MappingTheWeb //

DISCLOSURE: I am a consultant for Oprius, but I am not getting paid to post this. I report the news and try to remain unbiased. Nonetheless, I suggest everyone check out the product for themselves.

Canadian-based Oprius Software has launched its newest feature - a full-fledged e-mail system. This new functionality is the most sophisticated and robust feature to date.

The company is targeting network marketing distributors and the ‘MLM’ crowd. Their package will offer a bundled set of organization, communication, and CRM tools.

Up until now, all services and tools have been offered at no charge. This addition, however, will entail a price tag as it is a premium feature. The first 30 days are free to everyone. After an introductory month, pricing works as follows:

• $5 per month (month-to-month basis)
• $4 per month (three month basis)
• $3 per month (six month basis)

Not exactly expensive.

This new e-mail functionality will facilitate list mailing and the ability to check and send messages from multiple e-mail accounts all from within your Oprius account. Other important e-mail features include contact information synchronization and an archiving system.

I look forward to using this new feature and watching how it integrates into the current offering. I think it’s a big step for the company and a good sign of things to come.

Last month, they launched an embeddable contact widget. I covered that story here: Oprius Launches Widgets.

For additional info on the current launch, click here: Oprius e-mail launch. 

For screenshots of the new system, visit the original Oprius e-mail launch post. 

Canadian web 2.0 start-up ConceptShare went live today. The Sudbury, Ontario-based group emerged from beta with a sophisticated product offering.

So what does ConceptShare do? Here is a short description courtesy of the company:

“ConceptShare is a web based application service that allows for the creation and management of interactive workspaces to present visual designs to others, communicate design intentions and gather feedback from team members, managers and customers.”

Essentially, the service was created to help individuals collaborate from remote locations. Moreover, the seamlessness of the system ensures that there is no overlapping in terms of progress and/or discussions.

The goal of the system was to replace e-mail and file sharing programs which were historically used on a chaotic level to ‘facilitate’ project collaboration efforts. ConceptShare concluded that this scattered, unfocused approach did not work. A solution was needed. Hence, the current product.

Not only will engineering and development benefit from this product, but also many business functions. Marketing, graphics, product management, and UI are simply a few areas that may also find this service useful.

To get a better understanding of how this tool works, take the tour. It gave me a much better understanding of how to create a workspace, contribute, and collaborate. This overview provides a great visual map of the system.

One of the first thoughts that popped into my mind was how good this product would work for graphic artists and designers. I can’t see a more well-suited group for this offering. The fit is perfect.

Pricing ranges from free to $199/mth and up (if you want a customized solution). On the whole, pricing does seem very reasonable, especially considering there is a definite value proposition at hand. The same cannot be said for many so-called ‘web 2.0 services’.

Some cool features that the company is looking to integrate into upcoming releases include concept grouping, RSS, a text tool, a ruler, an eyedropper, a community presence, voting and reporting, as well as DWG imports. Furthermore, large-scale future features include audio/video imports and a wire-frame builder.

I’m definitely going to give this product a good look-over and possibly sign-up for a free account to test its functionality. This is without question a slick, versatile tool that will make the lives of many a lot easier.