Fring Bridges the Gap Between Telecommuting Employees

The internet has changed the way businesses work. Behind us are the days we had to be in adjacent cubicles to communicate with our co-workers and cooperate on projects. We may miss the water cooler camaraderie that emerged from close proximity, but the savings in overhead combined with enticing expertise and experience that would have been out of reach can mean good things for your organization.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges that come from this virtual office scenario, the largest of which being how you bring everybody together in a meaningful way –whether that is to communicate, collaborate or just bond as co-workers. Sure, IM style chat works and so do e-mails and phone calls, but sometimes it’s nice to just -see- a person.

Recent updates to Fring, developed by fringland Ltd., allows for video chatting with groups of up to 4 people using any iOS, Android or Nokia devices equipped with cameras. While many apps offer video chat functionality, this one stands out because of the price-tag (free!), cross-platform compatibility, and the ability to video chat over 3G, 4G and WiFi.

Fring App Screenshot

Fring App Screenshot

Rounding out this app, Fring also offers IM style text messaging including status messages for all of your contacts.

Fring is available at no charge from both the App Store and the Android Market.

Want to extend this free app? For a very small in-app purchase cost, you can use Fring to call regular telephone numbers as well, beginning at $0.01 per minute.