If your office is a mass of confusion, with various users editing various documents and not realizing that there are changes made to the documents they have worked on, then you’re probably experiencing a lot of wasted time and frayed nerves.
There are so many document management solutions on the market, and even Word has some built in, but limited, tools to help managed version control. A new tool I was recently alerted to is FolderMaestro?s File Check-Out.
With this tool installed on servers and laptops, an end-user marks specific documents stored on a local or wide area network to be reserved or ?checked out?. When one person needs to work on a marked file remotely, only he or she can access the file for editing. After editing, File Check-Out automatically saves the new updated file on local servers in real time and then releases the document for review and use by other authorized team members.
Detailed file activity logs, monitoring, file-by-file permissions and alert functionalities, as well as administrative override, provides security, workflow transparency, and accountability.
File Check-Out is available as a stand-alone Windows-compatible downloadable application and is available directly from FolderMaestro or through resellers at $249 per license or $999 for five laptop licenses.
Ramon Ray is the editor and tech evangelist for Smallbiztechnology.com
