Central Desktop Unveils Version 2.0 of Social Technology Platform

ov_logo_blueonWhite
by || 02/22/2010

PASADENA, CA. (BUSINESS WIRE) – Central Desktop today announced a comprehensive update to its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) social technology platform, Central Desktop 2.0. With this new version, Central Desktop delivers a radically improved customer experience with a redesigned, intuitive user interface, and introduces several new features including a powerful online file viewing enhancement. Central Desktop 2.0 represents the company’s commitment to delivering the industry’s most complete and innovative social technology platform for businesses.

In the crowded collaboration software market, Central Desktop remains the only full-featured SaaS collaboration solution designed specifically for the mid-market since 2005. Central Desktop’s full suite of online tools for both internal and external communication helps businesses collaborate efficiently, increase productivity and reduce costs. Central Desktop 2.0 affirms the company’s position as the industry’s leading SaaS-based SharePoint alternative for mid-sized businesses.

“In order to have collaboration success, businesses need to focus on people, process and technology simultaneously,” said David Coleman, Managing Director of industry analyst firm Collaborative Strategies. “Central Desktop understands the importance of people in this equation and has built a platform that allows people to better connect and collaborate with each other. Central Desktop 2.0 delivers more functionality that will make it even easier for people to work together effectively.”

The new features of Central Desktop 2.0 include:

  • New User Interface – Based on usability studies and direct feedback from hundreds of customers, Central Desktop’s user interface was completely redesigned to provide a more intuitive, user-friendly experience that accelerates time to value and encourages user engagement. The new layout includes a workspace creation wizard, workspace templating, new drop down menus, customizable tabs and configurable settings.
  • Online File Viewer – The expanded file preview feature supports more than 200 different file types including Microsoft Office files, PDFs, JPEGs, TIFs, CAD files and Adobe Photoshop files. View files instantly within Central Desktop’s environment, eliminating the need to install licensed software that is typically required to open some file types. All files are also accompanied by a thumbnail image for an at-a-glance immediate preview and the ability to comment on files without having to download them to the desktop.
  • Improved Wiki Navigation – With Central Desktop 2.0’s one-click wiki page creation and page navigation enhancements, organizing online documents has never been easier. Wiki pages can be rearranged by simply dragging and dropping pages within a wiki tree, giving a hierarchical structure to ordinarily flat wiki pages.
  • PDF Creator – Conveniently convert, download and share any file type – including images – as a PDF with a single click directly from Central Desktop.
  • Internal Blogs and Forums – With a new interface and friendlier layout, Central Desktop 2.0’s forum and blog feature brings community and internal communication tools under one umbrella. A corporate blog, project blog or discussion forum can be created in seconds and used to share thoughts, make announcements or capture the evolution of ideas and projects.
  • Page Favorites – Frequently visited pages or files can be easily marked as favorites for quicker access.
  • Avatars – Central Desktop 2.0 uses avatars consistently throughout the platform to identify users and accompany their recent activity. An avatar can easily be created by uploading and cropping a picture online, within Central Desktop. A profile bubble with contact information is also displayed when hovering over any avatar.

“Central Desktop is a solid document management and project collaboration tool that has supported the global expansion of The Search Agency,” said Grant Simmons, Director of Project Management at search engine marketing firm The Search Agency. “With more than 150 people collaborating over three continents to provide integrated online marketing services to clients worldwide, managing workflow had become a challenge. The new interface, with its intuitive workspace navigation and simple overview screens, will allow us to streamline our project management workflow and provide ‘The Search Agents’ with the organizational tools necessary to expand our client services and contribute to our continued success.”

“Our top priority is creating a collaboration solution that balances utility with usability to increase user adoption for our customers,” said Isaac Garcia, CEO and co-founder of Central Desktop. “Central Desktop 2.0 is a major upgrade to our platform that paves the way for accelerated product developments later this year. Going forward, we will continue to build on our 2.0 platform to create turn-key, customizable solutions that target specific industries and customer segments.”

Central Desktop 2.0 is now available with plans starting at $25/month. Existing Central Desktop customers have automatically been upgraded to Central Desktop 2.0. For more information about Central Desktop 2.0, visit our website.

About Central Desktop

Central Desktop delivers a complete, pure Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) social technology platform that allows business teams to communicate and collaborate more efficiently. Easy to implement and scalable for mid-market businesses, Central Desktop’s collaboration software solution allows business teams to interact, share and manage their daily work activities from anywhere at any time. Key Central Desktop customers include the Humane Society of the United States, CBS, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Avid Technology, Omniture, Gymboree, InterContinental Hotels Group and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Founded in 2005, Central Desktop is a privately-held company with headquarters in Pasadena, California. For more information about the company, visit our website.