If a person mentions Intranet, i.e. internal Internet in a company, they are usually thinking about Windows SharePoint Services (WSS). This technology allows to easily and quickly create internal, safe websites within the so called intranet, that is websites accessible only by one given company. Such websites are a great place to share information by a company's employees. Benefits derived from employing Microsoft SharePoint Services extend beyond publishing information on websites. Thanks to this solution you can facilitate group work.

Imagine a situation when misunderstandings occur as a result of many people working on one document. No matter if it is an offering for Customer or a description of a project. What is important is the ability to track document versions and be aware of who was responsible for making particular changes. These needs are fulfilled by a special type of websites, i.e. WSS – Document Workspace. Thanks to it, you can create new versions of documents with accompanying comments. Additionally, a website can store lists of tasks, contacts and other related documents.

Document version control and the control of entered changes are made possible due to check-out – check-in mechanism. Therefore, it is always possible to restore a previous version of a document or previously deleted document’s fragments. Subsequent document copies can be marked with users' comments. Obviously, documents can be inserted into folders as it is possible on a personal computer.

Retrieving document versions record by Version History command. 

Source: www.office.microsoft.com

Viewing various versions of one document.

Source: www.office.microsoft.com

Alerts (notifications) is a solution utilizing e-mail. An employee responsible for group work progress can set any given frequency of notification sending. The notifications will be sent by the system the moment documents are altered by someone else.

Task lists make it possible to assign tasks to employees, set their priority and date of performance. Task performers can update a task status and progress information. Users have an insight into their own tasks as well as the tasks assigned to other members of a team.

Contact list can consist of contact details of Customers, partners, suppliers and other persons. Users can copy data from the list into their own address book in compatible applications, e.g. Microsoft Office Outlook.

Group members can post notices to the bulletin board. Specifying notice status and expiry date is possible.

Bulletin board will be used to share views and ideas on best solutions to the problems arising during group work. The board enables to share opinions on topics of highest importance to a team.

Group members’ list allows new employees to easily learn who is responsible for what in a given project.

Those who have found interesting information on external websites can share their findings by publishing interesting hyperlinks in an appropriate section.

All actions, important and final dates can be graphically presented in a calendar.

Finally, it is worth emphasizing that Microsoft SharePoint Services is a friendly and intuitive solution which is able to increase efficiency and reduce the number of misunderstandings as well as speed up information exchange between group members. Creating Document Workspace is possible directly from MS Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) or via a web browser by opening the list of documents on intranet. All you need to do is assign privileges to employees.