You will find many different tools used for business collaboration, and new ones pop up every year.
Here are some we know of that you could use to replace your Moodle Forums and Facebook problem and be more on the “pulse”.
Google Drive
https://www.google.co.uk/drive/
Share Documents, Spreadsheets with version control. Also a tool to have hangouts (video conference) and have group text chats. Free service.
- Documents
- Spreadsheets
- Group text chat
- Hangouts (Vid. Conference)
- File Sharing
DropBox
https://db.tt/FvHtPln
A repository for files, it will automatically push any saved files to all the other members with the shared DropBox. Good for saving large files and sharing with each other, less useful for versioning without an account. Free service.
- Shared folder (you still need Office apps)
SharePoint
http://products.office.com/en-us/sharepoint/collaboration
Microsoft’s offering, share documents and more. Takes setting up and costs, however it’s an industry standard.
- Documents
- Spreadsheets
- Group chat
- File Sharing
- Versioning
Facebook
http://facebook.com
You can setup a group and hold a chat on the network you’re always on. But, we doubt an organisation would handle all their business discussion here. Also, would you want to mix work and online socialising? Free service.
- Group chat
- File emailing (No versioning)
Wiki
http://www.wikidot.com/
The technology that runs Wikipedia, gives the ability to create shared pages and thoughts and revisions. You can share, collaborate, update and see revisions. Free services available.
- File sharing
- Text versioning
Versioning?
Some services come with versioning on documents, which means you can see the updates and text changes on files. This allows users to work collaboratively and see what changes the group have made, and discuss them. Also, it stops the need to keep naming files like, “copy 1”, “copy 2”, “Final Version”, “final version 2.3” as it’s just one continues file.
Free?
Lots of companies advertise their products as “Free”, however that comes at a cost not associated with money. They effectively own your data, and probably have free reign to sell it on, use it to advertise with or if they shut down, your data goes to the highest bidder.
Other services may offer you a limited time access or file number limit before you need to pay.
