CogniDox, the smart document management solution for hi-tech product development, has released a major re-work of its Microsoft Office add-in. It allows users to work within their familiar applications and save their work to a shared document repository for improved collaboration.
Previously available as an add-in for Word 2007 only, the new component supports more versions of Microsoft Office (2003, 2007, and 2010) and the most widely-used applications (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel) in the Office suite.
Rather than develop a solution for each application, the aim this time was to build a platform that is compatible across multiple versions/applications and easier to maintain when future Office versions are released by Microsoft.
The business benefit is to encourage knowledge workers to create and maintain their documents within the shared document repository. Apart from ensuring their company has up-to-date records and document control compliance; this saves employee time by removing the nuisance of conflicting multiple versions of documents and by making search easy and productive.
Allowing users to work directly from Office applications is a major feature of Microsoft’s SharePoint, and the Office Add-in provides a choice: a low-cost alternative to SharePoint or use CogniDox as the master document control “engine” behind the SharePoint interface.
The functionality of the previous offering has been fully replicated and extended in the new release:
Installation and authentication: The add-in is downloaded and installed on each user’s computer using a Windows installer setup wizard. Authentication to CogniDox is handled through Office, or transparently with Windows authentication.
Usage: Once configured, the add-in will open every time Word, PowerPoint or Excel is started. It is displayed as a side-bar which can be minimised or re-sized. The side-bar contains four tabs – Search, Browse, Info and Actions
Search: Uses the search engine in CogniDox to match document titles to a user-supplied search string. Found documents can be directly opened in the Office application; or shown in the Browse view or the CogniDox web client
Browse: Enables user to view the CogniDox document category structure and contents in an expandable, hierarchical tree format. Documents can be opened from CogniDox directly into the Office application. New documents can be created with a single right-click and new drafts or issues can be uploaded into document part numbers. New documents can also be created from company templates stored within the CogniDox repository
Info: Displays general CogniDox metadata information such as author and part number, and also version information. Includes a warning if the user is working on an older version than is currently available in CogniDox
Actions: Allows the user to save their work as a draft or issue. Also supports a Word feature which allows user to compare different versions of a document stored in CogniDox and have differences highlighted on-screen using the Word change tracking feature
About CogniDox:
CogniDox is a web application that serves two purposes: it improves internal document control for Product development teams with workflows and re-usable knowledge repositories; and it enables rapid deployment of external Customer web portals with secure publishing and entitlement-based downloads.
Used by large enterprises and small startups alike, CogniDox is a cost-effective way to significantly improve process for an average cost of £5 ($8) per employee per month.
The CogniDox for Office Add-in is available free to all companies with a CogniDox subscription license for support and maintenance.
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Registered Office:
Cognidox Limited, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, UK
Email: salesinfo@cognidox.com
Telephone +44 (0) 1223 911080
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