Unique Collaboration
Effective collaboration takes the right technology. For many builders and contractors this extends beyond typical collaborative project management and project portals. Some are turning to the help of Web conferencing tools and jobsite cameras to add a bit of unique nature to their collaboration plans.
Adobe Systems Inc., www.adobe.com, San Jose, Calif., reports a survey conducted with Harris Interactive Inc., www.harrisinteractive.com, Rochester, N.Y., of 600 professionals from the AEC (architectural, engineering, and construction) market, revealed 72% of the respondents collaborate with people who are not in their office location; 52% of respondents said they needed to travel in a given month.
Combining the old speakerphone conference call with the ability to send data, such as documents and video, through the Internet, Web conferencing alleviates the expenses associated with remote partners, team members, and projects during project collaboration.
One such solution is Adobe Acrobat Connect, which leverages the Macromedia Flash platform. The advantage of this solution, says Adobe, is the fact the Flash player is installed on nearly 98% of Internet-enabled desktops. The product enables screen sharing so users can open and show other conference participants applications from their desktops. Contractors can detail a problem to all remote project team members using photographs or the blueprints in realtime.
Web camera options are another alternative for collaborating. Extending beyond the basic functionality of monitoring the jobsite, these products can form a basis for collaboration amongst dispersed project team members.
OxBlue Corp., www.oxblue.com, Atlanta, Ga., provides a fully hosted system comprised of a Web camera that transmits high-resolution images through cellular connections. This alleviates challenges associated with transmitting images via landline.
“I think one of the constraints everyone has is a shortage of manpower; you’ve got to do more with the resources you have,” says Chandler McCormack, CEO of OxBlue. “You can’t find more people so you have to find new ways to manage things. They may have three, seven, or 10 projects going on at one time. There is still one guy that has to manage all those different sites. More and more (the Web cam) is turning into a system that is becoming part of the project management.”