I agree with Jeremy, see if the engineers can use GoogleDocs or Google Sheets instead of what they’re using now, at least for the chunks of content that are constantly getting updated.

Then you could emSoftware’s DocsFlow, which lets the designer link to and flow in directly from their Google Docs account. (The engineers should of course share their files with the designers, so they show up on your Google Docs account.)

The beauty of DocsFlow is that while yes, the text frames in InDesign are linked to the original Docs file, just like a placed image is linked to its original AI or PS file, when you update the placed story to get the author’s changes, you don’t lose any of your text or format changes. Also all of the authors changes are captured as Track Changes automatically so you can see what they changed.

AND you can map the styles in Google Docs to the paragraph and character styles in your ID file and save it as a preset, if you want them to flow in formatted (or mostly formatted) from the get-go.

Go to emSoftware.com and download a trial, I think you’ll like it.

AM
PS I’m doing a free 1/2-hour webinar on DocsFlow and WordsFlow on Thursday, May 14, part of a series on remote workflows for publishers. More info/registration here: https://bit.ly/remote-wf1

Researching Google Drive Filestream, I came across this, perhaps it is the key to your problem?

—–
Making Files Available Offline
By default, Google Drive File Stream does not store a copy of your files on your local computer. This means that if you do not have an Internet connection, you will not be able to access these files. In order make your files accessible offline, right-click on a file or folder and select Available Offline under the Drive File Stream menu. Please note that doing so will store a copy on your computer, using up more of your hard drive space.
—–

I don’t know how your workflow is set up, but I would strongly recommend that all folders containing InDesign files and their linked InCopy stories be set to “Available Offline” for all users who need to open/edit them. As I said the linking and file locking/unlocking involved in the workflow is rapid and somewhat fragile even when files are physically stored on your own hard drive (as with Back up and Sync, or Dropbox, etc.) and if you’re relying on the service to sync these in the cloud on the fly, that’s asking a bit much, in my opinion. They’re mainly designed for single-file usage like MS Offfice files, not for files with many shared, dependent links like InDesign/InCopy docs.

AM

Helen, where are you storing your InDesign file and the linked InCopy stories?

These files all need to be stored in one location and users open, edit, and save changes to that same file/location. No uploading/downloading or copying/pasting.

Are you sharing a Dropbox folder?
All dialing in via VPN and files are stored on the office server?
Something else?

AM

Hi Laura, I’m sorry, I just saw this. Did you discover the cause of the problem? I’m sure it has to do with conflicting style specs.

AM

I was able to fix it with some simple editing in the IDML file. Somehow the layer reference for where the guides were located got munged up. They were located in a non-existent layer. There was a great Twilight episode where the same thing happened … guy found himself in a non-existent location. ;-)

I assume this is just one file that was damaged somehow. As David asks, has it happened for other files?

AM