Frequently Asked Questions
What is Collaboration Studios®?
Collaboration Studios® (CS) is a secure, web-based, database-driven, business-to-business communications system. Our set of integrated products allows members of a CS network to easily save, organize and share information.
Who should use your services ?
Anyone who has a computer with internet access and who needs to securely interact with others in a workgroup environment. Lawyers, Accountants, Finacial Planners, Project Teams, Educational Institutions, Medical Professionals, Banks, Scientists, Engineers, Special-Interest Organizations and Internet Communities can all benefit from our service. CS can reduce costs, improve efficiency and improve user satisfaction for companies both large and small.
How do I get more information?
Please contact us via email through any of the "Contact" links on this site or call us at the telephone number provided for you on the About Collaborationsudios.com page. We will respond to your request as soon as possible.
How much does the service cost ?
CS is very reasonably priced. The cost depends on the type of license. Please contact us and we will quickly respond to your request.
What is needed to run the CS system on my computer ?
You will need a high-speed internet connection (DSL, cable or satellite), a computer running Windows (XP/Vista) or OSX on a Mac, and a copy of Firefox or Internet Explorer. Since CS runs on our servers there is nothing else that needs to be installed on local machines.
Can you tell me more about your facilities ?
The physical environment in which our servers run was designed to meet the most stringent security, performance and reliability criteria. Our servers run in a manned 7-24 data center in the Midwest - unaffected by many natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.) that can affect other locations. In addition, we have points-of-presence in multiple data centers scattered throughout the country. Multiple fiber-optic rings (OC-48 and OC-12) provide communications redundancy. In the unlikely event of a complete power failure to the building itself, battery backups are supplemented with diesel generators. Our servers are high-end SUN blade machines running a commercial version of the Solaris operating system. Mirrored RAID hard drives insure data integrity even in the event of a hardware failure. Backups are sent via a dedicated fiber-optic channel offsite to a separate vault building where they are stored.
A CS network can be thought of as a group of resources (programs, links, data) that can be shared by network members. It performs in many ways like a virtual private network, but it was designed from the ground up to be Internet based. Authorized users can use CS to communicate with one another from anywhere in the world.
Can a member belong to more than one Network ?
Yes, when a member logs into CS they can select which network they want to use. Messages in their system follow the user through each network, but cabinets/folders/files and the permissions associated with them will vary. An attorney, for example, might select his own office network to be primary, but in the course of his business day he might place documents downloaded from a realtor's network into a cabinet owned by the local bank. CS provides both administrators and members with a great deal of flexibility.
What is a Collaboration "Cabinet" ?
Collaboration Cabinets are software services and tools that work within a Collaboration Network. A Collaboration Cabinet works like an electronic file cabinet to store, organize, index, archive, and provide workgroup members with access to any type of electronic files used by the members of the network. Since the networks are private and secure, many types of workflow processes that are not safe on the public Internet can be done securely by using a Collaboration Cabinet. For example: Lawyers, Bankers and Accountants may work with clients, consultants and other experts, located anywhere in the world, as they develop the complex documents needed for confidential business transactions. Medical practitioners may exchange digital electronic media containing confidential patient information, such as charts, pictures, X-rays, MRI's, and CT scans, with other medical specialists located in any global time-zone for remote diagnostics purposes. Administrators and members with the appropriate authority can grant access to private information that is meant for their eyes only.
What does a CS "Administrator" do ?
The Administrator has complete control over the Network. The Administrator controls the look and feel of the CS system, adds members, and assigns members read-write permissions to information stored in Collaboration Cabinets. For example, the Administrator might decide that the bookkeeper will be able to have complete control over the company Tax Folder, but only be able to read material in the Legal Cabinet.
What is Collaboration "Messaging"?
Collaboration Messaging is the secure "email" component of Collaborationstudios.com. Collaboration Messaging uses the same SenditSafely technology used by our clients for many years to allow workgroup members to send and receive secure, spam-free emails, special forms and email attachments between the other trusted workgroup members within your Collaboration Network. Collaboration Messaging also allows network members to communicate with "non-trusted" people, outside the network, through a special email link that allows only a secure and trusted reply to be returned from these external parties.
How is Collaboration Messaging different from normal email?
Standard Email is inherently insecure. When you send an email message the information is transmitted from point to point across the Internet. It can be stored for some time on the sending email server, and usually for an even longer period on the receiving machine. At any point along the way the message can be intercepted and read by unscrupulous systems administrators or hackers.
Although the messaging component of CS looks very similar to a standard email program such as webmail, it works on an entirely different philosophy. Messages are never sent across the Internet in clear text. SSL is used to encrypt the message as it is entered into the Collaboration Messaging program. The data is then immediately stored on our CS server in an encrypted database. Your critical business information can never be read by anyone except the intended recipient.
What file types can CS handle?
CS handles nearly all common formats for text (doc, txt, xls, pdf, and others), graphics (jpg, gif, pic, and others) and audio/visual media (wmf, au, sla, and others). CS will transparently convert documents into viewable format without requiring the user to have a particular program on their computer. These CS functions virtually eliminate the problems often found when people try to send one another documents using different programs or even different versions of the same program. Links to external websites or internal webpages are also supported.
How are files Stored within CS?
CS uses a simple Cabinet/Folder/File structure and was designed to mirror the structure of an office filing cabinet. When a data file is uploaded to CS from a local machine, the transaction is encrypted using SSL - the same 256-bit encryption used to transfer credit-card information. The file is assigned an internal number and stored either within our database in encrypted format or as a hidden file below the web root directory. It cannot be found by search engines and cannot be retrieved except by an authorized user who logs into their CS account. On upload CS provides the option of converting the file into PDF format so that it can be easily viewed.
CS Metadata is a exclusive technology developed by Collaboration Studios that permits additional information to be attached to any CS file. Metadata information can be in nearly any commonly used format; a text file, an audio clip, an image or even a link to an external URL. CS Metadata technology supports a wide range of applications. For example, if a physician were to write a letter and save it as a primary document within CS, he could include a jpg image such as an xray, saved to the file as Metadata. Multiple metadata files can be attached to a CS document. Each piece of metadata is uniquely identified with supporting information such as date entered, description, etc.
What is a CS "Virtual Meeting Room"?
Presentation Rooms permit members to view presentations in much the same way as they would view a slide show. But the difference is that a CS Presentation Room can be entered from anywhere in the world ! For example, a financial planner might put together a presentation showing various investment options. He would invite the client and perhaps the client's accountant into the presentation room to view the material he has prepared. Presentation rooms can be set up to be public or private and can include inter-relay chatting (IRC).
Does everyone I do business with need to be a Member of CS?
If you only deal with a business associate occasionally, there is no need to give them a full CS id/password and make them a member of your network. If you need information from this person, you can simply request that it be sent to your CS Network and placed in the Cabinet/Folder/File that you desire. For example, if an architect needs a survey from a company that he rarely does business with, he can generate a CS request for that information. When the surveyor receives the request, he can click on the link provided and upload the file directly into the specified folder. CS has a variety of functions that will accept information from outside the network. For example, Forms running on external websites can transmit information directly into a CS folder. All information is sent in a secure manner and proper security protections always remain in place.
How can I integrate CS into my Website?
There are many ways in which this can be done. Usually clients will place a login link to CS on their page. This link will go to a CS login page that can be customized or branded to meet your needs. Powerful CS functions can write information from forms residing on your website directly into CS Cabinets/Folders.
Can I run CS on my own server?
At the present time CS is offered only as a licensed service.
How long has CS been available?
The original component of CS (SenditSafely) was first used commercially in 2002.