Web 2.0 time tracking

To get a signature recorded via fax, recipients must use the service"s cover sheet. (image edited for clarity). The Office 2.0 conference was set up almost entirely without paper (except for some checks that paid for sponsorships). Even the contracts necessary to set up the show were signed electronically, using EchoSign. There are other companies that provide services to create legally binding signatures, such as DocuSign (review), but EchoSign has simplicity going for it. ***

We"ve covered the Web 2.0 startup SmartSheet a bit over the past two months [see stories on News.com], but we haven"t had a hands-on review. In light of two important changes with the product that roll out on Thursday, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at it. SmartSheet is a tool for tracking group jobs and tasks. It apes the user interface that many people use to track projects--the spreadsheet--but it"s got features more like a work flow application. For example, you can highlight a row (usually, a row is a task), and click the "ask for update" button in the toolbar, and SmartSheet will send an e-mail off to the person to whom the task is assigned asking for status. They can put their update directly into the form they get in their e-mail, and the update will show up in the sheet. ***