I'm a software engineer and I've been building BeZoned for the past year with a small distributed team across Denmark and the Czechia. We use it ourselves every day to stay connected, which has been both the best testing strategy and the main reason the product exists.
A bit of backstory: I've spent years on both sides of the remote/office divide, and honestly, neither felt right. When I was going into the office, most days I was just commuting to open a laptop and join the same video calls I could've joined from home. But it wasn't pointless — I liked seeing people around, knowing who's deep in work and who's free for a quick chat, feeling like part of a team rather than a contractor sending deliverables into the void.
Then when I went fully remote, the work itself was fine, but all those little things disappeared. Want to ask a colleague something quick? You check Slack, wonder if they're actually busy or just appear online, maybe schedule a meeting for something that would've been a 30-second tap on the shoulder. Over time it gets isolating. You start feeling like you work near people rather than with them.
BeZoned is our attempt to bring that ambient awareness back without dragging anyone into an office. It's an online office that lives inside Microsoft Teams. You see your teammates, their availability, whether they're in a meeting or heads-down. You can drop into a quick conversation the same way you'd lean over to someone's desk. No separate app to install, it's just there in Teams where you already work.
It's still early. We're a small team and we know there's a lot to figure out. There are a few other tools in this space, but we think building directly into Teams (where a lot of companies already live) is the right bet. You can try it free, no credit card required: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/app/3d1b5a3b-cf16-481d-a608-db... (if you already have Teams)
I'd genuinely appreciate feedback on two things:
- The product itself — what works, what's confusing, what's missing. - How we talk about it — "online office" or "virtual office" feels close but not quite right. If you've seen or used tools like this, how would you describe this category to someone in one sentence?
Thanks!