Common World - FirstClass News

6809_11043_0.pngCommon World inc. has been servicing and training IT administrators and their staff on the award winning software FirstClass for over a decade now. Common World provides professional services for education and businesses around the Midwest. Common World has the experience and knowledge to take care of all your FirstClass needs. Below are some current announcements and important news items.



FirstClass v10 Server SP2 & IS SP4 has been released
FirstClass 10.0 Server SP2 and Internet Services SP4 components are available to customers who have a valid maintenance and support contract. This should be the last update before FC 11 release.

Posted July 26, 2010

FirstrClass Client v10.013 is out
A new Mac only FirstClass Client is out. It fixes Mac drag-and-drop issue. You can find it in our client download area.

Posted Aug 17, 2010

FirstrClass 11 RoadMap Released
Liked below is the official FirstClass v11 road map due out in Sept. Much of the new 'stuff' is customer requested updates and features.

Posted June 9, 2010

Message from Director of FirstClass Services
From: Dave Wormald - Director, FirstClass Services - June 4, 2010 6:53:36 AM
Our Commitments to Our Customers and Our Partners
  • Continued commitment to FirstClass: As Portfolio Businesses, FirstClass and OTSW are seen by Open Text as areas for investment and growth.
  • Improved customer focus: Our Roadmaps and our day-to-day activities will be more focused than ever on customer-directed activities.
  • Innovation: Our Engineering team will continue to innovate to deliver solutions to the challenges you tell us are your top priorities.
  • Transparency around our status, activities and plans: We'll engage openly and actively to keep you "in the loop".
Posted June 4, 2010


Scheduling Meetings & Training
We have had one of our busiest Springs i can remember. Our promotion for an administration staff meetings was a success and proves there is a real need to keep your leadership updated with FirstClass features and solutions. Im now promoting yearly or biyearly meetings with the leadership at your organization. As of now we are scheduled into July. Please contact us to schedule a meeting for a demo/Q&A session or a meeting for whatever your needs are. We have a wealth of knowledge and will help you really use FirstClass to its potential.

The more I talk with staff the more I see the need for real training. There is a lot of lost time and productivity due to the lace of knowledge of features and how to properly use them. To help this along we are going to offer a flat rate for staff training this summer. If you schedule us for any in-service time we will offer a heavy discount on all training time.

We are trying to plan a regional User Group Meeting and Tech Event. What i need - to hear from you on what time of the year would be best for you and what you want to see in this event. I would like to hold this this summer if possible and another one this winter.

For more information on trends and topics from our spring meetings --> Full Article Link
Posted May 28, 2010


Yearly RA Service Contract - Starts July 1
Common World Remote Admin Services ends in June and starts July 1. Invoices will be sent out in June for July payment.

Our RA yearly service contract has been very popular. The key features is off-site professional services including maintenance and updating FC components late at night. We also offer limited tech support via email, phone, and the internet. This including emergency support at all hours of the day/night, and remote monitoring software. Many of our custom server solutions are also offered free.

Next year we are going to add more services to our service contract. New services we are adding this year - remote net-meetings, special tech-help videos, demo server access, and special discounted pricing for new licenses and staff training sessions.

We limit the amount of RA Service Contract we will take on each year. We have a new opening this summer - Let me know if you are interested. This is a great service at a very reasonable price.

Posted May 26, 2010


FirstrClass 11 unofficial RoadMap
Linked is a break down of notes we have on FirstClass 11. As of today there has not been an official release of the FC v11 Features from OpenText. We hope to see that out soon and will keep you posted.
Posted May 26, 2010


Training and Consulting (special discount in April/May)
You may have been contacted by another channel partner or an Open Text sales person for training on FirstClass in Chicago or elsewhere. I wanted to let you know we are offering special pricing to you for that same training. That same training session (or any Open Text training session) can also be purchased though us as your Channel Partner and will be cheaper.

We also personally offer customized training at your site. We will travel to your site for the features you want and the needs you have. Save time and money by keeping the training sessions in your own building!  I will come to you.
Posted March 26, 2010


New Archive Services Notify
I highly recommend to check every now and then to make sure the Archive Server is running and the gateway between the serves is fully functional.  The best way to do this is to check the history of any message that should be archived. In the history you will find a time/date stamp for when it is Archived. (see the screen shot below) If there is a stamp on a message then it has reached the archive server, if not then it may be qued up and waiting for the gateway. This week working with one of our schools i have built a new solution that will notify your tech department if this unlikely event occurred. If you are interested in this solution or if you have any questions please let me know. All of our RA customers that have a contract with us will find this new custom solution built on their servers this next week. This services is free and included in our yearly RA Contract.

Posted Feb 26, 2010


FirstClass OTSM is out!
The long wait and delay is over. OTSM (OpenText Social Media) for legacy FirstClass systems is now out and can be installed on any FirstClass v10 server. We are now scheduling time for demos, and onsite/offsite installation. Please contact us for any services and questions.

OTSM is a very powerful FirstClass social communication tool. OTSM will help staff, students, and any remote persons collaborate using wikis, document sharing and version tracking, and web 2.0 forum based features. Its like having twitter and Facebook added to FirstClass. It also has an iPhone/iPod/iPad mobile client and a BlackBerry mobile client.

More information on OTSM (including video) - Social Media
Link to screen shots - Social Media_firstlook
Link to 'sneak peak' of the mobile client for Blackberry - Blackbery_firstlook
Link to some screen shots of the mobile client for iPhone - iPhone

More information on FirstClass Social Media - OTSM_Product_Sheet.pdf
More information on FirstClass Social Media - OTSM_Executive_Brief.pdf

OTSM 3 minute quickie demo - http://www.screencast.com/t/Y2RhM2U4NzQt 
OTSM 12 minute detailed demo tour - http://www.screencast.com/t/OWQ

Posted Feb 16, 2010


FirstClass iPhone/iPod mobile client update is now available
FirstClass iPhone/iPod mobile client is now available. FirstClass mobile 10.2.1 is now in the iTunes app store.

The new Apple iPad will run the latest mobile client app when it comes out.
Posted Feb 4, 2010


Future very bright for FirstClass on BlackBerry
The future looks very bright for FirstClass on BlackBerries.
There's still some work to be done, but a full Blackberry Mobile Client will be coming out. The Blackberry is evolving into a more powerful and capable device. OpenText is talking with RIM about the possibility of a BES mail module for FirstClass which could bring native FirstClass email, calendaring, and contacts to the Blackberry.

"... the delays in delivering a BB client have nothing to do with the development process here, and conditions have changed now (mostly due to things RIM has done that now enable us to be treated a bit more fairly compared to others trying to provide BB services) ...
The future looks very bright for FirstClass on BlackBerries.  We have some true BB experts on staff, and they are making incredible progress.  There's still a lot of work to be done ..." -  VP of FirstClass Engineering
Posted Feb 3, 2010

New FirstClass Solutions on the way
Had a positive meeting with our programmer last night. New FirstClass solutions coming. Our RA contracted customers will see new toys soon. All our customers will have access to new workflow and application/database solutions.
Posted Jan 12, 2010

FirstClass 10.0 SP1 Released
FirstClass 10.0 SP1 server components are now available to customers who have a valid maintenance and support contract.

The new product versions are:
FirstClass Server 10.0 SP1 Build 859
FirstClass Internet Services 10.0 SP1 Build 10.002

The new features and fixes (since FirstClass Server 10 Build 817 and Internet Services 10 Build 9.988) are listed in the below link.

Our RA Customers Running FC v10 have had these builds pre-installed already on their servers.
Posted Dec 21, 2009

FirstClass Social Media (OTSM - Open Text Social Media)
More information on OTSM (including video) - Social Media
Link to screen shots - Social Media_firstlook
Link to 'sneak peak' of the mobile client for Blackberry - Blackbery_firstlook
Link to some screen shots of the mobile client for iPhone - iPhone

More information on FirstClass Social Media - OTSM_Product_Sheet.pdf
More information on FirstClass Social Media - OTSM_Executive_Brief.pdf

OTSM 3 minute quickie demo - http://www.screencast.com/t/Y2RhM2U4NzQt 
OTSM 12 minute detailed demo tour - http://www.screencast.com/t/OWQ
Posted Dec 10, 2009

OTSM iPhone/iPod mobile client update is now available
OTSM iPhone/iPod mobile client is now available. OTSM mobile 10.2 is now in the iTunes app store.
Posted Dec 09, 2009

Update for RA Customers FirstClass v9.1 coming
We have a minor FirstClass update for all Common World RA Contract customers that are in good standing. This update looks like it will be the last we install for v9.1 servers. We now recommend this update for all Servers and have seen a real benefit in stability and performance on some servers.  This update should be on your server in the next week. (we have a few servers to get this on). The only reason we would not push it to your server is if we do not have access to it at this time or you have requested not to have auto updating.  As always this update will be preformed after 5pm - 3am. We only run updates when your organization is at low usage.

We are ready to update FirstClass v10 to any organization that is ready for it and has the hardware requirements. At this time we still are recommending to wait until OTSM and the next FC Client version comes out. Due to a minor bug that may be annoying and effect the way some of your staff use FC; we feel that the current FC Client is not worthy. OTSM has been delayed and we hope to see it out very soon. All other aspect of FC v10 have been working well and well received.  (i love the lighting fast server search) FC v10 is a great update. Please contact me for more information.

If you have any questions or need anything please let me know.
Posted Nov 16, 2009

iPhone OS 3.1 -  Sync Services bug
Upgrading to iPhone OS 3.1 has a bug where calendars and contacts synced through Sync Services get deleted from the device.  (calendar updates feature is broken in new OS?)  This means that the normal FirstClass preference setting to force a full sync doesn't work. (ie only updates are synced to an otherwise blank calendar/contact folder)
To get the original FirstClass contacts and calendars back onto the device, you need to uncheck the active checkbox in the handheld device preference tab, and then force the device to sync again.  (registers as a new device, and all content is resynced)

Support will likely have some technical guidance, but I thought I would share this as I know it took everyone by surprise.  Luckily there's a work-around.  Thought we should share.
Posted Sept 15, 2009

Open Text FirstClass 10.0 Release
FirstClass v10 is released.  I highly recommend to give it some real world testing before upgrading.  There are new hardware requirements. After the update the server will need to fully index. At this time the update and the process of indexing will effect the performance of the server greatly. You may want to perform the upgrade on a Friday evening and let it run all weekend if needed.

We will begin updating our RA Customers server in Sept and only on request. As always there will be no cost for our services when updating. All updates are after hours or in the dead of the night via remote connection.

We are now scheduling on-site dates for anyone in need to migrate to new hardware.


If you have any questions or need more information please let me know.
Posted Oct 18, 2009

FirstClass - midwest 1/2 day meetings
Soon i should be in your area for 1/2 day meetings with other school's administration and small businesses.  I wanted to see if you were interested in setting up a date for these 1/2 day meetings or a full day of services.  There is no charge for our RA Contract customers. We are offering a major discount on our time for any schools that have renewed their yearly maintenance with us. Meetings like these are included in the RA Contract and will also include a follow up net meeting. These meetings provide a good opportunity to go over all the past and future features of FirstClass as well as any custom solutions we provide. These meeting produce a lot of ideas as to what your staff can really do with FirstClass.  Principals have been very receptive to these meetings.  They are the hub of communication at your schools and our consulting and training in these meetings are very useful.

If you are interested please let me know right away.
Posted Aug 11, 2009

New FirstClass Client v10 is out
You can find the FirstClass client v10 at our site http://fc.commonworldinc.com/clientdownloads/
The FC v10 server should follow soon after.

This new client will be updated to all our customers sites that have our RA Service Contract.  You will find it on your client download page Your-Domain.org/ClientDownoads/ (the client may not be uploaded to site that will have a FC v10 server update delay)

I also want to advise not install this client update if you are not going to be updating the FC 10 core server any time soon. Most of the new features and benefits are only working on a FC 10 Server and there are some known issues (see the list below). Due to these factors it may not be a benefit to use the FC 10 client at this time.  As always, administrate the version of the server with the same version of the FC Client.

If you have any questions please let me know.
Posted July 17, 2009

FirstClass Mobile Client for iPhone has been approved
The FirstClass Mobile Client for iPhone has been approved by Apple!
Download it from the Apple iTunes App Store
Posted July 10, 2009

FirstClass 10 Upgrade License Distribution
OpenText will be pushing FC10 licenses directly to the servers.  There are some steps needed to install.  For all our RA Customers that have our service contract, we will take care of all your upgrading needs including the licenses.
Posted June 11, 2009


Contact us -
Common World inc.
608-875-5040

6809_11057_1.pngCommon World inc. is an FirstClass OpenText Channel Partner Reseller. We process all FirstClass yearly M&S Maintenance and new sales orders. We add value professional services on top of OpenText services. We look forward to working with you.

FirstClass is a registered trademark of Open Text inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.


Last updated Mon, Aug 23, 2010 11:06 AM