5 Tools for Online Business Communication

Your writer is in New York, your marketing team is in Chicago, your information technology (IT) staff is in India and you're, well, more or less living at the airport. In today's business environment -- where employees, contractors, consultants and partners are spread across locations -- it's crucial to have online communications and collaboration tools. They boost worker productivity and save time that's usually spent in tons of meetings.

The following five Web tools and services are changing the way we work.