With today’s geographically dispersed engineering teams and competitive markets, corporations are challenged to develop products and execute projects on tight budgets and aggressive timelines. Face to face meetings for these dispersed teams although most effective are not practical and feasible at all times. In addition to distances and time zones, cultural differences and language nuances make communication and collaboration difficult. Tools such as Instant Messengers, E-Mail, Fax and Telephones are fragmented and often ineffective in solving this problem. Solutions like Video Conferencing are expensive and used sparingly and in many cases out of reach for several organizations.

Catura’s SmartDoodle™ Collaborative Conference is a simple, effective and compelling solution for remote engineering development and project collaboration using the Internet.

Using PCs and/or standard conference rooms or offices, individual and group virtual meetings can be easily and quickly established. Individuals and groups can fully participate in the meetings from offices, home or from anyplace using a laptop or a PC and an internet access. With tightly coupled Instant Messenger, Voice over IP and E-Notebook (Electronic Notebook), a comprehensive voice, text chat, file and document transfer and advanced data collaboration can be accomplished. Hand written notes and drawings can be communicated using a standard keyboard and mouse, a graphics pad or a whiteboard capture device. Messages can be sent and received in online and offline modes using the Instant Messenger or by e-mail. With a perpetual license, unlimited time can be spent to successfully accomplish the goals of the project.

A snap-on receiver converts any standard whiteboard or a flat surface into an electronic board. With a projector and an inkless stylus (acts as a pen and a mouse), the whiteboard transforms into an E-Notebook (Electronic Notebook) and a live desktop. The user writes using the inkless pen in any of the unlimited pages in the E-Notebook that is captured by the software and projected back on the screen. Similar set-up at multiple locations enables a complete shareable interactive electronic board with the ability for any site with the permission of a moderator (initiator of the conference call) to edit the contents of the whiteboard with simultaneous group voice communications.

Using the E-Notebook’s drawing tools, free hand, drawings, text, diagrams, formulae and figures are easily captured. Additionally, the user can drag and drop any documents, URLs, images, audio notes and video clips and place it adjacent to the relevant objects created during the collaborative conference. With the ability to select colors, line thickness and fills and editing commands like select, cut, copy, move and paste, the entire online collaboration can be significantly enriched. Further, Power Point presentations and Web Browsing can be conducted using the E-Notebook. The users can also edit and add content to the E-Notebook in an offline mode including audio and text notes and annotations. The newly added content can be optionally synchronized with others in the subsequent meetings.

Project meetings and action items can be tracked using the E-Notebook. Content can be organized in any of the unlimited pages of the E-Notebook or in multiple E-Notebooks. With integrated voice recording and synchronization, the entire meeting can be replayed with the display highlighting the appropriate object during the discussion for a lively replay of the meeting. Optionally, the encrypted meeting can also be published on a website by simply pushing a button for controlled access and replay by others at any time after the meeting by using an add-on custom reader provided to the organization. Captured content can be re-organized, added or deleted for easy and dynamic management.