5.3.2.2 Online Co-workers

The information provided in the Online Co-workers window of the BSCW Monitor is more difficult to use, because there may be some room for mis-interpretation:

• you may not be visible as being online though you are actually working with the server -- because your Monitor applet has not been started or is conneted to a different server;
• you may be visible as being online -- because your BSCW session on that server is open all day, though inactive, and you have failed to set your availability to 'away/busy'.

To fully benefit from the Online co-workers Monitor, the members of your Workspaces should follow four simple rules:

• Include all member of the Workspace in your Address Book.
• In the Preferences menu select 'Auto-launch Monitor applet at login'
  (For this function to work, you have to let your Web browser accept cookies, enable JavaScript in your Web browser and set your Preferences for the BSCW server accordingly -- see section 4.2.2.1).
• Update the availability status whenever it changes.
• Indicate in the 'away/busy' message, at what time you will be available again.

If all members of your Workspaces follow these rules, the Online Co-workers mode provides fast and reliable information and is a valuable tool for establishing a quick, informal contact to other members who are using BSCW at the same time as you:

• Click the user name in the Online Co-workers window for a pop-up menu that lets you
• display the personal info page of that user (in a new browser window),
• send an email to that user,
• send a short message to that user,
• start a chat application with that user,
• invite that user into a chat
• select a computer conferencing application to contact that user.