ICT+Tools+for+Virtual+Working

=ICT Tools for Virtual Working =

Most large organisations today are spread over wide geographic locations and virtual teams are very common. A number of commercial applications are available to support virtual working - for example Sharpoint for document shring and Microsoft Lync for audio and video conferencing and desktop sharing. A number of free based cloud applications are also available. It is easy and cheap to communicate and share information in real time. Below are some tools that are available to anyone that wishes to install them on their computer or mobile device and set up a group, and others that are available at relatively little cost.

**Wikispaces**
A great tool for collaboration. Works can build with all team members being able to add edit, comment at any time without cluttering the email. www,wikispaces.com

**Google Drive**
The real benefit for virtual teams is the ability to collaborate on documents in real time. You can leave comments on your team’s work or chat while you work together. www.google.com

**Skype **
For day-to-day communication with your team, __[|Skype] __ is an essential app to have in your dock or taskbar. Not only does it allow you to call and video call your team members for free, it’s a really easy way to instant message one another and swap files directly. We use it in our team for quick conversations and to let each other know when we’re working and where we’re working, which just helps us feel like we’re together, even if we’re miles apart!

**Dropbox**
With __Dropbox __ software installed on your computer, and on the computers of your team members, files are automatically updated, so everyone has the latest version, and they’re backed up too, so you won’t have to worry about losing your stuff.

iDoneThis
It can be easy to feel, in between hearing from your team members, that no work is being done. This is a crisis of faith that needs to be overcome, but it does take some time – and, crucially, trust. In the meantime, there’s __ iDoneThis __ – a simple web app that’s more about celebrating your team’s achievements than it is about spying on what’s been done. It sends an evening email reminder that everyone on your team writes a quick reply to saying what they did that day – just one line per task. The next day, everyone gets a digest with what everyone else has been working on.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">** Cloud-based operating systems **
<span style="font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">Cloud-based operating systems, such as Mircosoft Office 365 and Google Apps, provide a virtual platform accessible anywhere and at anytime and containing business-class email systems, on-line file storage and sharing, integrated on-line conferencing and a host of other colloborative tools, and using the full suite of the most popular applications. Such software-as-a-service (SaaS) systems are an ideal, integrated platform for use in virtual team environments and

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">TeamViewe**r**
For "remote desktop" or desktop sharing <span style="font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif;">TeamViewer