Some small businesses depend on the efforts of people who aren’t located anywhere near the business in question’s physical plant and property. And for those businesses, collaboration software can be very important, and TenHands is looking to make it much easier to get by offering a free, browser-based competitor.
While there are more than a few such items in the market space already, TenHands is looking to take on the biggest names like Microsoft Lync and WebEx from Cisco. The app itself is in private beta, so getting in on this one may not be easy, but for those businesses who want a way to connect with remote employees, it will be one to look into.
The web-based nature of the TenHands service gives it a lot of flexibility, and the ability to support a variety of different programs. Right now, TenHands supports Box.net, and plans to bring in other service like DropBox and Google Drive in the not too distant future. Further customization will also be on hand, according to the word from TenHands. Even better, it will also boast video conferencing capabilities said to be on par with any of the greats, and that combination of video conferencing and collaboration capabilities should make this one one to watch.
In terms of pricing, the current word is that they’re planning to go on a freemium model once the beta phase ends. Every user will get three hours of use free every month, with the whole program available. Those needing more time than that will have to get on the subscription model, at $10 every month.
The software can handle an unlimited number of users, but in its current beta form it’s got a soft limit of ten at any one time.
And while this kind of collaboration software can go a long way toward keeping everybody together, so too can cloud-based telephony tools. Meet-me conferences and support for Google Apps are two great tools that can keep everybody on the same page, even when they’re not in the same room. Or the same building. Or even the same state.
Taking advantage of talent pools in other markets beside your own can open up the possibility of new perspectives, as well as new potential solutions to current problems. With a good collaboration tool at hand, the ability to bring in new, distant workers is more available than ever before.
Related keywords: cloud-based telephony, telecommuting, collaboration software, beta version