Visio 2013 Collaboration Features

Visio 2013 can be used by multiple authors working on a diagram simultaneously and changes appear to all in nearly real time. In this screen shot (which is best viewed at the Directions on Microsoft Web site), icons give notice to users about coauthoring or comments, including the following:

1. An icon on the status bar shows that coauthoring is taking place and indicates how many people are authoring the diagram. Clicking on the icon displays a pop-up window showing the current authors. Clicking on an author brings up contact information; communication with that author can be started using e-mail, voice or instant messaging (if Lync is installed), or a meeting initiated using Outlook calendars. Pop-up messages appear when new authors join a coauthoring session.

2. When updates are available after another author has saved the diagram, a notice is provided to the current user. The user should then save the diagram, which saves the changes made since the last save and reloads the diagram to show all changes made by all authors.