Web4Groups is PUBLIC VOICE Lab's EU-funded software and service package that started as an international research & development project in 1995. The development was performed in co-operation with our partners Kapsch AG and Omega. PUBLIC VOICE Lab offered its Audiotex system to develop access to Web4Groups pages using a plain telephone or fax machine.

The results of this research project, which lastet until mid 1998, were manifold:

• IETF editing and implementation of this technology as MHTML standard by the Swedish research partner DSV. MHTML lets you see e.g., pictures embedded in an e-mail text.
• the software demonstrator service Web4Groups 1.3 (not on-line anymore)
• demonstrations at e.g., the Municipality of Bologna who uses Web4Groups 1.3 for pre-decision processes
• the first European conference on Voting, Rating, Annotation
• publications, such as the book "Rating, Voting, Annotation" (http://www.ocg.at/SR/srorder.html)
• a project web site with e.g. an investigation of real users' needs

The Web4Groups project continued on three levels:

• as a spin-off which was launched by Kapsch AG, Omega Generation and PUBLIC VOICE Lab. Meanwhile, the company ;-) web for us has been founded to roll out ;-)webforgroups™ 2.1 commercially.
• as the unified messaging service platform net.board, developed by PUBLIC VOICE Lab
• as the groupware service KOM2000 developed by DSV (http://cmc.dsv.su.se)

For all three platforms, which are based on the results of the Web4Groups project, PUBLIC VOICE Lab offers customised solutions, add-ons and support.

If you would like further information regarding Web4Groups or net.board, please contact Roland Alton-Scheidl (Tel. +43 1 585 22 80 22).