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I'm a bit disappointed by the current comments here. "Skype" can't have been the answer the OP was looking for? It's like saying JavaScript made you a more effe

I'm a bit disappointed by the current comments here. "Skype" can't have been the answer the OP was looking for? It's like saying JavaScript made you a more effective programmer. No, it just made you a programmer. I'd like to add a less conventional tool to the list: We're currently trying out https://sneek.io https://sneek.io, a tool that takes a mugshot every minute and shares it with the team on a panel. Most of us use it on a separate device next to their workstation/laptop. The idea is that it simulates an office environment a tiny bit. This has two great benefits: 1) you know whether someone is behind their computer. Knowing that someone is away means your IM message will not get a speedy response for sure so you won't wait for it (or maybe not even ask it). This reduces time spent in IM. Secondly, faces instead of names, text and voices somehow makes the team feel more like a team. This concept was popularized by Sqwiggle, but they went bust. I'd be very interested to hear other people's experiences with tools like this. By the way, anyone found a good Screenhero replacement? Slack bought them but even 2 after years in development hell their calling and sharing support is ridiculously slow and buggy. For the uninitiated, Screenhero was a tool that gives everyone their own mouse pointer in a screen sharing session. Perfect for pair programming.

d--b 9y ago
Ooomph, I would absolutely hate sneek. It really feels like you're in an office. A few key benefits of being remote for me are that: - I don't want to sit at my desk all the time, because I like to walk to think. If you do this in an office, people tend to think I'm not working. As a remote engineer, not showing up on that screen capture tool would make it even worse. - I don't want to have to think about how I dress or where I sit or if I lie down. - I don't want to have the distraction of checking who's there or not. I get the idea behind it - that you need more human contact and everything, but this looks terrible to me.
TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
> Screenhero was a tool that gives everyone their own mouse pointer in a screen sharing session. I haven't used it though I believe TeamPlayer[1] has the functionality. 1. https://www.dicolab.com/ https://www.dicolab.com/
foreigner 9y ago
We tried a tool like that, everybody hated it and we switched it off. It just felt too big brother, especially for those of us that work from home. Made people uncomfortable and wasn't actually useful. Note: my co is ~30 devs split across two offices in different states, plus a handful of people working from home. YMMV
pbowyer 9y ago
Unlike the others I like Sqwiggle/Sneek. It stops me feeling cut off working from home. However Sneek has real performance issues and we had great problems getting the webcam/audio working reliably across computers, so we cancelled it.

d--b 9y ago

Ooomph, I would absolutely hate sneek. It really feels like you're in an office. A few key benefits of being remote for me are that: - I don't want to sit at my desk all the time, because I like to walk to think. If you do this in an office, people tend to think I'm not working. As a remote engineer, not showing up on that screen capture tool would make it even worse. - I don't want to have to think about how I dress or where I sit or if I lie down. - I don't want to have the distraction of checking who's there or not. I get the idea behind it - that you need more human contact and everything, but this looks terrible to me.

TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago

> Screenhero was a tool that gives everyone their own mouse pointer in a screen sharing session. I haven't used it though I believe TeamPlayer[1] has the functionality. 1. https://www.dicolab.com/ https://www.dicolab.com/

foreigner 9y ago

We tried a tool like that, everybody hated it and we switched it off. It just felt too big brother, especially for those of us that work from home. Made people uncomfortable and wasn't actually useful. Note: my co is ~30 devs split across two offices in different states, plus a handful of people working from home. YMMV

pbowyer 9y ago

Unlike the others I like Sqwiggle/Sneek. It stops me feeling cut off working from home. However Sneek has real performance issues and we had great problems getting the webcam/audio working reliably across computers, so we cancelled it.