Managing versions of documents that are edited by more than one person can be done more effectively by placing the file in a location that can be accessed by all the team members. This can be a shared drive on the company’s computer or on a document sharing service. People who need to use the document are grouped by their need for access. Three groupings are common:
- View only
- Edit only
- Ownership/administrator
The owner or administrator of the document can set the access levels. These levels of access can be assigned to each individual, or they can be assigned to named groups and the person can be made a member of a group. The owner of the document can choose to accept or reject changes made by those with edit-only permission.
The advantage of this method is that there is only one version of the file. If a file is being edited, it is usually locked so that other team members may view the file but cannot edit it until the first editor closes the file.
If the file is stored on a computer that is on a secure network within an organization, it can be difficult for team members who do not have direct connections to the company’s network to get access to the files. To protect the security of the company’s network, the network administrator can grant an outside user permission to access the network from anywhere on the Internet using a virtual private network (VPN) connection. A VPN uses encryption—replacing readable content with a code—to protect the communication between the network and the user to make it secure. The VPN connection gets the user onto the company network as if they were directly connected, but they still need the appropriate passwords to access the shared documents.
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