If you’re going to start a business, it’s usually a good idea to name it after what the business actually does, so potential customers can understand it immediately.
Mattress Discounters. Toys “R” Us. International Business Machines. They may not be artsy names, but there is something to be said for clarity in business communications in a culture obsessed with speed and rife with obfuscation.
A smart new Tucson, Ariz.-based company, YourOfficeAnywhere, has taken this to heart.
The new service, which launched Nov. 1, is a cloud-based office suite that morphs several key applications into a single service with several functions: It facilitates online meetings for up to 200 people at a time; offers unlimited collaboration spaces for others on the services; and provides 100GB of file storage for each user -for starters.
Numerous Functions Included
In addition to the aforementioned functions, users can chat, do video conferencing, share documents, exchange files and organize calendars, all in the same environment. YourOfficeAnywhere also is set up so that a business’s clients can access the platform-in an unlimited workspace-yet aren’t asked to sign up for the service.
The service is accessible through any browser via single click; no software installation is required. It also doesn’t matter if your device is a laptop, tablet or smartphone; they all can be used.
YourOfficeAnywhere’s subscription pricing is newsy, at least at this early point. During the first 30 days of the launch (or through Nov. 30), the company is offering a lifetime, $10-a-month price guarantee for its continuous users. After that, the subscription price will be raised to an as-yet-undetermined rate.
“Our focus is all about small business-[specifically] an SMB niche of one or more people [per business],” founder and CEO Leif Hartwig told eWEEK. “When you sign up with us, it takes literally two minutes, and you have all your business tools in place and ready to go. It’s not menu-driven; you don’t have to sign up each time, like GoToMeeting, or sign up for a chat feature. We give that all to you for 10 bucks a month.”
Hartwig noted that other popular cloud-based business services, such as DropBox or BaseCamp, charge extra for features that YourOfficeAnywhere currently provides in a single package.
Can See Everything in the Office at Once
YourOfficeAnywhere’s home page is called Bird’s Eye View, a central location for all the applications, Hartwig said.
“When I’m out of the office, I can go to the app and see everything that’s going on in my office, with all my clients, in one aggregated space,” said Hartwig, who previously founded wealth management consultantcy TruQuest and was a senior investment officer at RBC Wealth Management.
“Calendars and documents roll up, and communication-almost in a Facebook-type style-rolls up. We’re very unique in that it’s a collaboration site that allows consolidation of all these modes of communication.”
YourOfficeAnywhere runs on the well-established Rackspace cloud.