Huddle

Huddle allows the employees of small to medium sized companies to share documents and conduct work projects in a multi-user, central online environment.

Huddle was designed with telecommuting and multi-location working in mind, using the power of the internet to allow colleagues in different places and time zones to work together on a single project. Huddle allows you to create an online project, where you can invite colleagues and share documents online. The project manager can then assign tasks to individual users and newer versions of documents can be uploaded as the project nears completion. All previous versions of a given document are automatically archived, allowing changes to be easily tracked. Users can also subscribe to an RSS-feed, meaning they will be alerted of any important project notifications or changes in uploaded documents.

Huddle's main selling point, when compared to other online collaboration applications, is it's simplicity and accessibility. Its major competitor in this arena, Google Apps, is aimed almost exclusively at the business market, but Huddle's accessibility makes it easy for very small companies and college students to quickly get started with an online project. Whereas Google Apps can be daunting at first, Huddle is up and running in less than no time.

Huddle sports a modern interface, with buttons clearly and accessibly placed. The advertisements seem unobtrusive and the layout is uncluttered. Some areas do make use of very light text on a very light background however, which can be hard on the eye. Premium packages allow you to customise your projects' online working environment with your own company's logo and color scheme.

Registration is required for this site, you need to give your name and email address and choose between "personal use" and "business use" of this service. Unfortunately, you will need to specify a username, instead of just being able to use your e-mail address as a username. Be sure, therefore, to store your login information in a safe place, as you will need to remember your username!

Huddle.net offers a free service supported by advertising. Variously priced levels of paid subscription services are also offered, offering ever increasing amounts of storage space and number of projects. The premium services are free of adverts.

Huddle is highly recommended if you are looking for a simple online working environment for your small to medium business environment, especially if you have employees working from remote locations.

http://www.huddle.net/