UPDATED 09:00 EDT / NOVEMBER 21 2013

The Plant launches Qortex : Revolutionizes multinational enterprise

The Plant, a Tokyo-based software firm, is bringing social collaboration to international companies with a new tool called Qortex. The offering entered general availability this morning after an extensive testing period stretching back to 2012.

Qortex is designed to help teams cut through communication clutter and focus on the task at hand. It achieves this by combining standard social features like chat, email and wikis with artificial intelligence that recognizes the language of a message and automatically display it in the recipient’s preferred translation. If an entry is not available in a one of the supported languages, users can request a translation from colleagues or add one themselves.

To further streamline collaboration, Qortex consolidates multiple communication channels into a single social stream that is not only easy to use, but also uniquely versatile. Workers can leverage the system to turn any entry into a presentation slide, prioritize emails, track which messages have been read across their devices, and share files.

For managers, the software includes “advanced product management features” such as to-do lists, customizable workflows and deadline scheduling, among other capabilities.

Programming accountability + more

 

One interesting thing Qortex has done with its platform is incorporate some sensible ways to maintain accountability within an organization.  For instance, the time-reporting feature leverages Qortex’s AI to determine the best points in time to request or remind you to provide this data.  It keeps individuals on task, maintaining workflow instead of letting the little things build up for later.  It’s a networked approach to productivity, instead of linear.

“The main thing we’re doing in terms of accountability is…requiring people to enter bits of info they need to at the right time,” explains Kilian Muster, Manager of Products and UX at Qortex. “[We’re] looking at who the project manager is, who’s involved in the to-dos, and what’s their action right now.  We’re looking at the life cycle and context of the to-do — we condense a lot of info, but at points in time there’s only one bit that’s relevant to a particular person.  We’re unique – I havent’ seen it done this way before.  It’s dyanmic, not static, to capture the type of info we need at a particular point in time.”

Qortex has spent quite a bit of time and effort into perfecting its software, especially given The Plant’s international presence and Qortex’s goal of expanding across the globe.  At first glance little has changed since SiliconANGLE’s first look at Qortex over the summer, but looking at the aforementioned updates and the application itself, it’s clear how much thought goes into Qortex’s product.

When you’re making an appeal to a worldwide audience, there’s certainly a lot to consider.  Organizations are becoming more global, already dealing with time zone and cultural differences, and language barriers.  So it’s quite an undertaking Qortex has challenged itself with, providing software to alleviate the quirks of international business.

“An active user base across your entire business is the critical factor for success of any collaboration or communication tool. The tools out there today often ignore the variances of the modern company, whether generational or cultural, and Qortex is designed to unite your company’s communications while preserving the valuable uniqueness that makes your teams effective. If your workers feel like they are in a foreign country when they are online, most of them will stay at home,” commented Anatole Varin, the founder of The Plant.

Qortex is is available for $10 per user per month with a free 30-day trial. Enterprises can choose to run the platform in the cloud or deploy it in their own data centers.

Contributors: Maria Deutscher

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