TeCFlow - Overview

The software tool Temporal Communication Flow Analysis (TeCFlow) reveals the evolution of interaction patterns in social networks. The goal is to build an environment for the visual identification and analysis of the dynamics of communication in social spaces. Communication patterns of a team define and indicate how that team works together. TeCFlow creates an interactive movie (based on e-mail or Web traffic) that shows this interaction between members of a work team. By comparing dynamic interaction patterns with the performance of virtual teams, TeCFlow can identify typical communication patterns of different types of virtual communities and shed light on how a team collaborates. With Knowledge Flow Optimization, the insights gained through TeCFlow can be used to develop recommendations for improved team performance.
TeCFlow takes as input a communications log and automatically generates interactive movies of the interaction patterns among the involved individuals. Each person is represented as a dot. A line between two people indicates a relationship. The closer two people are placed together, the more intensive their relationship (i.e., the more messages they have exchanged). The most active communicators – those who sent and received the most messages – are placed in the center of the network. TeCFlow is optimized to work with e-mail archives, but can also process chat archives, phone logs, and transcripts of face-to-face interactions.
Using TeCFlow, it is possible to uncover hidden Collaborative Knowledge Networks (CKNs) and their component COINs, CLNs, and CINs. TeCFlow tool addresses both the macro and the micro-level of teams.

On the group or macro level, interactive movies and the plot of changes of group betweeness centrality (GBC) allow observers easily and quickly to distinguish different communication patterns over the lifetime of an online community. On the individual or micro level, interactive movies and the contribution index make it possible to extract individual communication patterns.

This link brings you to the TeCFlow homepage, where you can download a free fully fuctional version of TeCFlow.