EGroupware 17.1 with Collabora – Merger of classic groupware and file server with online office
Kaiserslautern, November 15th. 2017 – EGroupware GmbH provides the new version 17.1 of its groupware. The open source solution enables collaborative editing of documents without a client in an office suite, more variable customization of the appearance, an additional encryption option and many new functionalities in its sub-applications.
EGroupware version 17.1 adds a file server with Collabora Online Office to a classic groupware with an integrated CRM system. The complete package can be used as a German Cloud solution as well as in your own data center. In addition, the browser-based EGroupware does not require any
installation of an Office suite on the client. Users can share documents or folders with external partners and edit them directly with the integrated Collabora Online Office. All parties involved can create text documents, spreadsheets or presentations together.
Particularly interesting is the possibility to use stored information from the groupware or CRM system in further documents. Users can create a template with placeholders and save it in the integrated fileserver of EGroupware. Further information from EGroupware can then be added to
this template. In this way, users can, for example, check reports from time sheets online and release them as invoice creation. Or contact data from the address book can be used to send a quotation as an attachment. The minutes of meetings can be reconciled by several participants online and saved as an attachment to the corresponding appointment.
At our user conference five months ago, we were able to announce collaborative editing as a medium-term goal,”explains Ralf Becker, Managing Director of EGroupware GmbH. That’s why we are particularly pleased to have made progress when we were able to promise. And we’ve been
able to keep the other promises.”
This includes setting high standards with EGroupware in terms of security and data sovereignty. Version 17.1 includes a Content Security Policy (CSP) as the ultimate measure against cross-site scripting. At the same time, the groupware can always be accessed via a secure connection (https).
The manufacturer provides ongoing penetration tests and security updates. Users can also choose whether to run EGroupware in their own data center or in the cloud. The manufacturer EGroupware offers a managed service in a German cloud.
Since version 17.1, EGroupware offers not only PGP but also S/Mime for end-to-end encryption of e-mails and task management. Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions “is a standard for the encryption and signing of mime encapsulated emails by a hybrid encryption system. The keys are
stored in the collaboration solution. The public key is located in the address book, allowing it to be used for all contacts; the private key is stored in the user’s mail profile, encrypted with the user’s login password.
SpamTitan “is integrated in EGroupware. This allows you to mark mails as spam or ham and place mail addresses in blacklists or white-lists, which automatically makes the system learn. It is also possible to use SpamTitan as a service for spam and virus filtering for external mail accounts.
EGroupware has been improved further with version 17.1 in partial functions. In the address book, duplicates can be exploded and all contacts’ links (e. g. appointments, infolog entries, etc.) can be merged. The CRM function makes it possible to send personalized serial mails and to save them as infolog for documentation during a customer contact. CalDAV Sync removes tasks when the user has been freed from them.
As announced, version 17.1 allows EGroupware to be adapted even further than before – for example, a login page that matches the company’s needs. The notifications are presented in a clearer way, so that important messages can be recognized more quickly. Users will find easier dialogs for
selecting files or images in emails or when saving.
A number of new features will mainly affect administrators: In the project manager, notifications can be activated according to the roles of users. For security reasons, the configuration allows you to set up protection against deletion for projects or restore deleted projects. Administrators get an overview page of the configured groups. And they have the ability to export all access rights as CSV with filters for users, groups and applications.
The contributions and wishes of users at our last user conference and the ongoing suggestions from our new forum help.egroupware.org have given us substantial impulses “, explains Ralf Becker, managing director of EGroupware GmbH. Incorporating user suggestions and wishes is also a feature of Open Source, and so we will continue to develop EGroupware beyond the new version 17.1.
