After 10 years of good service, the previous version just retired today as ContactOffice launched its new website. So long old chap, you did a good job. From now, users logging on http://www.contactoffice.com will be prompted the Advanced interface, now selected by default. The Advanced interface benefits from all the new features while the Classic interface doesn’t. In addition, the Classic interface is not maintained anymore and will disappear one day. So now, use the Advanced interface instead. If you can’t get rid of the classic interface, just check “classic interface” under the “ENTER” button on the login page. We look forward to your feedback on facebook, twitter or on our blog. CO

MARSEILLE, December 7, 2009 - Together with ContactOffice leader of collaborative applications on the French market, the University of Marseille 3 has developed a contingency plan that helps maintain a link between teaching faculty and students, even in cases of pandemic influenza A / H1N1. A first in the French academic world.

The University of Marseille 3 has more than 25,000 people including more than 22,000 students. “In case of closing the facility due to pandemic influenza, we wanted to have a platform that would bridge the distance between teacher and students,” said Didier Pin, the CIO of the university. Now, students take different courses depending on their orientation. It was therefore necessary to connect the database with a learning platform that provides all the tools necessary to communicate and share. ” This link between teacher and students is now a reality thanks to the ContactOffice collaboration suite. With the intersection between the login of each student and training codes, virtual groups for each course have been created. These automatically-made working groups between student-teacher is made in the virtual office ContactOffice. Through a connection to the ENT (Espace Numérique de Travail), students are directed to the proper groups related to their academic curriculum. In addition, some 1,800 university teachers can use the ContactOffice features to share information with their students. They can send e-mails and of course share materials or media files. This device is now operational since a month and includes an SMS gateway for sending urgent “textos” to specific user groups. “ContactOffice proves once again the strength of its collaborative suite,” says Patrick De Schutter, Managing Director. Our solution also shows its ability to communicate seamlessly with external systems.

Hi, Paris was the third stop for CloudStorm and followed a successful launch in Brussels in early September and an event in London in October. The CloudStorm event gives its visitors the chance to quickly understand both technical and business benefits of cloud solutions directly from the vendor and to meet after their presentatoins. Once again, CloudStorm was a great succes. View our presentation online: ContactOffice Presentation Cloudstorm Paris

The next editions of the CloudStorm event will take place in Amsterdam, Germany, Madrid… free attendance. More info on http://www.cloudstorm.org Pictures from this event are available on our Facebook Page

Bonjour, Paris était le troisième arrêt pour CloudStorm et a suivi un lancement réussi à Bruxelles début Septembre et un événement à Londres en Octobre. L’événement CloudStorm donne la possibilité à ses visiteurs de comprendre rapidement les avantages techniques et commerciaux de “cloud solutions” directement auprès du fournisseur et de les rencontrer après leurs présentations. Une fois de plus, CloudStorm a été un grand succès. Visionnez notre présentation en ligne: ContactOffice Presentation Cloudstorm Paris

Les prochaines éditions de CloudStorm auront lieu à Amsterdam, en Allemagne, à Madrid… entrée libre. Plus d’informations sur http://www.cloudstorm.org Les photos de cet événement sont disponibles sur notre Page Facebook

TLS (Transport Layer Security) is a cryptographic protocol that provides security for communications over networks. This protocol can be used in applications like web browsing, instant messaging, VoIP, Internet faxing and electronic mail. More information about TLS can be found on Wikipedia As you might have experienced when being abroad or being on the move, it is often difficult to send your mails with an Outlook or Thunderbird client because you are not on the network of you provider. Thus the SMTP server of your provider does not function. That’s where ContactOffice’s SMTP relay will allow you to send your emails with its SMTP relay. In order to increase security within ContactOffice’s solution, ContactOffice’s SMTP sever now supports the TLS protocol for all its users as well as its private lable customers such as TNT, Mobistar, Alliance Française - Rio de Janero…

Data News magazine published last week an article about our latest business and technological developments. Expansion in Brasil, new versions in German and Italian, Doodle-like and implementation of CalDav… A very good overview of what we’ve achieved over the last few months despite the current economic meltdown. Check it out in French or in Dutch.

Jim Burleigh, CEO of SmartTurn, wrote a very interesting column on the website of IndustryWeek about the connexion between Saas and… the Swine Flu. Even though Saas can’t really help to prevent the spread of such infectious diseases, this model enables companies to better respond to shocks and disruptions that threat their business continuity when a major crisis like this occurs, Burleigh argues. In the past, implementing a warehouse and inventory management system required costly and time-consuming enterprise software. A typical implementation would take 6 months due to complex integration, and additional IT investments. However, with the maturity of software-as-a-service (Saas), an organization can have real-time visibility and shipping management is as little as 30 days. Because SaaS is web-based and operated offsite, another inherent benefit is less reliance on an in-house IT department. By deploying a new WMS, you not only raise inventory accuracy from 91% to over 99% accuracy and increase new customer acquisition, you prevent potential hardships in the days and weeks ahead. Check out the entire column here.

No, there’s no mistake in the headline: Microsoft itself now recognises that companies are now ready to start deploying and using hosted services for business-critical purposes. Check out this article for further details.

According to a study conducted by IDC, sales of SaaS are expected to grow at a rate of 40 to 42% this year and the harsh economic climate will probably strenghten this trend in the months to come. Check out the official press release for furher information.

We have updated the anti spam rules leading to a significantly higher catch rate. You should not see Europharmacie and alike spams anymore. Enjoy.

The leading french Business portal ‘Le journal du Net’ just wrote a dossier about the market of Virtual Offices. ContactOffice gets a very positive review and is presented as the pioneer and leading European player in this market.

Data News has recently published an article about the best Virtual Office solutions available on the market and we are happy to say their verdict is more than positive ;-) Among different solutions, Data News has selected solution such as ContactOffice, Google Doc, Microsoft Office Live and Viadesk. Here is a summary of the article. Data News found ContactOffice a very complete application regarding all the functionnalities you can expect from a Virtual Office. Informations are well organized and available everywhere with a secured access at a very reasonnable price. On the other hand, Google Doc is up to now almost the only one to provide hosted applications working correctly. But according to DataNews, Google Doc still doesn’t really fit a professional use. On the aspect of sharing documents, Microsoft Office proposes a very user-friendly interface and offers a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the service is at the beginning and still need to be improved. In a similar way, Viadesk proposes a virtual office mainly focused on shared and public space. In conclusion of the article, Data News recommand ContactOffice in term of functionnalities if you need a collaborative working space. Microsoft Office Live Workspace is for free but will probably impose advertising to their users. If you are more interested in hosted application, no services allow you to use Microsoft Office remotely.  Read the article in dutch Het virtuele kantoor een stap dichterbij Read the article in french Un nouveau pas vers le bureau virtuel