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.

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.

Here at TrueShare we are always looking to expand our features and usability. So with businesses and designers in mind, we are pleased to introduce the newest feature addition to the TrueShare online file system: Autodesk Freewheel

Ever thought it might be cool to publish interactive versions of your AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, and Design Review drawings on your website or present them in a blog or newsletter? Autodesk Freewheel is a tool produced by Autodesk that allows you to easily present, collaborate, and share your 3D and 2D designs as DWF files.

Just like TrueShare, Freewheel is an application available to you without software downloads, and is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac, and all popular web browsers.  Autodesk Freewheel integration now comes standard with all TrueShare accounts for easy and powerful review and presentation of your designs.

You can use Freewheel to access any DWF file in your TrueShare file system in either of two ways:

The first and fastest way is to simply log in to your TrueShare, navigate to the folder containing the DWF file, click the File Action Menu for the DWF file you want to open and then select the “Freewheel” option to load the DWF into a pop-up window (turn off pop-up blockers first!).

The second way to present DWF files in your TrueShare system via the AutoDesk Freewheel technology is to embed the Freewheel application in your website. The example below is a sample drawing from the Freewheel gallery and contains 29 different views of the drawing. Essentially, what you’re looking at is a DWF file presented via the Freewheel API. Coding couldn’t be simpler, it’s just an iframe containing a source for the API and a TrueShare Direct Link to the drawing.

Here’s the code for the example below:

< iframe src=”http://freewheel.labs.autodesk.com/dwf.aspx?path=http://www.TrueShare.com/DirectLink/FileAccess.aspx?DLID=82suOPTwBHfLxrMj2rWM” scrolling=”no” height=”450″ width=”500″>< /iframe>

The width and height attributes can be set to whatever you want, so it’s very easy to configure the Freewheel interface to suit your site.

Interact with this Live Demo

Once you have your DWF file displayed in Freewheel, you can zoom in and out, rotate it 360° on the x, y, and z axis, and pan up, down, left or right.  Not only does Freewheel let you view your design in these different settings, but you have the option to print or even share your DWF file in the viewer via email.

Autodesk Freewheel adds a powerful feature to the TrueShare online file system that can be an advantage to engineers, designers, architects, and many other businesses using and sharing CAD drawings. It’s a new component that furthers the collaboration and multipurpose uses of the TrueShare system.

To take advantage of what TrueShare and Autodesk Freewheel can do for your team, your clients, and your website, sign up for a free TrueShare 7-day trial business account. For more info on Autodesk’s Freewheel see www.labs.autodesk.com/technologies/freewheel.

When it comes to online file sharing, companies such as Box, FilesAnywhere, and our own online file system, TrueShare.com, there are three limits that can be found within each service: file size limit, disk space limit, and user limit.  The file size and disk space limits are fairly obvious, but the one elusive limit we will be talking about today is the user limit.

What exactly is a user and why is it important?

Well, a user is someone who has access to a file sharing account.  There is always at least one user, and this first user has full access to all features of the account.  This is the person who originally opens the account.  Depending on the service you are using and its user limits, adding additional users may be an option. These extra users are set up and managed by the original user or that task can be assigned to a new user. These new users can be set up to have any level of permission from very limited access up to full access.

The option of extra users in TrueShare is powerful, especially for businesses, but also for personal or family use.  With unlimited users you can assign all of your employees a folder for remote access to their work, you can give customers and clients quick access to project folders and files they need as well as collect files from them, you can also utilize multi user features such as reporting, user groups, work groups, versioning, and forums for superior online teamwork. These extensive user management options and collaboration tools make unlimited users indispensible for a business or work environment.

TrueShare’s unlimited users versus the competition

Honestly, we feel there is no competition.  With any TrueShare business account, no matter the disk space, you get unlimited users.  You might be saying “I only need 10 users because I only have 10 employees.”  I would counter with “How much disk space are you looking to use?” If you only want to share word documents with your employees, you would not need to pay for much space.  But looking at Box.net, they do not offer packages with 10 users for less than $150 a month regardless of the disk space needed.  And while FilesAnywhere’s additional users are more reasonably priced in the neighborhood of $3 monthly each, you get charged for every one.

The reason these services become so expensive is that they charge by the disk space and per user, so that the price looks good for the amount of space you get, but ends up skyrocketing per user you add, which is why having only 10 users costs so much.  If you are looking to more efficiently share your computer files with your employees for a reasonable cost, Box and Files Anywhere are not for you.  For just $25 a month (annual rate), TrueShare offers businesses 5 GB of storage with unlimited users, which is perfect for business documents sharing needs, but TrueShare is so much more than that.

If you are a large business or enterprise looking for a file sharing service, you may require a lot of disk space, so the above scenario doesn’t seem to affect you.  But the problem is Box and Files Anywhere still charge you for every user in addition to disk space, so you will be overpaying hundreds if not thousands of dollars for the additional user accounts that come free with all TrueShare Business and Enterprise packages.

Get more for your money

Here at TrueShare, we believe that you should only have to pay for what you need, which is why we offer unlimited users, and charge only by disk space.  We also provide premium features such as Send-a-Link, Direct Link, file and photo widgets, auto transfer and dropbox applications, and HIPAA and SAS 70 compliant security.  Whether you’re a big corporation, small business, have a large extended family or just a few close friends, take advantage of TrueShare’s unlimited users and get more for your money.  In fact, take a test drive on us-sign up for the 7 day free trial and experience a full featured TrueShare account today.

Business	Unlimited Users
	5 GB Disk Space – $30/mo
	10 Users	20 Users	30 Users	40 Users
Web Basic	$3.30/user/mo 5 GB total $33.95/mo	$3.00/user/mo 5 GB total $59.45/mo	$2.84/user/mo 5 GB total $84.45/mo	$2.75/user/mo 5 GB total $109.45/mo
Business	$15/user/mo 10 GB/user 100 GB total $150/mo	$15/user/mo 10 GB/user 200 GB total $300/mo	$15/user/mo 10 GB/user 300 GB total $450/mo	$15/user/mo 10 GB/user 400 GB total $600/mo