SOKRATES® Communicator is the link between your business application data, e.g. "Contacts" and "Projects", and applications you use every day: your favourite text processor, your browser, your spreadsheet, your image editor etc..
SOKRATES® web-enables these applications by a simple yet compelling idea: An internet-enabled application does not necesserily have to run in a browser to make it location-independent, it is enough to load and store documents over the internet. This is exactly what SOKRATES® (Team and Business Edition) is doing: It stores any documents written in other applications and stores them (or optionally only a link to them) in a internet-based database on the SOKRATES® Application Server. These documents do not need a path to be stored, they are assigned to contacts and projects, where they can be found anytime anywhere!

You can register your applications in SOKRATES® simply by dragging them onto the application area. That's all! The system comes with a predefined set of popular applications.

Even applications can be registered which are not document-oriented: e.g. your favourite messenger, a batch file etc. They can be started with data from contacts or projects. This way, the functionality of SOKRATES® can be easily extended.
Example: Integrate the free Unyte® web desktop sharing application with just a few mouse clicks and invite your contacts to watch your document while you are working on it!

As soon as you know you have to create a document, schedule it inSOKRATES® and define the template to use, e.g. during a phone call. These tasks are stored in your personal To Do list or in the list of the user you assign the task to.

SOKRATES® Communicator stores five different types of documents:

• Notes: Formatted text written with the built-in editor
• Local Files: Links to files stored on a local disk or a server. Only the link is stored in the database, not the file itself.
• Internet Files: Documents which are stored in the central database on the SOKRATES® Application Server. They are entcrypted and compressed to save bandwith. With this document type you can web-enable Open Office® or Microsoft® Office® easily without the need of additional servers.
• Addresses: URL or other links. This document type can be used to create collections of web links, to start internet services etc. Example: Use this document type to connect to Google® Docs & Spreadsheets®
• Paper Documents: Register the location of "real-world" documents like books, original contracts, paintings etc.

Addresses, Local and Internet Files can be associated with all kinds of applications for viewing and modifying.

Any number of Document Templates can be stored for each application. To crate a new document, just click on a template and then on the pushbutton: The correct application starts with a copy of the template. Type a name for the document and store it after editing, but don't bother about file paths!

The system allows a centralized administration of personal or public templates even for applications which do not have a built-in support for templates!

The enterprise-wide consistency of your document and email layouts are key factors for the success of your Corporate Design and Corporate Communication, while the coordinated use of document templates is a core requirement for modern Quality Management.

Note and Internet Documents are stored centrally in a powerful SQL database, the Document Repository. They can easily be accessed by any SOKRATES® Communicator instance anywhere in the world. It downloads the (compressed and SSL-encrypted) document and opens it in a local application for viewing or editing.

The document management system offers state-of-the-art high-end features:

• Check-Out documents for editing: Other users will see when document is locked and by whom. They can only check-out the last revision for viewing, but can not modify it. You will never again have different versions of the same document!
• Revision history: Whenever a version of a document is checked-in to the server, a new revision is stored. You will still have ALL old revisions of the document accessible!
• Document Compression: All documents are compressed for transport and storage for maximum performance and minimal storage space
• File Copies: Copy copies of your documents to your hard disk or memory stick
• Pack & Send: Select any number of documents in the document list and click Pack & Send: The documents will be downloaded, zipped, and attached automatically to a new email you can send to any contacts.
• Offline Editing: Check-out your documents to your notebook and continue working on them even without an internet connection. You can check them back in to the server later, when you have internet access again.

You therefore can use document locking and revision maintenance even for applications and operating systems which do not have an in-built support for this!

The document lists are available in all modules: They list all documents of a project or a contact, or you can define any view and filter for the document list in the Desktop window.