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There are several excellent collaboration services on the market, but TeamPoint Systems has just introduced one that's ideal for small companies that want to start out small before they make a large investment in time and money.

Called DayPoint SE, it's a lighter and more affordable version of the company's flagship DayPoint Enterprise service. DayPoint SE offers the same look and feel as the more advanced product, and most of the same tools.

Users access DayPoint SE through a browser, and the interface is simple and clear enough for anyone to understand. The front page is called the Dashboard, and it shows all of the various modules at a glance. Users can see at once if they have tasks due, unread mail, or phone messages.

DayPoint SE's various modules are listed down the left-hand side. You'll find standards like e-mail, calendar, contacts, and a company directory. While these don't have all the functions found in the enterprise version, they're full-featured tools that stress collaboration. For example, users can choose to share calendar events with other users or keep them private. A third option lets people see that a user has blocked out a certain time, but doesn't show what the event is. The company directory has a presence indicator so that users can see who's currently online, and the task module lets users assign tasks to particular people or groups.

The e-mail module can keep track of multiple POP3 or IMAP accounts, so that users can check all their messages from one screen. We like the phone message module, something that not every collaboration system has, which lets users easily take phone message for other employees.

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Other modules include a link list and a file storage area.

One attractive feature with DayPoint SE is that it uses the same code as the company's enterprise version; the only difference is that some of the features are turned off. That means you can start with the lighter version to make sure that your organization would benefit from a collaboration service, and then upgrade to the enterprise version simply by purchasing an upgrade license. There's nothing more to install.

Advanced features in the enterprise version include a check-in/check-out system and a version history in the files module, project management tools in the task module that show the relationship between tasks, and a journal section within the contacts directory for storing notes on clients and contacts.

An administrator module shows up only for the admin, and lets you create color themes for your users, change the template to add a corporate logo, and set which modules display for the users. You can even set modules to display for some groups but not for others. The admin can also control how much storage space is used for the online file directory.

Pricing for a DayPoint SE license includes a one-time upfront fee based on the number of users, starting at $150 for 10 users, and an annual fee of $499 regardless of the number of users. That makes it a real value for companies just starting to think about adding a collaboration suite to their office.

The DayPoint SE Dashboard.

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