DeskAway recently got added to the FreshBooks Community Add-on page. Do check it out. It asks users to review the DeskAway FreshBooks integration. Would be great if you can pen down your feedback…

We ended 2008 by saying:

“We are taking forward one thing from 2008 - love what you do and do it more. Every month is a stepping stone to stay true to our vision - to provide simple, powerful and affordable tools to help people work smarter.”

We carried this vision with us to 2009. More than just building new features, 2009 was about reliability, stability, security, ease of use and understanding our users better. Since the app is already feature-rich, we spent a considerable amount of time concentrating on the stuff that hides under the hood - how to make the app faster, more usable and simple for our users. Even though you don’t request these things, these are the essential ingredients that help you make a choice.

2009 has also given a lot of meaning to our brand. What we stand for and why we exist? We often include users and customers into our discussions about what they feel about our brand. Is it simplifying teamwork or is it about getting peace of mind when you know that your projects are running smoothly. Is it about creating systems at your workplace and automating things or is DeskAway about something that is simple, powerful and yet affordable? So many variations, but at the end, one line sums up what people think of us, where we have come from and where we plan to go. This is why we got started in the first place back in 2007.

“simplifying people’s lives in the workplace so that they have more time to do the things that they really enjoy. “

The end result is a shot at having a work-life balance that is well poised so that work becomes meaningful. We try to capture that moment of ‘aha’ when you either strike-off that task or when you are in control of your work. That feeling of ‘freedom’, ‘excitement’ and ‘lightness’. Life@Work has become more complicated, wired and information-overloaded - and that is all the more reason it requires refinement and simplification.

Before we get into 2010, I would like to say thank you to everyone who has made it possible for our small company to compete in the global world. To all the people who reviewed, features, interviewed, tried, purchsed and came in contact with our company and service.

These are site and blogs which mentioned us in 2009…

20:20 social
Digital Media Buzz
CMS Wire
On Software
Smashing Apps
Web 2 and More
Be Bizzy
The Gray Hair Speaketh (Sanjay Mehta’s Review)
AppVita
TechPluto
Life Hack
Blissfully Domestic
Mashable
Michele Corey’s search for the Perfect Project Management tool
Indian Startup Diary
Blondish.net

These are print magazines that wrote about us in 2009…

Technofirst Magazine
BenefIT
Indiatimes Article

These are channels that featured and interviewed us in 2009…

CNBC Young Turks
StartingUP - ETNow

Thank you all!

Lastly, thank you team for getting these features rolled out to the world…

FreshBooks Integration
Open Task Lists, Recurring Task options & Team filters
Blog email, update company name, adding team members and editing/deleting message comments
Revamped milestones page, colorful labels and at-glance overdue stuff
DeskMail - Add tasks and reply to task comments via email
OpenID Support
Status Updates
Task Calendar View
Adding tasks from anywhere
Uploading files within task, extending deadline before commenting
Recurring task & cloning tasks
Blog RSS and better search
Upload files to messages
Themes
User Reports

Thank you for your time and wishing you Happy Holidays! Stay safe.

Cheers,
Sahil Parikh
Founder & CEO

P.S - So, what can you expect from 2010?
Simplifying the user experience and features even more
A few killer features thats going to rock this app!
Features and enhancements requested by our users
Integration with other tools and services (e.g. Google, Twitter etc.)
Additional help and interactive tutorials & videos
and obviously the unplanned stuff

We received a few more praises through the last few weeks, all mostly from Twitter. Love this tool to remain in touch with customers, generate buzz, connect & converse!

Are you on Twitter? Follow us @DeskAway.

The sunset is amazing! Sky and clouds get beautifully colored, reflections on the water, soft golden light illuminating the surroundings, birds on their flights back home - a total treat!
Mumbai being a coastal city we have many places where we can go and sit to watch the Sunset. Took this photo couple of days back…

People from all walks of life have work projects. They adopt ways to simplify, manage and get the project done. A simple to-do list written on a scrap of paper is probably a part of every household. Yet the use of the words ‘project management’ makes this most daily and routine task sound all technical, heavy and boring.

Often here at DeskAway we try out various terms when describing our product ranging from social collaboration tool, simplify teamwork, team collaboration, reach deadlines faster, task listing etc.. something that appeals to the potential user. Only those that are aware of the technical jargon would respond to ‘project management’.

This article by Megan Strand describes well the woes of a person who is faced with too many technicalities, even though they might know the subject matter well.

Leads us to the classic Shakespeare conundrum,

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet;

What are your thoughts and experiences on technical jargons? Does it get too much, is it necessary at times ?