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Collaborative technologies are one of the great disappointments of IT. Although many products designed to help people work together have fared moderately well over the past decade, very few have lived up to expectations.

But all this may be about to change, with analysts forecasting a wave of investment. This will be fuelled by the emergence of converged IP networks, the growth of web services technology, and the development of 'presence' technologies and the SIP (session initiation protocol).

Above all, it is increased bandwidth that will make the real difference. Gartner, the advisory group, predicts that from 2004 to 2008, companies will increase bandwidth by between 40% and 100% each year, changing the way that people interact and removing location from the equation altogether.

Collaboration technology is an umbrella term used to describe the tools that allow users to work together towards a specific goal using shared media. The aim is to create a persistent and secure meeting space for high levels of meaningful interaction.

Among the tools relying on intensive bandwidth are web-based conferencing, which includes audio, video and data calls using IP technology; whiteboard collaboration, often a feature of conferencing facilities; and groupware or application sharing, which can be real-time or asynchronous, and which is often an integral component of 'computer-supported cooperative work'.

Considerable evidence supports claims that all of these technologies can improve productivity; the problem to date has been that they are often expensive, difficult to set up, and limited in function. Consolidation on IP, coupled with high bandwidth, will make all of them much more effective.

'Presence technology' is also a powerful tool for collaborative working. This enables users to know when another user is available, and using SIP, even to know what devices they are using. This will enable users to call ad-hoc 'collaborative' meetings.

Increased bandwidth at both ends promises to improve the effectiveness of online meetings, because more can be communicated in a shorter time.

Conferencing

The key benefits of web-conferencing are the ability to hold meetings which might never have taken place, organise meetings at short notice, reduce time and money spent travelling, and the ability to bring in productivity and knowledge management tools.

David Coleman, MD of industry analyst firm Collaborative Strategies, estimates that more than 95% of online conferences involve less than 10 people, reducing the problem of failing attention spans.

A survey by Raindance Communications found that 90% of participants in audio conferences engage in unrelated activities, such as surfing the net while 'attending' a meeting. But over 80% of this group said they would be less likely to do so if conference calls included a video component.

By integrating collaboration tools into the fabric of business processes and applications, businesses can be more efficient and innovative. But analysts warn that tools are often bought then left unused or unsupported, creating security problems and inefficiencies.