Workshare Simplifies SharePoint Office Integration

Workshare, a company that specializes in tools to perform file comparisons and document collaborations, announced it is shipping a product meant to more tightly integrate Microsoft's Office and SharePoint packages.

Dubbed Workshare Point, the new product is designed to let users more tightly integrate the two Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) products.

"Workshare Point provides seamless e-mail and document management between Outlook and SharePoint," Kevin Docherty, Workshare senior product manager, told InternetNews.com.

The concept is to enable users to quickly access SharePoint 2010 -- the latest version of Microsoft's collaboration and document management package -- from inside Office applications, including Outlook.

"It allows you to never have to leave Outlook," Docherty added.

Workshare Point also provides features to let users customize the interface in order to fit specific industries.

Docherty used the example of a law firm.

Using Workshare Point, members of the hypothetical firm can file, retrieve, and manage documents and e-mails without changing the Office products they use while working with SharePoint.

"The Workshare software helps transform SharePoint into a central document management system with its easy email management and project content filing," according to a company statement.

Among other features, Workshare Point provides the ability to use Microsoft's FAST search technology from the user interfaces of both Outlook and SharePoint.

Additionally, users can access SharePoint via standard check in/check out functions in Office, Docherty said.

Workshare Point also integrates with Workshare Professional (as PDF), the company's tool for performing document and PDF file comparison, as well as for removing hidden metadata and redacting sensitive information from files. It enhances Office's features for sharing and reviewing documents, the company added. However, Workshare Professional isn't a requirement for Workshare Point.

The subscription price ranges from $99 per seat per year, while a "perpetual/permanent" license starts at $199 per seat.

Workshare was founded in 1999, according to a brief company history. The company currently claims some 1.5 million users in 18,000 organizations in 65 countries.