Lotus Germany

For those firms that understand the power of real-time collaboration tools — the ability to get an immediate answer, hold a virtual ad hoc meeting, or ping someone without bothering them with a phone call — this product is an important upgrade.

Why? Because it’s got the core elements of click-to-conference — not just instant messaging and presence — baked into it. And for ad hoc collaboration, clilck-to-conference is a much richer and easier thing to do that loading up separate applications for instant messaging, video conferencing, and Web conferencing.

I think of click-to-conference is “the ability to have an ad hoc meeting supported with rich media whenever you are online.” It includes these elements:

• One click to send out an invitation via instant messaging.
• One click to join a meeting.
• A permanent meeting room for projects or teams.
• Communication via text, audio, and video conferencing.
• Access from any online computer or smartphone.