Collaboration in software development teams entails a great deal of knowledge exchange. And this knowledge exchange usually involves actual source code. What could be more obvious than to use the development environment and the relevant source code directly as the basis for communication?
With Instant Review for Visual Studio™, all the development team members are linked to each other in a virtual network. Each developer can see the status of everybody else on the team and contact each person very quickly (1 click). Brief queries can be submitted via instant messaging, while Instant Review Sessions are available for more detailed discussions - with the option of adding a (source code) document for collaborating at any time.
Instant Review for Visual Studio™ makes this possible by eliminating the need for a separate application for communication and collaboration and by integrating everything directly into the developer's familiar working environment.
The familiar Visual Studio™ Editor provides the basis for collaboration, for making documents available to people at different locations for joint viewing and editing. Since not only the document contents are synchronised in real time but also the Visual Element Editor features such as labels and positioning, it feels to the users as if they were sitting together in front of the same screen.
Communication is provided via the Project Group Explorer directly integrated into Visual Studio™ that allows users to establish communication channels to the logged-on colleagues from the various project groups both simply and quickly.
When should Instant Review for Visual Studio™ be used?
Instant Review for Visual Studio™ is indispensable for any software project involving more than one developer. Thanks to the integrated communication and collaboration in real time, substantial synergy potential exists for any project involving at least two developers. Especially for teams operating at multiple locations the potential benefits are greatly increased.