HTML5, the next major revision of the HTML standard, has given us the ability to support file uploads via the web interface using drag and drop. You can now simply drag and drop files from your desktop to your Workspaces. The simplicity of this new feature makes file sharing and online collaboration a breeze.

Right now, this feature is available in Chrome, Firefox, and newer versions of Safari. We have heard rumors that Internet Explorer 9 (which is currently in Beta) will support HTML5 including drag and drop.  However, if you want to try this out now, download one of the modern browsers I mentioned above.   We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this cool feature.  We hope you are as excited as we are.  Tell us what you think by commenting on this post.

Happy dragging and dropping!

EBSCO Media chooses Onehub to create a better customer portal experience and enable sales team

EBSCO Media, Alabama’s largest commercial printer chooses Onehub to make it easy for their customers to share important business information with them.

EBSCO Media is Alabama’s largest commercial printer offering a full-service printing experience for customers across the United States. EBSCO provides offset and digital printing excellence as well as the ability to design, bind, fulfill, and mail custom-printed pieces. In business more than 60 years, EBSCO Media operates its 130,000 square-foot production facility and 50,000 square-foot warehouse in Birmingham, Alabama 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Situation
EBSCO receives hundreds of files a month from customers who need printing services. These files are typically InDesign, PDFs, and Quark files or any other file type used in desktop publishing. They also need to share different types of graphical and audio-video media files, spreadsheets, and presentation documents with partners.

Prior to finding Onehub, EBSCO hosted its own solution using a legacy file sharing product. EBSCO understood their current file sharing system had limitations and proactively looked for a better solution.

Solution
EBSCO Media found that Onehub was what they were looking for — and more.

“I wanted a third party solution that we could brand to look like our own. A solution that would work well for everyone, and is easy to use regardless of their computer knowledge. It needed to be web-based and have a way to segregate notifications so that the proper people are notified when files are uploaded,” says Randy Jamerson, Prepress Systems Administrator. “We also needed the ability to control access to specific files and folders so that customers could view only the files that belonged to them, not everything on the system. Onehub’s page and folder level permissions provided EBSCO Media with this functionality.”

EBSCO uses Onehub to make it easier for customers to upload files and for the customer service representatives and sales representatives to more easily access these files and related information. It’s a win–win for all parties involved.

“Our customers are overwhelmingly positive about the change from using traditional FTP to Onehub. Our salespeople now have more access to files without having to wade through information that doesn’t pertain to them. We are also using Onehub internally as an intranet for sales resources and training information.” says Randy Jamerson.

Research suggests that 50% of valuable business information and files are stored on individual employee computers. That is a huge amount of important business insights and possible ideas that aren’t available to other people inside your company or your business partners and clients outside of your company. There they are locked away on individual computers.

This is why we are excited to announce Onehub Sync.

Onehub Sync makes it easy to unleash the files and information stored on individual computers by creating a link to your Onehub workspaces in the cloud. This way you can not only share files and collaborate with people inside your company but also outside your company. It makes information sharing with external partners and vendors or even customers seamless and easy. By connecting your computer to the robust collaboration tools offered in Onehub Workspaces you can more productively and efficiently work with people inside and outside your firewall.

Want to see it in action? Watch this short video.

How it works:
You download the Onehub Sync client to your computer and install. A Onehub folder will be created in your “Documents” folder. You can determine which Onehub Workspaces you would like to sync and turn them on in the Onehub application. When you put files into the Onehub folder on your computer it continuously syncs those files to your client extranets, partner portals, or internal department intranets on Onehub and vice versa. Everyone gets notified via email of new files and changes that are synced so you’re always on the same page. Onehub Sync provides a seamless connection from your computer to the cloud and from your office to others around the world.

We are happy to have Onehub Sync applications available for both Mac and Windows. We will be releasing these to our customers over the next few weeks.We look forward to hearing your feedback about this great new feature. If you are a customer and would like to try Onehub Sync, please contact us at [email protected] or 1-877-644-7774.

To continue our blog series “Conversations with Customers”, I had the honor of speaking with David Winters-McDonald; the General Manager of MPC Studios Inc. David explains how using Onehub for both a company intranet and FTP replacement has saved him time and provides a reliable solution for his clients.

Laurel Moudy (Onehub): Can you tell us a little about what MPC Studios does, and what role you play in the company?

David Winters-McDonald General Manager, MPC Studios

David McDonald (MPC Studios): MPC Studios is an Advertising Agency with a dedicated focus on Website Design, Online Marketing, and New Media. We started in 1998 as a small group of young geeks in South Texas, and have grown into a very successful company with over 150 clients across the country. I started working with the company 9 years ago filling in any role that was needed and today I am the General Manager, still filling in any role that is needed.

Laurel Moudy: How did you hear about Onehub?

David McDonald: I found Onehub while searching for an FTP service for one of our clients.

Laurel Moudy: And how is MPC Studios using Onehub today?

David McDonald: We use Onehub in a variety of ways. First we use it internally to transfer large documents between our offices and with our contractors abroad. Second, we use it with a handful of our clients that need an internal FTP tool for distributing files. Third, we have setup small intranets for our clients to use.

Laurel Moudy: Can you give me an example of a client that you work with and how you’re using Onehub with them?

David McDonald: One of our clients is a research group at the University of Texas in Austin that received an EFRC grant from the Department of Energy. Part of the grant stipulates how the progress and activities of the group should be communicated online. They have a public facing website where their activities can be displayed but they also have a private facing section where they distribute materials to the participating researchers. For the private side we have setup Onehub where the researchers can login to upload and download files.

Laurel Moudy: How did you manage the process of sharing files and collaborating before Onehub?

David McDonald: Previously we managed our own FTP server or traded files over email.

Laurel Moudy: Why did you make the switch to Onehub?

David McDonald: We decided to use Onehub rather than a traditional FTP server because of the easy to use interface and because it was very simple to setup. It was not unusual for us to have to train our clients to use FTP whereas with Onehub it was all very intuitive.

Laurel Moudy: How is your company benefiting from using Onehub?

David McDonald: For us, Onehub saves time provisioning accounts and training users. It also enables us to provide this solution to our clients.

Laurel Moudy: What are your clients, partners, and colleagues saying about the Onehub service?

David McDonald: Generally our clients have very little to say about the service. It just works. Previously, with FTP or email, there were occasional problems and that always comes with complaints. The silence speaks volumes to the reliability of the service.

Laurel Moudy: What is your favorite feature in Onehub?

David McDonald: My favorite feature is that the file sharing can be accessed through an easy to use web interface or through a traditional FTP client. This suits both the tech savvy and the tech novices.

Made by Onehub. Powered by Onehub. But we’ll keep that between us.

We’ve recently added an exciting new feature to the Enterprise Edition that allows you to remove all the Onehub branding so it looks like a solution that you developed. Absolutely no Onehub logos. Just use the white label settings found in the Account profile section to customize Onehub even further.

Here is a look at the settings you can use to customize your Onehub account.

Custom Domain Mapping

Create custom URLs that include your company name and exclude Onehub.

Hide the Help Menu in the Onehub Bar

Hides the Help link and drop-down menu in the top black bar.

Hide the logo in the Onehub Bar

Replaces the Onehub logo in the top black bar with a text link to the User Home

Hide the logo in the user home

Removes the Onehub logo in the User Home area including Home, Activity, and Settings

Questions about the Onehub white label solution? Feel free to contact [email protected].

In tough economic times construction companies are looking to be more efficient than ever. Reducing costs and accelerating timelines are a top priority. Many look to technology to help them improve their operational efficiency. Web-based software is particularly great at helping construction companies throughout the construction management process because it can be accessed anytime and anywhere — whether in the office, home office or on a jobsite.

Centralizing Documents and Making Project Management Easier

Onehub helps many construction companies connect and coordinate the work of general contractors, subcontractors, architects, and construction workers. By helping companies create a centralized repository for access to documents and business information, Onehub allows sharing of blueprints and construction drawings, RFIs, submittals, purchase orders, site photos and more. That is why construction companies like DTR Contractors, Coastal Construction and Vali Cooper & Associates are using Onehub to enable better project management and make sharing files easier.

Do you have questions about how Onehub can help your construction management company be more efficient? Email us at [email protected] to find out more.

It’s time once again for another post in our “Conversations with Customers” blog series. This time I had the honor of speaking with Jessica Ahlering, Marketing Manager for Chef’n. The interview below details how Jessica and the team at Chef’n are using Onehub as a retailer and distributor extranet.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): Can you tell us a little about what Chef’n does, and what role you play in the company?

Jessica Ahlering: We are a house wares company; we design kitchen gadgets, utensils, and other things for cooking. We also have a few other brands in the lifestyle and entertainment category, as well as cleaning products. I am the Marketing Manager so I handle all of the PR, trade shows, packaging, websites, etc.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): How did you hear about Onehub?

Jessica Ahlering: Oddly enough, I heard about Onehub through our website developer. We were looking for something that was much prettier than standard FTP sites of today, and our website developer uses Onehub with the company he works for and recommended it to us.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): And how is Chef’n using Onehub today?

Jessica Ahlering: We use it as an FTP replacement for hosting all of our product photography, which is one of the largest components of our selling approach. Onehub provides the perfect alternative where if we don’t have the product in hand to sell, at least we have an easy way to share and view product photos. We’re also providing hi-res images for our distributors so they can print them out for their catalogs or our retailers can print them out for store signage and other things.

A lot of our photos can be up to 12mb in size, and the Chef’n line alone has over 80 products, and when you include all of the colors that are involved you end up in the hundreds of products, there was really no source available to provide all of that without either slowing down people’s computers or being too complicated to understand. We were also really concerned with making sure it was brand specific. We didn’t want to create an FTP site that we had to manage, maintain, and host, because that was more than we wanted to handle in-house.

We currently have hubs where we host photography and videos. We also have hubs used domestically for our retailers, and others used internationally for our distributors, where I can give them collateral, advertisement and marketing ideas, PR samples, all in a very clean and presentable package.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): When you were evaluating various services, what led you to choose Onehub?

Jessica Ahlering: I did a ton of research on FTP sites, and other options and possibilities. We needed a solution that was easy for our retailers and distributors to access, so they see all of our products and easily download the photos to choose what they want. Some services in my search just became too complicated to do this. Also, I love how you can view the photos nicely and easily, which helps to create an environment where it feels like our retailers are purchasing the products in the store.

The second thing which is a huge bonus is the customization and branding. We have added our logo, and we can choose a color scheme that is specific to our brand. Not only are we a design forward company but we are very color conscience and very well known for that in our industry, so being able to provide a really bright and colorful online location was an added benefit. I think it’s just easier, I mean, all of the other FTP sites that

I looked at kind of looked like a Microsoft folder, and some of them were just way too difficult to understand and had no personality. One of our core values is that we are design oriented so speaking to our retailers and distributors through something with no personality wasn’t going to work for us.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): What benefits are you seeing from your use of Onehub?

Jessica Ahlering: A lot of the people and industries we interact with don’t have a lot of experience with computers, so Onehub has helped us to provide information to our retailers and distributors in an easy to understand format. FTP was simply too complicated for most users, and it would have been too costly to try and develop and manage something on our own.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): What is your favorite feature in Onehub, and why?

Jessica Ahlering: I would have to say the customization potential, I spent a lot of time customizing and tailoring Onehub to fit our specific needs, from the color scheme, to the layout, and adding the right features for each hub’s purpose. The hubs are friendly, welcoming, and interesting. I feel that our site will inspire them to want more.

Last week I mentioned our new blog series called “Conversations with Customers” and I’m excited to continue it with a new conversation. This week, I spoke with Adam Trimm of Construction Management Solutions, headquartered in Sierra Madre, CA. Read more about how Adam is using Onehub as a central location to access information.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): Can you tell us a little about what CM Solutions does, and what role you play in the company?

Adam Trimm (Construction Management Solutions):

We are a construction management company; also specializing in claims consulting, project controls, and 4-D project scheduling. We work primarily with agencies and contractors involved with large public works projects, waste water, roads/highways, and bridges.
I am an associate. I do project management working with the client, but I also wear many hats.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): How did you hear about us?

Adam Trimm (CMS):
I think through a web search, in hopes of finding something better than SharePoint. We had a serious issue (sharing information outside our network), I’m sure SharePoint is good if you have a full time person that can manage it and develop features as needed, but we were having a real hard time with it and wanted something simple.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): How are you using Onehub today?

Adam Trimm (CMS): My colleague and I share duties on several projects so we use it internally for file sharing where we both need access to the same files. It keeps us from emailing files back and forth. We also have some projects with larger clients where the client’s project manager has access to their own hub for an easy way for them to access large files that we need to send them.
We keep one Hub to share files between some employees of CMS marketing operations, and then we have project hubs that we share with our larger clients. We do all of our schedules in 4D, and link 3D drawings in our scheduling software that creates a virtual build-out of our projects. This process creates a very large file that we can turn into, say, an .avi video file that we then upload to Onehub and send to our client so they can see the project build before any ground is ever broken. These large files made it necessary to use Onehub.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): When you were evaluating alternatives, what led you to choose Onehub?

Adam Trimm (CMS): The user interface was VERY simple. In a good way, it doesn’t have frivolous bells and whistles. Another one we looked at is a construction management specific solution that everyone in our industry knows. Everyone has been saying they wished there was “software like it that was simple to use without the million useless bells and whistles that make the software so convoluted.”

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): And Onehub accomplishes that need?

Adam Trimm (CMS): So far it’s been great, exactly what we were looking for. Everyone likes using it and has been happy with it.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): What benefits are you seeing from your use of Onehub?

Adam Trimm (CMS): Everyone operates very independently so whether we’re on project sites, or home offices, or the main office, or wherever we may be on any given day; this is a nice way to give us a centralized location to access information. Sort of an easier alternative to FTP.

Kurt Ricketts (Onehub): Thanks for your time.

Adam Trimm (CMS): Thank you.