Confused about groove

[IT Girl]

Hi, I'm REALLY confused about groove and so I was wondering if you could help
me?

My company is interested in looking at Microsoft office live Groove and so I
downloaded the trial version. The first thing which I am confused about is
the trial- is this what users would see if we were to purchase or is it a
trial for the full version?

Another thing which confused me about the trial is that when I sent invites
to external email address to test the trial, it asked to download the trial
software so does this mean if we were to purchase this, would every
potential client, partner have to purchase it also? I presumed that we would
be charged per user with our licence agreement?

Also, we are also intending on buying office 2007 and when I looked at the
different types I see that ultimate and enterprise have groove 2007 as part
of the package- which version of groove 2007 would be included?

I would be really grateful if you could shed a little light on my queries.

Kind regards

 

[Mark Smith]

Hi IT Girl -

Yes - the trial version is identical to the full version with the exception
of the nag screen and limits on the number of spaces you can be a part of.
You're also on the money in guessing that everyone who you need to work with
would need Groove as well.

There are three ways to buy Groove:

1: Buy the $79.95 Office Live Groove subscription, which is good for 12
months usage.
2: Buy a retail version of Office that includes Groove.
3: Buy Groove through volume licensing. THis is only avaiable to larger
companies and you need to buy a bunch of server infrastructure too. This
infrastructure is bundled with options 1 and 2.

Remember, however you buy Groove, it is the same product with the same
features.

My usual recommendation is as follows:

If you're planning on using Groove a lot and you're going to buy Office 2007
anyway, buy a package that includes Groove. For your business partners and
customers, deciide if you the value *to your company* of them using Groove
exceeds $79.95 per year. If so, buy Office Live Groove for them.

My other recommendation is to check out our products and services once
you're getting familiar with Groove.