Product Review: Worldox IPad App / Worldox Web Mobile

My years of diligent service to our clients have finally paid off, as I was recently bestowed with an IPad2 in recognition of my long service as a legal technologist. I greeted the arrival of my new gadget with childlike excitement, as it would allow me to continue using my favorite IPhone App, Angry Birds, in its full IPad high definition glory!

It was also suggested, that as the resident document management guru, I should review the much anticipated Worldox Web/Mobile app on said IPad.

Of course, much has been made of the “rebirth” of the tablet concept, with the IPad leading the way in popularity (much to the chagrin of Android tablet users), and World Software Corporation have been quick to anticipate the market direction by releasing a FREE app for users to access Worldox Web Mobile on their devices.
Yes, the Worldox app is free! My pet peeve with the “app” culture is that so many of the things that we take for granted, are free in the PC world. Yet, those same features have to be purchased as apps on our tablets.

What is actually missed with all the hype over the new Worldox IPad app, is just how awesome the required Worldox Web Module is in its native raw browser format, without even using the IPad app!

You see, to even consider the IPad app, you must have installed and configured the Worldox Web Module (see prices below). This module is installed on your IIS Server (Internet Information Server), which for smaller firms, is typically your main/domain controller server. The Worldox Web Mobile program “listens” for inbound Worldox Web transmissions from the internet, where they are then forwarded to a Proxy Worldox Web Server. In smaller firms, this is usually installed and run on your venerable Worldox Indexer machine. The Proxy server authenticates the user requests (via a double layer of passwords), and then presents that user with the Worldox Web interface in their browser or device.

Once installed and configured (don’t even consider trying this without consultant help), you can use any of the standard PC browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari) to access your Worldox system. The Worldox Web page in your browser is instantly recognizable - with all of your bookmarks and favorites buttons will be right there in front of you! Simply search and you will see document listings just like you would on the “terrestrial” version of Worldox.

Double clicking on a document will download the document to your location (where you can edit it, and even upload it back into Worldox). Much more importantly, you can view the contents of the document right there in the browser window, and its crazy fast! This is the more common approach for using Worldox Web – perhaps you just need to verify information within a document while on the road or in court, so previewing is very much front and center in the mobile version.
So too is the ability to email the document – just click the send button and the document is attached to an email and is instantly whisked off via an SMTP request thorough your exchange server to the email address you specified, with the option of adding additional notes in the body of the email.

All this sounds brilliant (and it is!), but the “free set of steak knives” that come with the product, is the ability to do ALL of this in the browser of your smartphone! Yes, you can search, preview and email from the tiny little window on your Blackberry, IPhone or Android. All thanks to Worldox Web’s ability to transpose it’s pages into a “Mobile View” – where all of those pretty graphics are replaced with more workman-like drop down lists to accommodate the often limited bandwidth available on a smartphone.

Which brings us back to the Worldox Pad App. Download it from the ITunes store, and then click on it, and you will be instantly transported to your Worldox system – once again re-producing your list of bookmarks and favorite files. Now just dive through Worldox just like you would back at the office to locate your files. Previewing documents is a dream thanks to the luscious HD graphics on Mr Jobb’s latest toy, and the nifty way that you can use your fingers to squeeze or widen the document makes viewing a cinch. You can email your documents too, and they are actually sent through the regular email on your IPad rather than handed off to be sent on your behalf via the exchange server.

There is no download function built into the IPad app – but you can get around this by simply emailing the document to yourself. Likewise, there is no upload function, but again you can get around this by calling up Worldox Web in the IPad’s Safari browser – you get all the same options (including Upload, Check-In, Check-Out) that are in the regular PC based browsers.

Up until the moment I downloaded Worldox App, my IPad was solely used as tool for allowing Angry Birds to attack Hungry Pigs. Now, my IPad has been transformed into a bona fide business system! I use the Worldox App to call up project scopes and technical documents while I am onsite. If I need to upload my project notes to the office, I simply launch Worldox Web via the Safari browser.

And those Angry Birds are now my second favorite app!

Worldox Web Mobile: $1595 + support
User Licenses: $49 per user + support
Consultant Costs: ~$1500 (incl. training)
Call us and we’ll setup a live demo for you!