Considering Sharepoint, workflow order and document editing

Question

I am new to sharepoint and the firm I work for is considering it for porductivity inrprovements.
80 % of our staff will be working a contract document (MS Word) at the same time and making changes to that document.  Becuase most of our staff is global, they will review the document, add comments and make changes to it at various times during the day and at times can take up to a few hours making these changes.  The average document is anywhere from 80 to 200 pages long.

In sharepoint, can a document be created, then shared with a group of 10 people and allow each one to access the document and make needed changes and comments without locking out others?  

 

Answer 1

Beyond downloading to locally and making changes no(which i dont think is what your looking for), thats the entire point of the checkout system. Sounds like what your looking for it for them to "merge" there changes? which isnt possible because each user would overwrite the changes when uploading for checking in there local document.

Answer 2

Here's how you can create several different documents, and merge them together to create one master document, in office 2007.  http://www.endusersharepoint.com/2009/07/08/3-minute-screencast-merging-sharepoint-document-libraries/

Note that this type of functionality with multiple editors of a single document... is available in Office 2010.

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Laura Rogers, MCSE, MCTS
SharePoint911: SharePoint Consulting
Blog: http://www.sharepoint911.com/blogs/laura
Twitter: WonderLaura