Waiter, there’s a zimlet in my soup!

From the bottom of alphabetical order rises Zimbra, an open source, collaboration and messaging software solutions provider, to announce its new product. Zimbra Collaboration Suite 3.2 Beta introduces the Zimbra Assistant and keyboard navigation, as well as beta features such as customizable skins for the ZCS.

Well-hyped among the new beta features is the expanded set of “Zimlets,” Zimbra’s own trade name for customizable web mash-ups, as part of the standard download. Zimlets are designed to automatically link to external data sources such as customer support and CRM systems, inventory management, manufacturing control and accounting systems, trading and risk management systems and HR systems. Zimlets can also be emailed.

Zimlets allow handy potentialities such as the opportunity to right-click on a phone number to make a call with Skype or a VoIP phone. One feature crucial to the function of (and allowing something of an understanding of) zimlets is Zimbra Assistant, an optional feature that allows users to interact with ZCS by typing requests in more everyday language than in a traditional pop-up form. Zimbra Assistant works with calendar, e-mail and any Zimlet, such as the SMS Zimlet for sending text messages or the salesforce.com Zimlet for adding leads to a CRM system.

The new version of the Zimbra system is a wise follow-up to the notice the firm recently garnered for receiving a Linux Journal Product Excellence Award in the “Best Messaging Solution” category for Zimbra Collaboration Suite 4.0. Zimbra roped in the trophy earlier this month at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco last month.

The Zimbra Collaboration Suite was also voted Best Enterprise Project in the inaugural 2006 SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards and received a SIIA Codie award for Best Communication or Collaboration Solution. That product was particularly noted for the launch of Zimbra Documents, a Web 2.0 application for the secure creation, sharing and publishing documents, spreadsheets and folders within an enterprise or organization, across organizational boundaries, or across the internet.