30 Online Apps To Achieve A ‘Placeless Office’

In today’s Internet driven society, there is this constant push on being more interactive, more transparent and more mobile. It seems every time we turn around there is some new application that promises us true connectivity no matter where we (or our clients) access it from.

The question remains, though - which Internet applications truly aid you in freelancing or starting a business? We have a number that we use here in the office, and quite a few that we have tried out along the way. Below, you will find our list of Placeless Office Applications!

• Kluster.com - A great project management suite (seriously, check it out.)
• Quickbooks Online Edition - Anytime, anywhere accounting. No longer are you tied to the desktop to keep on top of your finances.
• Skype.com - Great VOIP services, chats, collaboration, and plugins. A real life saver for those long distance clients and associates!
• Freshbooks.com - A great invoicing tool that allows your clients to pay off or online through Paypal!
• Toggl.com - A very nice time tracking utility, perfect for a freelancer or developer.
• Timexchange.net - A free online timesheet for projects, teams, and individuals. Great for remote office groups or outsourced work.
• Project2Manage.com - a free project management tool that rivals a lot of the other paid access ones. You just have to live with a few ads..
• GoToMyPC - Access your PC from anywhere (when you do have to get on it).
• KBpublisher.com - Knowledge base software (a knowledge based CMS).
• LogMeIn.com - Another remote access PC application. We particularly like this one because of the tools that come with it.
• Goplan.info - another online project management suite. It’s very nice and works real well.
• Near-time.net - An industrial strength wiki-based collaboration platform.
• Hamachi - Quick and easy virtual private networks. It installs like an instant messenger and makes your applications and files accessible anywhere!
• Gmail.com - the old standby favorite for email.
• Google Docs and Spreadsheets - What ‘Placeless’ List would be complete without Docs and Spreadsheets
• Microsoft Office Workspace - the online extension of Microsoft Office
• Thinkfree.com - another online office app
• Zoho.com - a plethora of online applications to suit your needs.
• Send2Fax - For those few times you do need to send a fax…
• Iomega IStorage - Access and share files and pictures from anywhere in the world.
• 37Signals.com - Home of these utilities:
  • Basecamp (project management and collaboration)
  • Highrise (online contact manager and simple CRM software)
  • Backpack - (intranet, group calendar, to do lists, organizers, etc)
  • Campfire - (real time group chat for business)
• EditGrid.com - A pretty cool spreadsheet application that lives online.
• Carbonite.com - automagically backs up your files and stores them remotely.
• Picnik.com - lets you edit your images without a desktop program.
• Remember the Milk - Helps you manage your tasks and sets up alerts in conjunction with your favorite online apps and smartphone.
• Box.net - a great online storage service that integrates with other applications like Zoho.
• Echosign.com - Lets you attach digital signitures to documents
• Freewheel - View CAD files in a browser
• ProjectOffice.net - an online project management solution that offers some extended functionalities for time tracking, expense tracking, etc.
• Onstage Project Portal - Quick and easy team collaboration
• Fax2Email - A simple fax to email system

We couldn’t have a placeless apps list without mentioning where all of this will be going, can we? With technology like Google Gears and Adobe Air that make the Internet and our desktops more fluid, you are going to see a number of these online applications make the leap to your own local computer. They will automatically update your online portolfios and sync up whenever necessary.

For more information on Gears and Air, check out the following links:

• Offline access to Google Docs
• Another app using Gears for Windows Mobile
• Google Analytics goes desktop with Adobe Air
• Adobe Air makes its way to Linux

If you can think of any other noteworthy apps, please let us and our readers know! We plan on keeping this list going, but we’re sure we forgot a few that deserve to be here.

To your success,

Jason