It’s never been easier to stay in touch with coworkers (and everyone else), and it doesn’t have to cost a small fortune, either.
Skype has long been the world’s most popular online phone service. It’s still often the cheapest way to make international calls as it routes your connection over the internet so that it only appears on the remote phone network close enough to its destination to charge you local rates.
Now available for free on both the iPhone and iPad, Skype is also the best choice for video calls as it does what FaceTime can’t: it lets you also talk to non-iOS, non-Mac users. The iPhone edition even has built-in shake reduction--sadly only on the rear camera--to smooth out the video stream if you’re talking while walking.
As well as video and voice calls, Skype lets you conduct real-time text chats
You’ll need to charge your account with some cash by logging on at skype.com before you can make calls to landline or mobile numbers, but if you want to talk to another Skype user, app-to-app, it’s free. Skype monitors the online status of any other users on your contact list so you’ll know in an instant if they’re free to talk. It packs a simple online messaging client, too, through which you can conduct a real-time text chat remotely.
It goes without saying that you’ll need to keep in touch with your email. If your corporate IT department follows the crowd, it’s likely they’ll be running an Exchange server. This boasts excellent iOS compatibility, and the iPad and iPhone Settings app is preconfigured to connect to Exchange, so you only need enter your email address, domain, username, and password--each of which you’ll be able to get from your system administrator. Once logged in, your iOS device will synchronize not only your email, but also your address book and calendar.
If your company is starting from scratch, then point it in the direction of Office365. This hosted suite offers an Exchange server managed by Microsoft’s own data centers, plus web-based versions of Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint. Prices start from $6 per user, per month, but if you only want access to Exchange and an online company document store then you can trim this to a bargain $4.
If you don’t already have a businesswide system in place, then Google Apps offers collaborative email, calendar tracking, document sharing, and more, starting at $5 per user per month. If you have fewer than 10 users and don’t need BlackBerry or Outlook compatibility, then check out the Google Apps, which undercuts even Microsoft’s $4 option--it’s free!
Anyone working on their own can rely on Apple’s own iCloud offering, which offers rock-solid email hosting, complete with webmail access, and a calendar and address book that synchronize on iOS, OS X, and Windows, as well as shared reminders.
