Collanos Blog

At CeBIT 2009, Collanos and Translumina Networks will be launching LumiMagic, which is a cost-effective Linux box combining the functions of a VoIP telephone switchboard, network router, and WLAN access point. When integrated into a Collanos collaboration network, it offers companies and their partners a comprehensive communications and collaboration platform. The latest versions of Collanos Workplace and Collanos Phone will also be on display. Making its first appearance at the CeBIT (Booth A56/Hall 13) as part of the “Triple Play & more” consortium, Collanos will be exhibiting its software for electronic team collaboration among multiple organizations.

Collanos and Translumina Networks launch the LumiMagic telephone switchboard for SMBs

LumiMagic epitomizes the SMB (small and medium-sized businesses) telephone switchboard of the future. Oriented to the needs of SMBs, the compact, cost-effective Linux box combines the services of a VoIP telephone switchboard, network router, and wireless LAN access point in a single package. The innovative integration of the telephone switchboard into a Collanos collaboration network provides a company’s employees with the most direct communication paths and comprehensive teamwork support – all at low cost and regardless of their individual locations.

Every employee and every Collanos user at a supplier, partner, or customer location can be integrated into the company’s communications and collaboration network. Employees can thus be reached via their company phone number, and when it comes to their collaborative work with others within or outside the company, they can take advantage of functions geared toward team information sharing, instant messaging, telephone conferences, and project management. In doing so, telephony as well as Internet-based collaboration with every other employee and Collanos user worldwide is free of charge. Phone connections to the public telephone network are very inexpensive thanks to the typical low-cost VoIP telephone rates.

New Collanos Version

To be introduced at the CeBIT, Collanos’ latest Version 1.4.0.2 features many new functions and enhancements. New Premium services have been added to Collanos Workplace and Collanos Phone. For example, all users can now be reached at their own Collanos phone number from any public telephone.

Collanos Receives Dual Nominations for the 2009 IT INNOVATION PRIZE.

Collanos has been nominated for the “2009 IT INNOVATION PRIZE” at this year’s CeBIT for its innovative solution geared especially toward small and medium-sized businesses. That puts Collanos in the top three in the “Unified Communications” and “Special Awards – Switzerland” categories. The winners will be announced on March 5 at the official CeBIT awards ceremony.

Prices and Availability

Collanos Software products are free of charge and can be downloaded at http://www.collanos.com. Prices for LumiMagic vary depending on the package ordered and start at Euro 129 plus a monthly flat rate of Euro 19.

About Triple Play & more

”Triple Play & more” is a consortium of companies operating in the telecommunications and multimedia industries. Their areas of activity include construction, operations, maintenance, and financing of multimedia platforms as well as the development and sales of telecommunications and interactive multimedia services that are consolidated on telephony, broadband Internet, and television end devices.

In addition to companies of the Translumina Group (Translumina Networks, Comitas, Lambdastream, three60mobile), Triple Play & more also includes Collanos Software, CTModule, NetModule, AareNet, MHM and BlueBit.

Swiss startup Collanos Software receives prestigious award in San Diego

Collanos Software, the developer of Collanos Workplace that allows teams to collaborate electronically over the Internet, was a winner of the Red Herring 100 Global award. Red Herring, an international media company, thereby recognized Collanos as one of the world’s top 100 startups.  In addition to Collanos, the Swiss companies Axes Systems, CarryQuote, Museeka and Secu4 were also prize recipients.

Innovation, management, global strategy, financial performance, and environmental integration are the criteria Red Herring, a media company, uses to rate promising, up-and-coming companies in bestowing its Global award. The fact that Switzerland serves as a prime location for innovation was highlighted by five Swiss startups receiving the Red Herring 100 Global award. Besides Collanos, these included  Axes Systems, CarryQuote, Museeka and Secu4.

In professional circles, the awards are considered the ultimate prize for innovative technology and are thus highly coveted. Peter Helfenstein, CEO of Collanos Software, was highly pleased with the outcome and said, “Being recognized by Red Herring 2008 in Europe and now globally as one of the most promising companies makes us very proud. It proves to me that when it comes to the current international software and Internet markets, Zurich and Switzerland hold a place in the middle of the ‘virtual Silicon Valley’. The fact that four other Swiss companies besides Collanos received awards is testament to Switzerland’s role as a technology center.”

In December 2008, Collanos launched the latest version of Collanos Workplace 1.4 as a comprehensive unified collaboration solution. Shared use of information and project management processeswithin teams is now supplemented by new voice and video functions. Recently, the company announced it had registered its 25,000th active Collanos user.

For additional information about the Red Herring 100 Global, please go to http://www.herringevents.com/global08/index.html

Schweizer Start-up Collanos Software in San Diego mit dem prestigeträchtigen Award ausgezeichnet

Collanos Software, Anbieterin von Collanos Workplace für die elektronische Zusammenarbeit von Teams im Internet, hat den Red Herring 100 Global Award gewonnen. Das weltweit tätige Medien-Unternehmen Red Herring zeichnet Collanos damit als eines der besten 100 globalen Start-ups aus. Neben Collanos wurden in San Diego die Schweizer Unternehmen Axes Systems, CarryQuote, Museeka und Secu4 geehrt.

Finanzielle Leistungsfähigkeit, Innovation, Management, globale Strategie und Integration ins Ökosystem – anhand dieser Kriterien bewertet das Medien-Unternehmen Red Herring vielversprechende aufstrebende Unternehmen für seinen weltweiten Award. Wie positiv sich die Innovationskraft und der Standortvorteil der Schweiz auswirkt, unterstreicht die Auszeichnung von gleich fünf Schweizer Start-ups mit dem Red Herring 100 Global Award. Neben Collanos sind das Axes Systems, CarryQuote, Museeka und Secu4.

Die Awards gelten in Fachkreisen als Ritterschlag in der Innovationstechnologie und sind entsprechend prestigeträchtig. Peter Helfenstein, CEO von Collanos Software, ist hoch erfreut: „Von Red Herring 2008 zunächst in Europa und nun sogar weltweit als eines der zukunftsträchtigsten Unternehmen gesehen zu werden, erfüllt uns mit Stolz. Es ist für mich der Beweis, dass für den heute globalen Software- und Internetmarkt Zürich und die Schweiz mitten ins „virtuelle Silicon Valley“ gerückt sind. Dass neben uns noch vier weitere Schweizer Unternehmen ausgezeichnet wurden, spricht klar für den Technologiestandort Schweiz.“

Collanos lancierte die neuste Version von Collanos Workplace 1.4 im Dezember 2008 als umfassende Unified Collaboration Lösung. Gemeinsames Nutzen von Informationen und Projektmanagement im Team werden neu ergänzt durch Voice- und Videofunktionen. Kürzlich konnte der 25′000ste aktive registrierte Collanos-Benutzer vermeldet werden.

Weitere Informationen zu Red Herring 100 Global unter http://www.herringevents.com/global08/redherring100.html

“Morgen komm ich später rein – für mehr Freiheit in der Festanstellung” (translated to English: “Tomorrow I will start later – for more freedom in permanent employment”)

As an average person, we spend between 70.000 und 80.000 hours of our lives sitting at the desk. Even though we are part of a knowledge society, we are using structures from industrial society. Sitting out core working hours and excessive overtime seem to stand for „real“ commitment. The economic damage caused by boredom and inefficiency at work is huge.

On August 14, the book “Morgen komm ich später rein – für mehr Freiheit in der Festanstellung” will be published by Campus. The author, Markus Albers, sees the answer to this problem in a playful, flexible, and mobile attitude towards work – let´s call it Easy Economy. Albers: “Go to the cinema during the day, play with your children, integrate hobbies and friends in your daily routine which so far has been dominated by your working life. Make your permanent employment a free-permanent employment. I think, we will witness the end of the office of today. ”

Collanos is also mentioned in the book. The author writes about an interview with me:

“Peter Helfenstein explains the advantages of working without being fixed to a precise point, which means mobility and globalization, increase in efficiency, potential savings, access to highly qualified workers worldwide, and accessibility to customers all over the world thanks to new communication channels. According to Helfenstein, technology is not the reason for this development, but a tool to meet enterprise requirements that have existed long before: We must be in a position to contact anybody, at any time, from anywhere, and collaborate with our customers and contact persons on a flexible, economic and delay-free basis. In view of globalization and rapidly growing competition, 9-to-5 will be an out-dated concept, a competitive disadvantage. Helfenstein sees the New Economy as technology hype, a period when technological prospects offered more than customers wanted. “But today, enterprises, staff members and consumers have realized the advantages of globalization, mobility and flexibility, and now we need technologies that meet these requirements.”

In the new working world outlined above, a slightly different type of employee is required: ”Extroverted personalities actively establishing contact with the outside world and feeling inspired by doing so, are the ones to best fit into this model. Therefore, I am not surprised that this development is advancing faster in the USA.”

Inevitably, flexibility, mobility, and home office mean to widely do without informal communication, get-togethers during coffee break, smokers´corner, or common lunchtime. Helfenstein: “This might weaken identification with team and company and should be balanced by targeted measures, for example fixed dates for team afternoons, occasional work together with all employees at one location, or video conferences which like an intercom system permanently link all employees together worldwide.” Partly, you may be able to compensate physical separation by more frequent virtual meetings, but „ once in a while, you should talk to each other face-to-face. “Our American co-workers come to see us in Switzerland at regular intervals for one or two weeks, and the Swiss travel from USA to India to meet their collegues: the positive effect is noticeable for about three months, afterwards misunderstandings in communication become more frequent again. ”

The Campus-Verlag comments ‘Morgen komm ich später rein’ as follows: “This book harbours a promise which reads: You don´t have to go on working as before. And this book wants to convey a vision. The vision that thanks to modern technology and changing social values, our work will be characterized by more freedom and self-determination than that of our parents´generation. But this does not mean that we have to cut back on performance and career. On the contrary, you would feel more productive, relaxed and competent when communicating with superiors and other staff members. It suggests that we would finally be able to combine our job and your leisure time in a way that we would never have thought of some years ago. And even that, en passant, we might become happier individuals.”

Dr. Wilhelm Bauer at Fraunhofer Institut für Arbeitswirtschaft und Organisation says: “Is this real work – sitting with your notebook in a café or in your garden? The ‘Easy Economy’ as outlined by Markus Albers promises a world of work that is marked by more independence for permanent employees as well as creativity and motivation. The development depicted in the book is sustainable and irreversible. In retrospect, we will eventually refer to it as the revolution of work.”

Markus Albers is political scientist and journalist. He lives in Berlin as a free-lance author reporting for magazines such as Vanity Fair and Monocle. Before this, he did journalistic work for stern, SPIEGEL, SZ-Magazin and Welt am Sonntag. He held the position of directing journalist with the German edition of Vanity Fair. The biography of his career shows a repeated change between free and employed occupations, so the subject of his book also reflects a subject of his life.

More information about Easy Economy and Markus Albers

Article from Markus Albers on the concept of Easy Economy

http://www.markusalbers.com

“Morgen komm ich später rein – für mehr Freiheit in der Festanstellung”

Zwischen 70.000 und 80.000 Stunden im Leben verbringt der Durchschnittsmensch am Schreibtisch. Doch mitten in der Wissensgesellschaft arbeiten wir mit Strukturen aus der Industriegesellschaft: Abgesessene Kernarbeitszeit und exzessive Überstunden gelten als Beweis für “echtes” Engagement. Der volkswirtschaftliche Verlust durch Langeweile und Ineffizienz im Job ist enorm.

Die Lösung dieses Dilemmas liegt für Markus Albers, Autor des Buches “Morgen komm ich später rein – für mehr Freiheit in der Festanstellung”, das am 14. August um Campus-Verlag erscheint, in einer verspielten, flexiblen und mobilen Arbeitsauffassung – nennen wir sie Easy Economy. Albers: “Gehen Sie tagsüber ins Kino, spielen Sie mit ihren Kindern, integrieren Sie Hobbys und Freunde in Ihren Tagesablauf, der bislang nur vom Berufsleben geprägt war. So wird aus der Festanstellung eine Freianstellung. Wir werden es erleben – das Ende des Büros, wie wir es kennen.”

Auch Collanos kommt in “Morgen komm ich später rein” vor. Über ein Interview zwischen ihm und mir schreibt der Autor:

“Peter Helfenstein erklärt u.a. die Vorteile der ortlosen Arbeitsweise, nämlich Mobilität und Globalisierung, Effizienzsteigerung, Sparpotenziale, der Zugang zu qualifizierten Arbeitskräften weltweit und die zusätzliche Nähe zu Kunden überall auf der Welt dank neuer Kommunikationskanäle. Technologie sieht Helfenstein dabei nicht als Ursache, sondern als Werkzeug, Unternehmensbedürfnisse zu befriedigen, die vorher bereits existierten: ‘Wir müssen in der Lage sein, mit jedem, jederzeit, von überall arbeiten sowie flexibel, günstig und zeitverzugslos mit unseren Kunden und Ansprechpartnern kollaborieren zu können. Durch die Globalisierung und den immer stärkeren Wettbewerb wird 9-to-5 eine Illusion, ein Wettbewerbsnachteil.’ Die New Economy sei zwar ein Technologie-Hype gewesen, so Helfenstein. In dieser Zeit hätten die technologischen Möglichkeiten mehr geboten als die Kunden wollten: “Aber heute haben Unternehmen, Mitarbeiter und Konsumenten die Vorteile der Globalisierung, der Mobilität und Flexibilität erkannt. Nun braucht es die Technologien, dies zu nutzen.”

Dazu bedürfe es zum Teil auch eines anderen Mitarbeitertypus:”Extrovertierte Persönlichkeiten, die den Kontakt nach aussen aktiv suchen, dadurch motiviert werden, können besser mit solchen Modellen umgehen. Für mich ist es deshalb nicht verwunderlich, wenn in den USA die Adoption schneller vor sich geht.”

Durch Flexibilität, Mobilität und Homeoffice falle natürlich die informelle Kommunikation, das Zusammentreffen in der Kaffeepause, der Raucherecke, oder beim Mittagessen nahezu weg, so Helfenstein: “Dies kann die Identifikation mit Team und Firma reduzieren und muss entsprechend durch gezielte Massnahmen kompensiert werden, wie Teamnachmittage, Arbeit an einem Standort mit allen, oder Videotechnologie, die wie eine Gegensprechanlage alle Mitarbeiter weltweit permanent verbindet.”  Physische Trennung könne zwar durch stärkeres virtuelles Zusammenkommen kompensiert werden. “Man muss sich allerdings zwischendurch doch mal sehen”, so Helfenstein. “Die Amerikaner besuchen uns regelmässig für eine bis zwei Wochen in der Schweiz, die Schweizer die Mitarbeiter von den USA bis Indien: Es hält etwa drei Monate, danach werden die Missverständnisse bei der Kommunikation wieder grösser.”

Der Campus-Verlag schreibt über ‘Morgen komm ich später rein’: “Dieses Buch birgt ein Versprechen. Es lautet: Sie müssen nicht so weiterarbeiten wie bisher. Und dieses Buch möchte eine Vision vermitteln. Dass wir dank moderner Technik und eines Wandels gesellschaftlicher Werte freier und selbstbestimmter arbeiten werden als die Generation unserer Eltern. Dass wir dabei keine Abstriche im Job machen müssen, was Leistung und Karriere angeht. Sondern im Gegenteil Kollegen und Vorgesetzten produktiver, gelassener und souveräner begegnen. Dass wir endlich Beruf und Freizeit auf eine Weise vereinen können, die noch vor wenigen Jahren undenkbar schien. Und dass wir so vielleicht – ganz automatisch – zu glücklicheren Menschen werden.”

Und Dr. Wilhelm Bauer vom Fraunhofer Institut für Arbeitswirtschaft und Organisation, sagt dazu: “Mit dem Notebook im Café oder im Garten sitzen – kann das Arbeit sein? Mit der ‘Easy Economy’ skizziert Markus Albers eine Arbeitswelt, die durch grosse Freiheiten für Festangestellte sowie durch Kreativität und Motivation gekennzeichnet ist. Die im Buch skizzierten Entwicklungen sind nachhaltig und unumkehrbar. In der Retrospektive werden wir von einer Revolution der Arbeit sprechen.

Markus Albers ist Politologe und Journalist. Er lebt als freier Autor in Berlin und berichtet für Zeitschriften wie Vanity Fair und Monocle aus aller Welt. Zuvor schrieb er für stern und SPIEGEL, das SZ-Magazin sowie die Welt am Sonntag. Zuletzt arbeitete er als geschäftsführender Redakteur der deutschen Vanity Fair. Seine eigene Arbeitsbiografie wechselte stets zwischen festen und freien Beschäftigungen, das Thema seines Buches ist damit auch ein Lebensthema.

http://www.freianstellung.de
http://www.markusalbers.com

The third largest Swiss Bank, Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), comes on board as an additional institutional investor in Collanos Software, a Swiss-American start-up.

Experienced management, promising products, an innovative business model, and a compelling market with a demonstrable growing global user community were the key criteria for the decision. ZKB joins existing notable private and institutional investors American Ecosystem Ventures, and serial Swiss entrepreneurs Andreas Danuser (Swiss VoIP Pioneer) and Reto Hartinger.

The ZKB investment allows Collanos to continue the development of free teamwork and phone solutions and get ready for the launch of the much anticipated Premium services developed along with partner Translumina Networks. ZKB intends to take on a role as an active investor, as Oliver Schärli, Head of ZKB Start-up Finance, was quoted: “Collanos will for sure profit as well from our great networking with other institutional investors“ .

“We are excited that the thorough financial, technical and economical due diligence, conducted by Switzerland’s third largest bank’s Start-up Finance specialists, resulted in this outcome,” said Peter Helfenstein, CEO of Collanos Software. “Since we have been a certified CTI start-up company for a while now, ZKB’s decision further substantiates the quality and outlook of our venture. We are well prepared and confident that we will close our Series A financing round very soon”.

Mit der Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) holt sich das schweizerisch-amerikanische Software Startup Collanos einen weiteren institutionellen Investor an Bord.

Die professionelle Unternehmensführung, ein vielversprechendes Produkt, ein innovatives Businessmodell und ein interessanter Markt mit einer bereits sehenswerten globalen Benutzergemeinde gaben den Ausschlag für den Investitionsentscheid. Die ZKB reiht sich so zu namhaften privaten wie institutionellen Investoren. Bereits in Collanos investiert sind die amerikanische Ecosystem Ventures, der schweizerische Voice over IP-Pionier und Unternehmer Dr. Andreas Danuser oder der Internet-Experte Reto Hartinger.

Die Investition der ZKB erlaubt es Collanos, die Entwicklung der frei verfügbaren Teamwork- und Telefonielösungen fortzuführen und zusätzlich die kostenpflichtigen Collanos Premium Services mit dem Partner Translumina Networks auf den Markt zu bringen. ZKB Start-up Finance versteht sich nicht nur als Investor. „Collanos wird bestimmt auch von unserer guten Vernetzung mit anderen institutionellen Investoren profitieren können“, sagt Oliver Schärli, Head Start-up Finance der ZKB.

„Wir sind sehr stolz darauf, dass die sehr exakte, umfassende finanzielle und fachliche Prüfung durch den Start-up-Bereich der drittgrössten Schweizer Bank zu diesem positiven Resultat geführt hat“, erklärt Peter Helfenstein, CEO von Collanos Software, „Bereits seit einiger Zeit mit dem KTI-Startup Label ausgezeichnet, belegt diese Entscheidung der ZKB die Qualität und Vertrauenswürdigkeit unseres Ventures. Wir sind für die bald anstehende Series A Finanzierungsrunde gut vorbereitet und sehr zuversichtlich.“

In earlier blogs like Disruptive Innovation at Work and Gartner Prediction Supports the Collanos Business Model I wrote about our progressive go-to-market strategy entering new markets for collaboration, and our starting point to ride the most recent consumerization wave across enterprise boundaries.

Two inspiring new blog articles and their discussion threads seem to confirm our approach:

• Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, in his blog The Black Wire and the White Wire connects a second ethernet cable to his business laptop kicking off an IT “civil war”.

On my desk at work I have two ethernet cables. One is black and one is white. The black one is connected to our corporate network. I use that one when I want to print things. I could also use it for Internet access and stuff, but I don’t because the corporate network blocks a number of ports, including those used for Skype and Second Life. It’s also pretty slow.

The white cable, meanwhile, is a standard consumer-grade DSL connection to the Internet, with nothing blocked at all. Our local IT staff installed it by popular demand, possibly without checking with headquarters (we love our local IT staff!). It’s fast. I use it all the time.

Consumerization of enterprise IT at work…

• Jason Hiner, Executive Editor at TechRepublic, in “The six consumer technologies that are destroying traditional IT ” explicitely sees p2p Collanos Workplace being adopted even by corporate IT supported by some pressure coming from consumerization.

That doesn’t mean IT should necessarily abandon P2P software altogether. It can often prove extremely useful and efficient. For example, Collanos software can be used for sharing and collaborating on documents between various users in a team or workgroup.

Disrupting the collaboration market outside the enterprise platform and being brought in through enterprise doors via consumerization seems like a promising new business strategy – not only for Collanos.

Apr. 2, 2009 Update:
29′000 and counting …

Mar. 11, 2009 Update:
28′000 and counting …

Feb. 19, 2009 Update:
27′000 and counting …

As I write these words, the number of registered Collanos members stands on ‘956’. So what?!
Definitely nothing to show off with as the number of global team-intensive knowledge workers seeking an ad hoc (simple and useful, cross-platform: Mac – see latest review #1 and #2, Windows, Linux and available off and online) solution to manage their team projects is in the millions, if not tens of millions.
We already had tens of thousands downloads of Workplace 1.0 so what’s new here?!
The CUD!

We just launched this week our new Central User Directory (CUD), creating the first Global Team Collaboration solution allowing Wang in China to be able to invite Pedro in Nicaragua, Achim in Germany and Amanda in Iowa to share a workspace. No IT support, no servers (data is only on peer computers), no lengthy tutorials and no licen$e fees or restricted functionality. It’s free as in FREE. No advertisements and no hidden agendas. As we grow our user-base we will launch subscription-based premium features that users can opt into (‘Freemium’ model) so there is an actual business model, for those of you still puzzled.

The significance of 956 957 registered users is the fact that Collanos with the release this week of Collanos Workplace 1.1, has addressed some of the main issues that impeded some users from embracing Collanos for all their teamwork. No more. From here on with the boosted performance, security, speed, languages – hear the latest: [audio:nihao.mp3]
and functionality (check out our new Conflict Bin and Offline invitations- See Release Notes) it’s all up-the-hill.

Farewell triple digits and welcome in the four!

963 and counting.

Gartner (NYSE: IT), the largest technology analyst company in the world, predicts Collanos’ type business model will become “the most significant trend affecting information technology during the next ten years.”

The Collanos’ type consumerization business model focuses on providing consumers with a collaboration platform that will allow internet home users, university faculty, small businesses, and inter-enterprise users to benefit from the collaboration tools that only enterprises have been able to provide at an expensive price to their employees.

By differentiating ourselves from other Collaboration vendors who require the use of a server, utilize a resource expensive development model, depend on longer release lifecycles, and have their own agenda that forces the need for further infrastructure investments, we gain a strategic advantage that allows us to deliver to the consumers the collaboration tools they need at prices they can afford.

David Mitchell Smith, Gartner Vice President and Gartner Fellow, predicts that our approach “will affect every enterprise.” Collanos’ approach is much like Wi-Fi’s, smart mobile phone’s, pc’s, voice over IP call’s and conference call’s, instant message’s, and the internet’s approach. Each of these was quickly adopted by consumers who benefited from the use of these technologies in their homes, families, clubs, and organizations. Consumers then took these technologies to work and caused the viral spread that later led to enterprise adoption.

Already in our beta offering, we see Collanos Workplace being not only demanded by ad-hoc teams, but by teams in the enterprise. Enterprise users refuse to constrain themselves to their current email and server based collaboration tools. Collanos, starting with its peer-to-peer Collanos Workplace, will soon provide consumers with a complete set of collaboration tools and like that create greater demand for Collanos in the enterprise.

Collanos prides itself in helping internet teamworkers and leading the evolution of the consumerization of collaboration technologies. We do not believe collaboration tools should only be available for the wealthy enterprise but should be available to everyone both outside and inside of the enterprise.