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Basic Internal Instant Messaging Solution?
sk8dork asks: "I am pretty much _the_ internal IT person at the company I work for and I am recognizing the need for internal Instant Messaging more and more each day. While email is quick and easy to send, it's not always the quickest way to get your message to someone when they're not monitoring their inbox every second of the day. Having come from a position in Dell tech support I've experienced the MS communications solution but was put off by the instability of it and, now that I've looked into purchasing it, the steep price as well. For more stability we often used an internal IRC channel, but most people would either not login or they'd just be put off by its complexity. In this new company, where close to no one is 'computer savvy', I am in need of an Instant Messaging solution that is easy to use, secure, limited to our network, and inexpensive. I'd like to stay away from the mainstream IM clients such as Yahoo!, AIM, ICQ and others. We're running Windows Server 2003 for Small Business (sorry) and will be soon upgrading out of the SBE to regular Windows Server 2003. Any helpful information will be greatly appreciated."
Despite the trollish tone of the parent, the point is valid.
Possibilities, off the top of my head...
1) Different channels for different departments
2) An "all" channel where you can broadcast messages to everyone
3) Short, simple, impromptu meetings that can easily be logged
4) A variety of clients with varying degrees of friendliness, from mIRC to GAIM; or develop your own to fit the needs of your company
:(){
Not trying to be flamebait here, but I would have modded this up.
How big can the place be if the guy is the only internal IT person?
A shovel and a backhoe are both "technology" solutions. If you're digging a swimming pool, the backhoe is the better technology match. If you're planting two shrubs in your back yard, the shovel is the better technology match.
Why can't a cell phone work here? Does the "instant" message need to be in text and not voice? I'll grant that it might be too difficult to teach people to text message. If that's the case, I'm pretty sure a significant fraction of them will refuse to use IM and leave voice mail.
What's the magic of IM, as opposed to anything that will solve the underlying problem?
You said when you had an internal IRC channel set up, your users would avoid logging into it and were turned off by its complexity.
Regardless of what Instant Messaging solution you eventually decide on, will the situation be any different? If your users don't see the value of IM, it will be hard to convince them to make use of it, no matter how secure, convenient, or simple it is.