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We are an internet software company based in NYC. Our product, Convos, is a professional, web-based collaboration tool that helps organizations communicate, plan and share with members.

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    Tuesday
    02Mar2010

    New Convos Updates and Website

    We have recently made significant changes to the Convos website and web application.  In fact, the website got a complete overhaul.  These changes were in the works for the past couple of months and we're excited to bring them to you.  

    The new website is brighter and more informative.  We wanted to provide visitors with more information through a site with a clean and simple design. It is now easier for anyone to email us as we have placed a new Contact Us button at the top of each page.  Previously, it was difficult to figure out how to reach us.

    The Convos web application also got a new look plus a lot of updates.  We redesigned the main panels of the interface to provide a more intuitive design.  Basically, we cleaned up the clutter and moved things to better places.  Aside from the redesign here are a slew of new updates:

    • Export Member Profile Data - Administrators can now export a .csv document of member profiles through the Membership panel.  You can load the .csv document into Microsoft Excel for editing.

    • Reply to Sender / Group email footer links - All group emails will now have links at the bottom of the email that allow your members to reply to the sender or to the group.  This should help reduce the number of irrelevant group-wide responses.

    • Subgroup Management panel - Administrators can now manage the membership of subgroups through a new management panel.  You can access it under the Subgroups tab in the Membership panel of the main group.  Administrators no longer need to be members of subgroups to add or remove members.

    • Subgroup Email Invites - Before, adding members to subgroups required that they were already members of the main group.  Now, people can be invited using an email address which would also require them to join the main group at sign up.

    • Group Login email footer link - All group emails will also have links that direct members to the group's login page.  

    • Faster group creation - We've simplified the process of creating new groups and subgroups.

    • Contact Convos button - There is a new button at the top of the interface that allows you and your members to contact us for help.

    • Move files to different folders - We've added the ability to move files to another folder within a group.

     

    Please let us know if you have any questions about the new updates.  

     

    Friday
    18Sep2009

    SSL Encryption Now Available - Good News for Boards of Directors

    Since the Convos application was relaunched in April, we have frequently been asked about the security level of a group's data when using Convos.  While many groups have found that the unique email addresses and password protection within Convos provide sufficient security for their needs, we have been told by numerous potential users that tighter security is required before they would entrust their confidential data to  be filed in their allocated Convos file storage space.  We are constantly working to resolve issues and add new functions based upon what we hear from our clients.  So we are really pleased to announce that an option for full SSL Encryption for your group on Convos is now available.  With that option, the added security will be provided for your group's data at all times during any of your members interactions with Convos.  This valuable option is available for an additional $20/month for small and medium size groups regardless of the the number of members in the group.  For large groups, this feature is included at no additional charge.  

    While this can be a valuable option for any group concerned about security, a great example would be how it can be used by company Boards of Directors and selected officers to access and share confidential data and board documents on-line.

    Up to now, most companies provide important documentation to their board members either through expensive, overnight mail shipments (regular mail is not secure or timely enough) or email.  The email method is sometimes cumbersome when large files or multiple files are being transmitted.  In either case, these methods require the individual board members to file these documents at their homes or offices in a secure manner, requiring constant diligence to see that they have the most current versions available.  In some companies, especially ones that are involved in litigation, the directors are required to maintain files in their records for lengthy retention periods, even if the documents are no longer current.

    In recent years, various firms have been offering a service to provide on-line access to director files and documents.  The companies offering this type of service include some of the larger public accounting firms and investment banks, who typically offer this as an additional service to their client companies.  Depending upon the options included in the service, these offerings vary in cost from expensive to very expensive.

    Convos can provide a great, very inexpensive solution for the company board that wants secure, on-line access to all of their board related documents and files.  All an interested company has to do is establish a group on Convos whose members would be the company board of directors and those employees who are thought to have a need to access the files or administer the group.  Even in a large public company, the total number of members of this group is not likely to exceed 20-25 people.  With the Convos pricing plan, the monthly cost for this group would be $30 plus the optional security upgrade of $20/month.

    The group administrator, usually a company employee, would be responsible for uploading the relevant documents and files to the group's secure file storage space, always ensuring that the documents available for viewing by the board are up-to-date.  Sub-groups can be created, at no additional cost, for various board committees so that audit related documents could be viewed by the Audit Committee members, compensation related documents could be viewed by the Compensation Committee members, etc.

    With this in place, all board members can have immediate access to all relevant board materials, with the knowledge that they are reviewing the latest versions.   It eliminates the need for voluminous emails and personal file storage on the part of the individual directors.

    Access to the group and the documents in the private file storage space is password protected and SSL encrypted.  

    Of course, once the the company's board group is set up on Convos, it can also be used to take advantage of all of the other non-file related functions like group communications and event planning. 

    Thursday
    17Sep2009

    New Convos Features - Increased File Storage and SSL Encryption

    This week we have made two important enhancements to the Convos experience - increased file storage capacity and enhanced data security utilizing SSL encryption.

    We have increased the available file storage capacity provided with our Medium and Large Group Plans.  File storage capacity for a Medium Group has been increased from 4GB to 10GB. File storage capacity for a Large Group has been increased from 4GB to 20GB.  File storage capacity for a Small Group remains at 4GB.  We have made these increases to enable Convos group members to have more flexibility in their file selection and storage, knowing that some files, especially video, can require ever increasing storage capacity.  This has been done at no additional cost to our valued customers.  As before, groups can add incremental storage capacity at a monthly fee  of $5 for each additional 2GB of storage capacity.

    In response to numerous comments about the level of data security for group activity on Convos, we are really pleased to announce that an option for full SSL Encryption for your group on Convos is now available.  With that option, the added security will be provided for your group's data at all times during any of your members interactions with Convos.  This valuable option is available for an additional $20/month for small and medium size groups regardless of the the number of members in the group.  For large groups, this feature is included at no additional charge.  

    These enhancements are two more examples of how the Convos team is diligently working to be responsive to the requests and suggestions of our valued member clients.  Keep letting us know what you would like to see in the future from Convos to make it an even more useful and productive tool for your group.

     

     

     

    Friday
    07Aug2009

    New Updates in Convos

    This week, we implemented three new updates to the Convos web application. These updates improve the overall user experience for navigating our modules, maintaining tasks, and creating new events. Here is what went in:

     

    Improved Module Selection

     

    Convos lets you view multiple modules at the same time allowing you to more easily scan new content. However, when you are trying to find or retrieve content it's sometimes easier to have only one module open so that more content is listed and you can dedicate your attention to one area. Therefore, we've added the ability for you to double-click a module to have it open up in full in the center panel.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Setting a Task Status

     

    You may have noticed that we've had placeholders for viewing a task's status as either completed or not completed. This week, we've added the missing pieces that allows you to now set those labels. To change the status of a task, simply open up a task in the viewer by clicking it from the To Do Items module or the Group Task module. From there, you can click the toggle button to set the status label.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Updated Event Creation Page

     

    Creating a new event has just gotten easier. We made some visual changes to the way the new event creation page looks, but we also improved how the date and time is entered into the fields. One of the adjustments made is that now the time fields are completely editable and you can use the arrow keys to change the hours and minutes.

     

    Quick Tip: Use the "Tab" key to jump to subsequent fields so that you don't have to use the mouse.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    We hope these new changes are helpful. Please let us know what you think.

    Wednesday
    29Jul2009

    New Feature: Managing Files with File Version Control

    For organizations that collaborate to create documents, allowing people to make changes and keeping track of the most recent version can be a nightmare. We're excited to announce a simple feature that we've added to the Group Files module that will allow leaders to collect and track multiple versions of a single file.

    Here's how it works:

    For any file that is uploaded, a group admin can enable version control (checkbox on far right).  When enabled, group members are able to upload new versions of the file and add notes about what they've changed. In the viewer, the Versions tab displays a history of all previous versions and notes.

    When version control is disabled, members cannot upload new versions but are still presented with the history of previous versions and notes.

    This way, a group leader can enable version control to collect new versions of a file and disable it when a final version has been uploaded.

    Go ahead and give this new feature a try.  We'd love to hear your feedback on it and on anything else you'd like to see in Convos.

    You can click here to learn more about how File Version Control works.