Information on Collaboration Tools for Working from Home

Working from home to some extend has become a normal condition in many areas of the University, due in part to the experiences  during the Corona pandemic. The need for collaborative tools is on the rise, especially to connect those working from home to those working on campus. This page will guide you through tools available at the Univ. of Cologne.

Further information concerning general services of the RRZK during the current situation can be found here: Current changes in RRZK services

Synchronous and near-synchronous collaboration

Video conferencing

Face-to-face communications and meetings, be it lectures, oral exams, official and professional meetings, are an important part of everyday University life. Such meetings are near impossible at the moment. Especially lectures, webinars, public University and internal meetings, which would be quite difficult to hold if relying solely on E-Mail, chat or telephone conferencing, are more easy when using the proper video conferencing tool.

Chats and e-mails

The e-mail service at the university is still available for exchanging messages:

• Information on the e-mail service in general and retrieval via SOGo.
• Special functions for e-mail use: Out-of-office message, spam filtering, contact addresses
• Processing e-mail requests in groups (see below)

However, the use of e-mail is not always the method of choice. This is especially true when files need to be sent. As an alternative to attaching files to e-mails, please also use suitable methods for document exchange such as Sciebo, SoFS, BSCW or Gigamove. Matrix can also be used for more spontaneous and less formal communication, especially in groups.

Joint editing of documents

You can edit files together with both sciebo and Git. Within Sciebo, the Collabora function can be used to work on a document with several people - even simultaneously - conveniently via a browser. This means that several people can make changes to different parts of a text from home without getting in each other's way or even destroying the work already done by others. Git can be used if no Office documents or other types of files need to be edited simultaneously or almost simultaneously by several people. However, working with Git requires advanced computer skills.

For files that are to be accessed by several people but do not usually need to be changed by several people at the same time, other services are available for providing data for workgroups, see below.

Asynchronous tools

Coordination of tasks and projects

Apart from daily arrangements, which can be organized well by matrix or similar means, there is often a need to keep track of the progress of individual subtasks in the daily workflow and/or in long-term projects. This is where the MeisterTask task planner can help.

Responding to e-mail requests collaboratively

To manage and collaboratively share the workload of requests via e-mail, the RRZK provides the OTRS ticket system. Via OTRS, requests can be commented on and answered by multiple persons synchronously and asynchronously. The OTRS ticket system gives a transparent history of communication concerning topics and requests  - and it works straight in the browser.

Sharing data

For sharing data in general, without the need to collaboratively edit the same document at the same time, there are several services available to UoC account holders. Details on these services can be found here:

Sign documents digitally

The ITCC requires at least a so-called "simple electronic signature"/digital signature for certain documents (e.g. the guest account application). The use of a "real" electronic signature is much more recommendable because it is more future-proof.