Sea creature meets collaboration tool: Octopz
Octopz (pronounced 'Octopus') is a Web-based, online collaboration tool for small groups. It's one of the many companies presenting at next week's Web 2.0 Expo here in San Francisco, and is making its public launch on Monday.
Octopz runs in its own browser window and uses Adobe Flash to mix a whiteboard space with live text, voice, and video chat. The workspace has an area to upload and share files with other group members. Each uploaded file gets its own folder, which houses any edits made by group members. For example, if you're making notes on a digital photograph, other members can create a copy of that photo and add their own notes. Each version is neatly stacked underneath the original. All group edits are saved and stored, and can be shared and edited later for asynchronous collaboration.
Things get a little tricky with Octopz's multiuser controls. Anyone can grab control of the workspace at any time, which in testing led to some minor power struggles. There's also not a way to keep track of which group member made which edits, either with a history or differentiating colors per each user. Despite these issues, Octopz handled a four-person conference from three different geographical locations smoothly.
Where Octopz excels is its simplicity. It's incredibly easy to pick up and use. It reminds me a lot of Acrobat Connect, a product Adobe launched in January, although sans screen sharing.
Octopz comes in at $99 per month per license, which is twice the cost of the standard version of Adobe Connect. However unlike Acrobat Connect, Octopz lets businesses create an unlimited amount of rooms and users, something you don't even get with Adobe's professional level of Acrobat Connect service.
See also: Vyew, Conceptshare, and Webex for Web-based collaborative tools.
Update: Fixed pricing clarification regarding comparison to Acrobat Connect. Also, Octopz was picked as one of our Top 5 favorites from the Web 2.0 Expo earlier this month.
You can add stickies to the canvas, and mark up the page with a drawing tool.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
For more screenshots of Octopz in action, keep reading.
Group members can draw on and annotate all sorts of media. In this case it's a digital photo...and a lot of creativity.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Octopz's whiteboarding feature lets any group member draw out ideas--even if they're bad.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Josh Lowensohn writes for Webware.com, CNET's blog about Web applications and services. E-mail Josh, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Josh. 
From the octopus site:
"There is no limit to the number of Meeting Rooms you can create, although the number of Meeting Rooms active at any one time may not exceed the number of licenses your company holds. Octopz Works for Small/Medium Business. For just $99 USD per month per license"
So if I have 5 projects on the go at one time that would mean my bill would be $500/mnth ?
Seems way to expensive even when compared to something like Connect which is already expensive.
From the octopus site:
"There is no limit to the number of Meeting Rooms you can create, although the number of Meeting Rooms active at any one time may not exceed the number of licenses your company holds. Octopz Works for Small/Medium Business. For just $99 USD per month per license"
So if I have 5 projects on the go at one time that would mean my bill would be $500/mnth ?
Seems way to expensive even when compared to something like Connect which is already expensive.
Nice succinct take on the app Josh. I've taken note of usability improvement
suggestions that you raised in the story and will raise them internally.
I thought I'd also chime in and amplify on a couple of other points that were
raised in your review and the first comment.
First, I'm glad you found Octopz simple to use. One of our primary
considerations when designing and developing Octopz was that it should be
intuitive ? we wanted to allow users, and their invitees, to be immediately
productive. The simplicity theme is also reflected in the way Octopz is priced.
More on that is a moment.
In this release of Octopz we have focused on addressing the needs of creative
and media professionals who want to co-work or collaborate online.
As you noted in your review it's very easy for Octopz participants (the app
supports up to 5 participants in a room) to upload, share, review and
comment both on documents (which a number of other web-based
collaboration services can also do) and digital media files (an area where we
think we?ve raised the bar). Users can work in real-time (synchronously) or at
a time of their choosing (asynchronously). Also note, individual team
members can communicate with the other participants, using any
combination of the text, voice or video chat channels that are available right
within Octopz.
As for the the cost of Octopz (at $99 a month per licence) versus Adobe
Connect (at $39 a month), a more apt comparison in terms of features and
capabilities would be Octopz vs Adobe Connect Professional which starts at
$375 a month for a 5-user starter pack and does not include audio and video
conferencing features (that's an extra $99/mo). Adobe Connect Pro also does
not have SSL encryption for the app on the month-to-month subscription
service.
So at $99/mo for Octopz, you get full use of all the features, you can create
unlimited rooms and unlimited users on your account, and have up to 5
people participate at the same time in an online room with full text.
With respect to the reader comments and questions on pricing, if someone
has 5 or for that matter an unlimited number of projects on the go, the cost
to them would still be $99/month. Users who are invited by the license holder
to collaborate in Octopz do not require a license to use the app. The only way
that the bill would add up to $500/month is if the license holder needs to
have five different Octopz rooms active at the same time.
In terms of return of investment, if the single license holder can save 1 or 2
hours of unbillable time a month and is then able to turn that into billable
time on projects, then Octopz has paid for itself.
I hope this clears up some of the concerns about Octopz pricing. As I said at
the beginning, the one price, get everything approach to licensing Octopz
reflects our priority and focus on simplicity, whether it concerns using the
software or subscribing to it.
Best,
geo
Nice succinct take on the app Josh. I've taken note of usability improvement
suggestions that you raised in the story and will raise them internally.
I thought I'd also chime in and amplify on a couple of other points that were
raised in your review and the first comment.
First, I'm glad you found Octopz simple to use. One of our primary
considerations when designing and developing Octopz was that it should be
intuitive ? we wanted to allow users, and their invitees, to be immediately
productive. The simplicity theme is also reflected in the way Octopz is priced.
More on that is a moment.
In this release of Octopz we have focused on addressing the needs of creative
and media professionals who want to co-work or collaborate online.
As you noted in your review it's very easy for Octopz participants (the app
supports up to 5 participants in a room) to upload, share, review and
comment both on documents (which a number of other web-based
collaboration services can also do) and digital media files (an area where we
think we?ve raised the bar). Users can work in real-time (synchronously) or at
a time of their choosing (asynchronously). Also note, individual team
members can communicate with the other participants, using any
combination of the text, voice or video chat channels that are available right
within Octopz.
As for the the cost of Octopz (at $99 a month per licence) versus Adobe
Connect (at $39 a month), a more apt comparison in terms of features and
capabilities would be Octopz vs Adobe Connect Professional which starts at
$375 a month for a 5-user starter pack and does not include audio and video
conferencing features (that's an extra $99/mo). Adobe Connect Pro also does
not have SSL encryption for the app on the month-to-month subscription
service.
So at $99/mo for Octopz, you get full use of all the features, you can create
unlimited rooms and unlimited users on your account, and have up to 5
people participate at the same time in an online room with full text.
With respect to the reader comments and questions on pricing, if someone
has 5 or for that matter an unlimited number of projects on the go, the cost
to them would still be $99/month. Users who are invited by the license holder
to collaborate in Octopz do not require a license to use the app. The only way
that the bill would add up to $500/month is if the license holder needs to
have five different Octopz rooms active at the same time.
In terms of return of investment, if the single license holder can save 1 or 2
hours of unbillable time a month and is then able to turn that into billable
time on projects, then Octopz has paid for itself.
I hope this clears up some of the concerns about Octopz pricing. As I said at
the beginning, the one price, get everything approach to licensing Octopz
reflects our priority and focus on simplicity, whether it concerns using the
software or subscribing to it.
Best,
geo
Nice succinct take on the app Josh (and I love the visuals in the story!). I've
taken note of usability improvement suggestions that you raised in the story
and will raise them internally.
I thought I'd also chime in and amplify on a couple of other points that were
raised in your review and the first comment.
First, I'm glad you found Octopz simple to use. One of our primary
considerations when designing and developing Octopz was that it should be
intuitive ? we wanted to allow users, and their invitees, to be immediately
productive. The simplicity theme is also reflected in the way Octopz is priced.
More on that is a moment.
In this release of Octopz we have focused on addressing the needs of creative
and media professionals who want to co-work or collaborate online.
As you noted in your review it's very easy for Octopz participants (the app
supports up to 5 participants in a room) to upload, share, review and
comment both on documents (which a number of other web-based
collaboration services can also do) and digital media files (an area where we
think we?ve raised the bar). Users can work in real-time (synchronously) or at
a time of their choosing (asynchronously). Also note, individual team
members can communicate with the other participants, using any
combination of the text, voice or video chat channels that are available right
within Octopz.
As for the the cost of Octopz (at $99 a month per licence) versus Adobe
Connect (at $39 a month), a more apt comparison in terms of features and
capabilities would be Octopz vs Adobe Connect Professional which starts at
$375 a month for a 5-user starter pack and does not include audio and video
conferencing features (that's an extra $99/mo). Adobe Connect Pro also does
not have SSL encryption for the app on the month-to-month subscription
service.
So at $99/mo for Octopz, you get full use of all the features, you can create
unlimited rooms and unlimited users on your account, and have up to 5
people participate at the same time in an online room with full text.
With respect to the reader comments and questions on pricing, if someone
has 5 or for that matter an unlimited number of projects on the go, the cost
to them would still be $99/month. Users who are invited by the license holder
to collaborate in Octopz do not require a license to use the app. The only way
that the bill would add up to $500/month is if the license holder needs to
have five different Octopz rooms active at the same time.
In terms of return of investment, if the single license holder can save 1 or 2
hours of unbillable time a month and is then able to turn that into billable
time on projects, then Octopz has paid for itself.
I hope this clears up some of the concerns about Octopz pricing. As I said at
the beginning, the one price, get everything approach to licensing Octopz
reflects our priority and focus on simplicity, whether it concerns using the
software or subscribing to it.
Best,
geo
Nice succinct take on the app Josh (and I love the visuals in the story!). I've
taken note of usability improvement suggestions that you raised in the story
and will raise them internally.
I thought I'd also chime in and amplify on a couple of other points that were
raised in your review and the first comment.
First, I'm glad you found Octopz simple to use. One of our primary
considerations when designing and developing Octopz was that it should be
intuitive ? we wanted to allow users, and their invitees, to be immediately
productive. The simplicity theme is also reflected in the way Octopz is priced.
More on that is a moment.
In this release of Octopz we have focused on addressing the needs of creative
and media professionals who want to co-work or collaborate online.
As you noted in your review it's very easy for Octopz participants (the app
supports up to 5 participants in a room) to upload, share, review and
comment both on documents (which a number of other web-based
collaboration services can also do) and digital media files (an area where we
think we?ve raised the bar). Users can work in real-time (synchronously) or at
a time of their choosing (asynchronously). Also note, individual team
members can communicate with the other participants, using any
combination of the text, voice or video chat channels that are available right
within Octopz.
As for the the cost of Octopz (at $99 a month per licence) versus Adobe
Connect (at $39 a month), a more apt comparison in terms of features and
capabilities would be Octopz vs Adobe Connect Professional which starts at
$375 a month for a 5-user starter pack and does not include audio and video
conferencing features (that's an extra $99/mo). Adobe Connect Pro also does
not have SSL encryption for the app on the month-to-month subscription
service.
So at $99/mo for Octopz, you get full use of all the features, you can create
unlimited rooms and unlimited users on your account, and have up to 5
people participate at the same time in an online room with full text.
With respect to the reader comments and questions on pricing, if someone
has 5 or for that matter an unlimited number of projects on the go, the cost
to them would still be $99/month. Users who are invited by the license holder
to collaborate in Octopz do not require a license to use the app. The only way
that the bill would add up to $500/month is if the license holder needs to
have five different Octopz rooms active at the same time.
In terms of return of investment, if the single license holder can save 1 or 2
hours of unbillable time a month and is then able to turn that into billable
time on projects, then Octopz has paid for itself.
I hope this clears up some of the concerns about Octopz pricing. As I said at
the beginning, the one price, get everything approach to licensing Octopz
reflects our priority and focus on simplicity, whether it concerns using the
software or subscribing to it.
Best,
geo
than a meeting, and people constantly have to talk over eachother and get
schedules coordinated. Why not let people put in their feedback as they come
up with it, even if not in real time.
ConceptShare is getting a lot of attention and seem to be doing a much more
elegant job of solving this age old problem.
I'll be keen to see how Octopz does.
than a meeting, and people constantly have to talk over eachother and get
schedules coordinated. Why not let people put in their feedback as they come
up with it, even if not in real time.
ConceptShare is getting a lot of attention and seem to be doing a much more
elegant job of solving this age old problem.
I'll be keen to see how Octopz does.
It allows instant co-browsing on any document, something like a collaborative Zoho share.
- by Josh_Show_Document September 1, 2009 2:12 AM PDT
- I want to suggest you try http://www.showdocument.com - its an alternative tool that allows document sharing and web meeting in real-time. all the participants in the session see each others' drawing, highlights, etc. It is free and requires no installation.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(12 Comments)Josh