For this month's Net2 Think Tank, we asked you for your tips, tools, and suggestions for communicating online within a team. Many organizations have found ways to work seamlessly across the hall or across an ocean using online tools to facilitate their internal communication, but finding the right tools for your team takes effort. This round-up aims to help you to jump-start your creative juices and re-think the way you look at internal communications.

Over the years my family and I have worked together to help my Grandmother get wired. She now uses Google Search, reads her news online, sends and receives email, and even uses Facebook to check-in with family and friends. Using the internet isn't a new concept to my Grandmother, though it's not really something she finds very intuitive either. That said, she understands the power of these tools, and relishes the opportunity to learn more.

My Grandmother also has a whole network of friends who are at various stages of computer use/online adoption. Recently, she asked me if I could share any resources for her and her friends to be able to network, learn and socialize on the internet.

The fact that many companies are adopting Voice over Intenet Protocol (VoIP) also means that there are many VoIP services fighting over the market. This has led to various protocols, packages, and services that are sometimes incompatible with each other. This issue had been a major concern for small businesses. While they may want to adopt VoIP for their communication needs, due to their cheaper costs, these compatibility issues hinder them from fully entrusting their operations to such a service.

So last month I spoke about Skype for a VOIP telephony solution for your business.  Today I'm going to introduce you to www.freeconference.com.  Now, as the title says, FC is not necessarily free - some of their service offerings will cost you - but the expense really is negligible when compared to functionality and when considered in light of more and more employees working remotely.  As well, what if you're getting advice from board members who live on the other side of the state or who just never have the time to meet?  Or you want to speak with someone in another country about how they manage their supply chain for goods very similiar to you own?  Regardless, I think freeconference.com is worth a look-see.

In the e-collaboration group, I have asked for skype tips. We have gathered 10 great tips for the use of skype in a development setting. Ofcourse some tips can be applied by any skype user but some are particular innovation for people working with irratic internet connections, like the option to dial in people into skype conferences using skypeout.

You can find all 10 tips plus a story of skype use in Ghana here:
http://icollaborate.blogspot.com/2007/04/10-skype-tips-for-advanced.html

Do you have ideas for people you'd like to interview over the phone for your nonprofit podcast or blog, but don't know the best way to record it?  The past few interviews I've done for the NetSquared Podcast and blog have been done over the phone with Skype.  It took me a while to find recording software I liked for Skype, so I thought I'd share my findings.  I have a Mac, so I use Ecamm's Call Recorder for Skype.  It is only $15 and has worked really well for me so far.  My only complaint is that it records my questions and the interviewee's answers as one track.  Ideally our voices would be on two separate tracks.