Collaboration tool
The first idea to use computers in order to work with each other was formed in 1945 when Vannevar Bush shared his thoughts on a system he named "memex" in his article "As We May Think".
[4] In 1968 computer systems were brought in connection with communication and the potential way of working together when not at the same place by Dr. J. C. R. Licklider, head of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
When the microcomputer was invented in 1970, everyone learned about office automation, which led to the first collaborative software called Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES) that allowed to do surveys, threaded replies and group-structured approaches.
In 1991 educator C. A. Ellis came up with the definition of the term "groupware" as "computer-based systems that support groups of people engaged in a common task (or goal) and that provide an interface to a shared environment".
He described it as "a generic term which combines the understanding of the way people work in groups with the enabling technologies of computer networking, and associated hardware, software, services, and techniques".
[7] This laid the foundation to develop further on the ideas of groupware and in the 1990s Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange Server and Outlook were invented.
As a report from Eclipse Telecom is pointing out, the VoIP is moving towards the state to totally replace our telephones in our offices and also integrate in existing collaboration service environments.
[16] Coordination is defined as "the deliberate and orderly alignment or adjustment of partners’ actions to achieve jointly determined goals".
As a research paper from University of Bath explains, online calendars could in the future be much closely linked to other data such as social media and have even a larger effect.
Trends in terms of collaboration target on helping to maintain the "main idea" within big organizations and make connections visible.
The longterm vision for video conferencing lies in the correct usage of computer processing power, data storage or mobile bandwidth speeds to further decrease the obstacles of collaboration.
Apart from business environments Teleconferencing is currently used in a variety of fields, such as telemedicine, where they contribute enormously to the efficiency and productivity as distance and time are limited factors.
The focus of online collaboration tools ranges from simple to complex, inexpensive to expensive, locally installed to remotely hosted and from commercial to open source.
With IRC in 1986, instant-messaging and group chatting became accessible for non-technical users for the first time and after the launch of AOL/AIM in 1992 we already faced the first global community.
[41] Apart from enhancing our efficiency, online collaboration tools face the change that organizations operate globally and the application of flexible working becomes even more important.
Collaborative working environments are one of the drivers of the corporate globalization as they offer new business opportunities through innovation and help to and allow to collect knowledge from all over the world.
Since 1950 the intensity of collaboration has extremely risen, the flow of information has become faster and the needed skills to carry out work has dramatically increased.
Online collaboration tools such as social networking websites and web conferencing are demonstrating how fast the environment is changing – “by 2010, the average salaried worker will actively participate in at least five different ad hoc teams simultaneously”.
