Online Office Tools
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E-mail services that can be accessed anywhere, such as Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo!Mail have been around for some time and are extremely useful. But until recently, calendars, Internet bookmarks, and documents have been trapped on whatever computer they were created on. Sure, you could save them to a USB Flash drive or burn them on a CD-ROM, but there's always the possibility that the computer you need to use might not have an available USB port or a functional CD drive. This may result in different versions existing in different places.
Online office tools can help alleviate these issues, and many of these services are free or have low monthly fees. |
Online Bookmarks
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When you come across useful or interesting websites while at the office, you can bookmark them for later use. But what happens if you want to access those same sites at home? Or while travelling? Normally bookmarks are available only on the computer where you originally saved them, in your browser preferences. Now, there are several sites which allow you to create online bookmark files that can be utilized from any computer with internet access, you only have to remember the URL of the site where you've stored the bookmarks!
Bookmarking sites include: MyBookmarks, Google, and Yahoo.
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Calendars and Collaborative Documents
Online calendars are a way to keep track of appointments and other date sensitive items from anywhere, and they can be set up for either personal use, or they can be shared. Google, Yahoo, and GoDaddy are just a few of the available ones.
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Creating and saving documents online is also possible. You can easily create spreadsheets, databases and word documents that can be accessed from anywhere. Using an online tool, such as Google documents, ensures you are always working from the most up-to-date version. Generally these documents can be set up for your own personal use, or to be shared with others.
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WebEx WebOffice is a full online collaborative tool that not only encompasses online documents and calendars, but also includes items such as task lists and online meetings.
You will need to create an account for all of these online tools, unless you already have a login for other services with the same company (e.g. to use Google's bookmarking tool, you can use your Gmail login).
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Security
From an individual standpoint, it is never wise to freely share personal information, so when using tools such as these, consider thoroughly who may have access to the information, and the security safeguards in place for the tool. In addition, review instructions carefully to avoid accidentally making your information available to the whole World Wide Web.
As a healthcare professional, it is also important to consider patient privacy. Some online collaboration tools may be better used strictly for office administration or personal use, rather than for anything that is patient specific.
If you want to learn more about privacy or internet security, check out the OMA's privacy toolkit, and CyberMed's Internet 2 seminar (available in-class or online). |
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