Groupware can be defined as physical, technological and cultural tools that help groups of individuals become high performing teams. Groupware is a set of loosely related software tools that support communication and collaboration; e-mail is an example. More complex groupware tools include process and task, support and structure, and multimedia interfaces. Groupware represents the corporate infrastructure that faster’s this performance and helps team members achieve their goals.

Groupware technologies include distance conferencing, email chat, virtual communities. Distance conferencing allows for learning and knowledge exchanges using computers and telecommunications. This is versatile. This technology can be used to conduct an actual training class or to hold meetings among team members who are not in the same location. This can be used to deliver training to the employee’s desktop. It allows people to communicate and participate when they are unable to be co-located.

Groupware technology allows for a large group of people to provide their input and receive immediate feedback that has been processed and analyzed. Distance conferencing provides a forum for communicating, learning and exchanging ideas. Learning groups are gatherings of individuals who meet to focus on their own learning and development in a particular interest area such as information technology, public speaking or corner paths. Learning groups can use distance conferencing if participants are geographically dispersed.

Groupware can be divided into three categories on the level of collaboration communication tools, conferencing tools and collaborative management tools.
Electronic communication tools send messages, files, data, or documents between people and hence facilitate the sharing of information. Examples include:

E-mail
Faxing
Voice mail
Web-Publishing.

Electronic conferencing tools also facilitate the sharing of information, but in a more interactive way. Examples include:

Data conferencing: networked Pc’s share a common “white board” that each user can modify.

Voice conferencing: telephones allow users to interact

Video conferencing (and audio conferencing): networked Pc’s share video or audio signals internet forums (also known as message boards or discussion boards) - a virtual discussion platform to facilitate and manage online text message.

A video conference is also known as a video teleconference. It is a set of interactive telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. It has also been called visual collaboration and is a type of groupware.

Chat rooms: a virtual discussion platform to facilitate and manage real-time text messages.

Electronic meeting systems (EMS): a conferencing system built into a room. The special purpose room will usually contain a large screen projector interlinked with numerous Pc’s

Collaborative management tools facilitate and manage group activities: examples include

Electronic calendars also called time management software: schedule events and automatically notify and remind group members.

Project management systems: schedule, track, and chart the steps in a project as it is being completed.

Work flow systems: collaborative management of tasks and documents within a knowledge based business process.

Knowledge management systems: collect, organize, manage, and share various forms of information

Extranet systems: collect, organize, manage, and share information associated with the delivery of a project.

An extension of groupware is collaborative media, software that allows several concurrent users to create and manage information in a website. Collaborative software also known as groupware is application software that integrates work on a single project by several concurrent users at separated workstations. In its modern form it was pioneered by Lotus Software with the popular Lotus Notes application running in connection with a Lotus Domino Server, some historians argue that groupware was anticipated by earlier monolithic systems such as NLS.

Future prospects:

Groupware use has progressed from simple e-mail, file transfer protocol (FTP), and file sharing to list servers, discussion forums, workflow systems (e.g., EVS's CRMS [Comment Response Management System]), and web site interactive, collaborative management. EVS continually scans technologies for potential uses. Prototypes with distributed objects and push technology are under development. Other web-based systems for distributed meetings continually arise and are evaluated.
The future for these technologies is bright. EVS is positioned to combine many collaborative elements from its projects, such as messaging, evaluation tools, administrative control, and human interfaces. These elements are being combined for distributed project management, distributed meetings, and emergency system prototypes such as the Soldier and Biological Chemical Command (SBCCOM).