Online Collaboration with Huddle

1-logo-screenHuddle is web-based online collaboration software that allows you to manage projects by assigning tasks, sharing documents and schedule meetings via phone and the web.

When you log in, you’ll see the following image that shows you the main features of managing your workspace.

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We’re going to start with Inviting People and will go over many of the other main features as well.

Invite People

To add people to your workspace and assign them to specific teams, you can invite people. You can invite multiple people at once by entering multiple email addresses.

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Once they receive the email, they will either register for a free Huddle account or they can log in with their Huddle account, if they are already have one.

Upload Files & Share Documents

Using the file uploader requires the installation of software. It a rather cumbersome program that unnecessarily complicates the process of locating files easily on your computer, but it does allow you to upload up to 50 files at a time. Of course, this may be a matter of personal preference and some users may like the way the software works.

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When uploading files, you also have the option to have them approved by others or simply notify other users that you’ve loaded them.

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Add Task

The Add Task feature is quite streamlined and it’s easy to add a task. As soon as you click on “Add Task”, you have a bar at the top of the page that allows you to add it quickly and easily.

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On the same page, you can view all your tasks at a glance and see which are due very soon.

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Create Document:

Huddle allows you to create Microsoft Word and Excel documents while inside the software.

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You can organize your files into folders and also have other options that include emailing, moving, downloading and deleting.

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White Board

The white board feature allows you to collaborate and track the changes to your document. It’s useful for a piece of your project that requires updating, brainstorming, etc. You can view the current document and all the previous versions. We are looking at the “Version History” here.

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Meetings

The meetings feature allows you to set up web and phone conferencing. Dial in numbers are provided for a number of countries and Skype. Phone conferencing requires attendees to pay a small fee. For web conferencing, attendees will have to download software to attend.

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The meeting allows you to communicate through text chat and web cam. You can also use a white board, record your meeting and more.

Overview

When you log into your Workspace, you will see an overview of activity that includes a calendar (default is 2 week view, but you can change it to monthly) and a list of recent activity:

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Overall, Huddle is quite a streamlined online collaboration software. While other programs seem to try to overload with features, Huddle is simple, yet quite powerful.