Phew 2011 has so far been a busy year at TrueShare.
Our focus has been primarily on three exciting initiatives: 1. advancement of our TrueShare Enterprise server; 2. preparing our new TrueShare On-Premise (Private Cloud) server edition; 3. completing our file integration capabilities in our killer API and RESTful web services.
With all of these initiatives (and others) completed on schedule, we are pleased and excited to see them in use at this time and we are looking forward to working with our business partners and developer partners as we continue to advance our online file server platform.
We will release new blog posts over the next week specific to each of these three initiatives to provide a detailed exploration of each and what they offer.

No doubt about it…great customer service never gets old…and speaking of old, that is where I’ll start this post. Did you know that in 2011 TrueShare is 9 years old!

9 years old – that is ancient in Internet years. That is before Web 2.0 was even a thing (although an ambiguous thing, a thing nonetheless); before social networks lived; before AOL fell and before Apple shined (of course I could fill many pages recounting the countless Internet changes occurring in the last 9 years so I’ll stop now but I just couldn’t help myself – 9 years is a long time).

Looking back I have to say that Great Customer Service is the reason we have been successful.  In this highly competitive space, we have seen dozens upon dozens of competitors offerings come and go. Some of these were good, some bad, many offering free services, many offering endless features, but despite the differences all were still quite similar and now today most of them are gone. So what gives?
What has enabled TrueShare to be successful over 9 years?

Loyal customer’s due to Great Customer Service

That is our difference maker. Don’t get me wrong, of course you have to have a revenue model that will sustain life in the business, which we have, and our technology and features are sweet but after that everything else stems from caring about your customer’s experience with you and your company – if you don’t care (or at least create the perception that you care) you will not succeed.

The key to our long-time customer service success can be summed up in 2 words –
the Mitchman (i.e. Mitch Matt). While Mitch wears many hats beyond supporting our TrueShare customer’s, he is arguably the most responsive, mindful, and caring customer service provider you will ever meet and his consistency and dedication has been the key to our great customer service and to our success as a cloud storage service provider over the last 9 years. 

Thank you Mitch and Cheers to Great Customer Service – it never gets old!

If you have ever worked with Mitch please share your experience in the comments section below.

With healthcare organizations supporting mobile workforces that always seem to be growing, HIPAA regulations and the security of electronic medical information is obviously paramount.  But securing this information without hindering operational efficiency or effectiveness is no easy task. 

When you consider the complexity of the industry combined with the complexity of the information and volume of information that has to be shared, it is clear that a simple, flexible, and powerful solution is required.  Not a complicated solution that “does it all”, but instead a tool that fits easily into a workplace, without disruption, and is always there and only there when you need it.

TrueShare is such a tool.

Because TrueShare is a secure online file server, it is an ideal addition to any HIPAA Compliance or Disaster Recovery plans for healthcare organizations. With extensive security layers (TrueShare Security White Paper) and a rich set of features (TrueShare Features Page) that will simplify file access and file sharing in any environment, TrueShare empowers a workforce without overwhelming – for a fraction of the cost of a traditional in-house file server.

To learn more and for a Free Trial (no credit card required) go to the TrueShare home page: http://www.trueshare.com/

Something I read today…

…made me wonder where we are going. I mean, really wonder like – hmmm…what the heck is coming next… and 30 minutes later I come out of it – ya know? But, I wonder a lot, and it is usually about technology capabilities and possibilities which made this wondering even more peculiar. What I read this time made me wonder about dissemination and consumption of information and how different it will be in a few years.

 I read that the Fox Audience Network and MySpace – both News Corp. properties – will merge entities, integrate technologies, and align objectives and strategies. This made me wonder what specifically this change could bring, and who might follow, and what impact that could have on us, and…and…

 …and as I wondered about this and my thoughts got deeper…I kept ending up at Star Trek!

WHAT!!! …did he say what I think he said…why he must be crazy…every office needs a file server…right?

Umm, wrong – at least not an in-house file server!

 While most offices do still and likely always will need a file server of some kind, it is time to start looking past the conventional idea of an in-house file server. Today you may find your office functions just fine – or even better – with an online file server.

 Should your office join the thousands of others that are realizing how easy and effective change can be in the cloud?  With advantages like no start up cost, no hardware costs, scalable usage and pay-as-you-go pricing, it is hard to beat an online file server like TrueShare – and with TrueShare’s exclusive Unlimited Users feature, the flexibility and value are unmatched.

 When you consider what you DON’T have to deal with if your use an online file server (Purchase the server, Set up the server, Configure the Server, Configure Users Computers, Protect the Server, Maintain the Server, Backup the Server, Setup remote access, etc.) – it is easy to see why so many companies are making the switch to storing their files in the cloud.

 The Cherry On Top of all this goodness is the fact that you can “test the water” before diving in head first.  It is very easy to begin using an online filer server without making changes to your current operations. Once you are convinced of the benefits, you can create a transition plan that will allow you to gradually replace your in-house file server – with no aches and no pains to your business.

Does Google have what it takes to supplant (or even compete against) the dominating Apple IPhone as reigning king of the smart phones? Only time will tell, but after this weekend it seems evident that the time to find out is drawing near.

Although details are still sketchy, it has been confirmed in a tidal wave of attention this past weekend that Google is in fact preparing its own smart phone device running its Android mobile operating system (the phone is currently being called the “Nexus One”).

Whether you like them or not, you gotta admit that on the surface it sounds pretty cool. It is such an intriguing proposition that the sky has been the limit on the speculated impact of such a move.

Why, just on the surface it makes me wonder if Google has an ultimate strategy to bypass the carriers and provide phone services via the Internet with their own version  of Vonage (only with a better jingle!). Could they pull it off? How would it change things?

Currently little is known about specifics of the device (to be manufactured by HTC of Taiwan) or Google’s plans for it. However it seems clear that Google plans to sell the device online and not through traditional cell phone sales methods where consumers acquire the phone from their carrier in exchange for a long term contract. For example, the phone could be sold at Amazon.com for instance, and at the time of purchase the consumer would select their carrier network from a list of participating carriers.

T-Mobile is said to be the only carrier interested in pursuing this new distribution model with Google – which seems to be a must-change situation for Google to shake things up beyond media frenzy. But then again, the IPhone only runs on the AT&T network.

Regardless of how this all shakes out, it is obvious that Google has the notoriety to stir the pot as well as anybody.  They also have the Internet clout, the cash, and the technology to take on the old guard (telecomm carriers) and beat them at an old game with a new Google twist.

It will definitely be entertaining to watch it unfold in 2010 – anybody want popcorn?

I am declaring the first day of December to be the official Technology Thanksgiving Day.

This will be a joyous day as we reflect and appreciate the simplicity and productivity that technology has delivered. A day where we take time to remember how it used to be…before the Internet… before the PC…back in the dark ages of office life…when we smoked cigarettes at our desks and typed on typewriters.

It is important that we do not forget where we came from as we head so fast towards where we are going – wherever that may be!

Here are some thoughts of thanks from the pilgrims of this new Holiday:

Mitch

I am thankful for the ability to do business with the entire world from my desk in Overland Park, Kansas!

I am thankful for the TrueShare users that help make the TrueShare service what it is today and what it will be tomorrow. Their ideas and participation in usage feedback allows us to expand our feature set and improve on our shortcomings. Thanks TrueShare Users!

Jason S

I’m thankful for mobile tech, iPods, smart phones, laptops.  You can carry more processing power in your pocket, today, then you could get on a desktop 10 years ago.  I can play Doom on my iPod, TV on my smart phone, and World of War Craft on my laptop, anywhere I can get a cell phone signal.

Mike M

I’m thankful for Google and the innovations and drive they are bringing to the industry.

Jason R

I am also thankful being asked what I am thankful for and Thankful for that… (Note: Only a tech guy can find Recursion in thanksgiving)

Mike A

I am thankful for Google, for providing answers to all of life’s questions.

Thomas R
I’m thankful for the communication applications like Skype that bring us face to face from around the world. And also for applications like YuuGuu that make sharing face time and “screen time” easy as can be.

Eric

As for me, I am thankful for The Internet, software-as-a-service, Text to Speech technology, and having work to do.

Happy Technology Thanksgiving Day to you all.

One great aspect of TrueShare that I don’t think gets talked about enough is team collaboration.

That is what the TrueShare Unlimited Users feature is all about – Go TEAM!

As far as I know TrueShare is the only online file system that offers unlimited users – which is essential for doing business without constraints!

However, in this blog I’m talking about two other features that make teamwork so smooth in the TrueShare system – Workgroups and Forums.  These features work great as stand alone tools, or can be combined for seamless collaboration across your organization.

I’ll give you a brief explanation of each feature and then show you how to enhance your team collaboration with both features working together (check out our spotlight features or features page for a more in-depth look).

The Workgroups Advantage

Workgroups really takes advantage of the unlimited users feature of TrueShare.  A business that offers each employee, client, or all of the above a user account can easily use Workgroups to organize and delegate.   In fact, when you add a user to your TrueShare account, it automatically offers the option to include them in a workgroup from the start.

So why bother with Workgroups?  Like User Groups, which allows you to manage groups of user’s permissions as a single user, Workgroups allows you to manage user’s folder permissions just as effortlessly.  Once you add users to a workgroup, they then have access to workgroup specific folders with only the permissions you assign.  These specific folders can consist of both workgroup only folders which are only visible to users in the group, and public folders which are visible to all of your TrueShare users if assigned.  These folders allow for workgroups to collaborate on files away from other users or in conjunction with them, which is great for security and general organization.

Enhanced Communication via Forums

When conducting business across the country or even across the world, communication between teammates can get lost.  Emails get buried and phone calls get forgotten.  The easiest way to communicate about specific projects or files is through forums, which have been dominating web communication for over a decade.

The TrueShare forums act like any other forum site or application.  Users can create new forums, topics and posts, and utilize standard html text editing for custom formats.  The shining feature of forums, however, is the permissions and management system.  Within the forum editor you can assign forums to specific users, folders, workgroups, or user groups; you can manage active, inactive and locked forums, and monitor all posts and topics within each forum.

Now lets look at using Workgroups and Forums together for ultimate team collaboration.

Workgroups and Forums Team Up for Collaboration

With Workgroup organization and Forum communication used together in the TrueShare system, teams can collaborate more effectively than before.  When assigning users to a forum, one of the options is to assign a workgroup.  This allows users who are already collaborating on projects and files within their workgroup folders to communicate in their very own dedicated forums.  How could collaboration be any easier and well organized?

Even without the addition of other team facilitating features such as file versioning and folder syncing, Workgroups and Forums provide a superior collaboration experience for big and small businesses, and even students or families, one you can’t get with other file sharing and storing services.  So if you’re trying to organize groups online and are finding it difficult, or are just looking for a service that is dedicated to quality and a superior customer experience, check out the Forums and Workgroups features in the TrueShare online file system.  And look out for more blog topics on team collaboration in the future.

I find that when I am working on a file that follows me through the years or a piece of writing in general, I either end up losing original versions to the black hole on my hard drive, or a folder full of the same file with a different name.  I was recently working on my budget spreadsheet at home and realized that I had about 8 tabs in it with various versions of the data. A few examples of tab titles include old, current, 6/30/09, and others.  Sound familiar?  I think most people find themselves in this same type of situation but are at a loss of how to fix it. So the question is, how does someone go about organizing different versions of the same file, and what tools do they use?

In IT circles, file versioning has been around for quite awhile. Managing the various versions of code during development is a core challenge, one that forced companies early on to come up with a way to easily keep track of changing data.  The solution, of course, was file versioning.  So what is it? In short, every time you save a file that has been versioned, the previous version isn’t overwritten but moved to some other location and archived automatically. Any document or file that changes over time can benefit from versioning, and it saves people from doing the manual version of renaming original files with dates and numbers or using Save As features.

Tools for Quick and Easy File Versioning

Although it’s not as popular in a home or non-tech business setting, file versioning tools have found their way into the mainstream.  Many new operating systems now come with built in technology that provides a type of file versioning. TrueShare also provides versioning, allowing you to set the online file system to monitor any folders you choose. Whenever you upload a file to a folder in your TrueShare account with file versioning turned on, if that file has already been uploaded, the old version is archived and the newest is put in its place. And if you ever need to access an old version of the file, you can just click on the File Action Menu of the file in question and select Version History. All old versions of the file will be made available for you to download.

With TrueShare’s file versioning you can easily keep track of changing data while keeping your online and offline storage clean and organized.  You can even sync up folders between your hard drive and your TrueShare account with our Auto Tran feature.  Auto Tran will monitor changes in one folder and upload them to the other.  If the changes are a revised version of an already saved file then TrueShare file versioning kicks in and organizes it appropriately.  Using this method on the budget spreadsheet I mentioned earlier, I can now delete all of my extra tabs and extra file saves making my computer and TrueShare online file system clean and tidy while securing all of the data I care about.

If you are suffering from a similar situation of messy folders and lost file versions, give file versioning a shot.  And with TrueShare’s file versioning plus Auto Tran, you can store your files and all of their previous versions safely in “the cloud” automatically.  I especially recommend TrueShare file versioning to writers like me who need instant access to their hordes of rough drafts and revisions.

Tell us how you take advantage of TrueShare’s file versioning feature:

…and rightfully so.  With so many features and so much flexibility, TrueShare can bridge the gap between countries and continents across the globe.

As the TrueShare file storage and file sharing system grows in feature and function, so does our global user base.  On any given day TrueShare is accessed from as many as 50 countries, and in the last 6 months we have had users from over 140 countries and territories.

With cloud computing and TrueShare, the world is any business’s oyster.  Companies are finding that online collaboration with remote offices, sales forces, and even research teams across the world can be both simple and affordable with features such as TrueShare’s unlimited users.  Reporters can use automated online transfers to submit stories from the field, Universities can communicate and organize globally with students and faculty and both travelling business folks and vacationers alike can take advantage of TrueShare’s superior file sharing and storing capabilities.

Check out the top 10 countries using TrueShare.

Data provided from Google Analytics (October 27, 2009)

1. US
2. Australia
3. United Kingdom
4. Philippines
5. Canada
6. India
7. Ireland
8. Italy
9. Mexico
10. Israel

Imagine what a global presence can do for you!