Extremely simple collaboration tools

Here are two sites that save me time and money.

Free Conference Call. This morning I called a conference call with this service. I had used Free Conference Call two years ago and man-oh-man has it improved. You no longer need to schedule your calls in advance. Recording is free. Access numbers for major EU countries are provided. I call my access number with Skype to avoid long distance charges. Free conference calls! What’s not to like?

QuickTopic. I have used this awesome conferencing resource for years. It is drop-dead simple to use. (Sample.) As QT says,

For any quick group discussion, use QuickTopic free message boards instead of just email. Your messages will be in a private central place. Your friends can participate by email or use the web forum, because QuickTopic’s super-easy web message boards let you get and post messages by email. Use it on your web site too.

QuickTopic is great for coordinating group activities. I’ve used it several times for discussion and minutes of Board of Directors meetings. Members of a group I’m working with now want to tap one another’s life lines for quick answers. Someone might post a query like "Who’s really, really good in computerized medical records these days?" Emails automatically go out to members. A reply email will post your suggestion, send it to the group, and keep a copy for posterity.