The key to Ray Ozzie's new software product, Groove, is its flexibility.
It is designed to be as spontaneous as a telephone but as versatile as a computer.
Groove's tools include a Web browser, a scratch pad, a calendar, an address book, a discussion board and space for sharing photos and files.
Consider this example of four people working for different companies in different time zones:
l Bill sends Mary an instant message asking her to join a virtual room using Groove. She accepts and they start drawing designs for a new line of clothing using the virtual sketchpad.
l Mary wonders how quickly the clothes could appear in stores, so she sends an instant message to Bob asking him to join the group.
l Bob sees the clothing designs that Bill and Mary have been working on. Bob then uses Groove's text chat or voice functions to discuss manufacturing and shipping schedules.
l Jill, who works for a chain of clothing stores, is asleep when colleagues in the other time zones had the discussions. She gets the updated drawings and schedules when she logs on, even if Bill, Mary and Bob have already disconnected.
l Jill adjusts the schedules to account for peak sales periods. Her changes are automatically sent to the other three.
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