You can book me, which is used to secure people or rooms.
A specific tool for online collaboration is webinar systems, allowing real-time teaching in teams of different sizes. The name webinar itself is derived from a“web-based seminar“, which also determines the possibilities of such tools as video and audio transmission, simple testing, attendance records or sharing presentations or documents and working with them, either as student or tutor. The most well-known platforms include Adobe Connect, Oovoo (which is more focused on communication), or the Big blue button.
