Social collaboration in the office

So we all know that collaboration and interaction through IM solutions have become part of our daily lives, but with so many to choose from where do we start. With the creation of SkyNet (Spyke and Microsoft) or least our rendition of the name, we hope that it will not be the end of the world as in the famous Terminator series.

I have recently discovered the true power of Windows Live Essentials 2011 and in all fairness, except for the added value of VoIP in an integrated Unified Communication solution and possible Live Meetings, this product set is awesome. Giving the capabilities with this free, yes FREE, product with Windows 7 it helped improve communication, collaboration and productivity in our organization. The 2 best feature in my mind is:

• the integration capabilities with other social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn and the ability to interact with friends and colleagues through Live Messenger even if they using Facebook chat or other IM products
• Live Mesh and the ability to synchronize 5gb of data in the cloud between devices. Add the 25gb of free online storage you get with your Live account and this makes for a pretty useful environment to share with friends or colleagues

I was very skeptical at first cause the usual questions prevails… what about the bandwidth and to say the honest truth, I have had no serious issue with it and it is not like I have my own satellite with unlimited and uncapped bandwidth. Will gladly get some feedback on your experiences or preferences…