Need a Instant Messenger Program for small office
October 15, 2015 5:53 PM   Subscribe

I work in a small office where everyone's computer is a Windows PC. We need the option to send each other a instant message when it would be easier to do that then to get up and go down the hall to ask a question in person. What would be a good FREE program that would be suitable for us? We do not use Microsoft Outlook, we use GoDaddy for our email server.
posted by just asking to Computers & Internet (17 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Trillian?
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 5:57 PM on October 15, 2015 [4 favorites]


I work at a Fortune 400 company and we like to use Yahoo Messenger for technical chats because it offers more features and robust chat room capabilities. At the enterprise level we all have Lotus Notes Sametime, but Yahoo does the trick in our pod.
posted by robadobdob at 5:57 PM on October 15, 2015


Best answer: Slack has a free option for small companies and seems quite popular.
posted by sammyo at 5:59 PM on October 15, 2015 [13 favorites]


Seconding Slack. A group of friends uses it, and it's incredibly easy and useful, with the advantage of being accessible from anywhere, but only if you want to be using it.
posted by Etrigan at 6:04 PM on October 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


We now use Skype-for-Business via an Office 365 corporate account but previously used regular desktop Skype.
posted by briank at 6:06 PM on October 15, 2015


We [15 folks] are happy with slack. I implemented it with the goal of eliminating a bunch of dipshit 1-line emails and it did so.
posted by ftm at 6:11 PM on October 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Nthing Slack, free and beautiful and easy.
posted by amaire at 6:32 PM on October 15, 2015


We use HipChat at my work. I'm not sure how it compares to Slack but I like it a lot, the ability to have group chats and personal chats both is really useful.
posted by possibilityleft at 6:55 PM on October 15, 2015 [4 favorites]


We used regular desktop skype and had great success at a startup company I worked with. It allows you to edit messages (if you have typos), delete a message if you send it to the wrong person, allows for multi-user skype conference calls, video calls, and file transfers. It's a free download, can be added to your phone (if you travel and need to stay tuned in - it works out great). I am a fan.
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 6:58 PM on October 15, 2015


I've used Slack and Hipchat. Slack is slightly nicer (though more expensive when you get into the paid plans, I believe). The functionality is VERY similar. The look, feel, and usability of Slack is a little bit better IMHO, but it's not vastly different. Both are much more functional than Skype if instant messaging is your primary goal (rather than voice or video chat).
posted by primethyme at 7:04 PM on October 15, 2015


I can't believe I'm admitting this, but - our office still uses AIM. Yes, AIM. It's still free and it gets the job done.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:14 PM on October 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


I do not personally believe in the hype that Slack is going to kill email, but it is a damn sight better than most other IM solutions. It has almost completely eliminated my use of AIM/GChat and similar products to talk to my colleagues.

It does a good job of not only 1:1 instant messaging, but also two other specific cases which you may not even know you have (because other IM programs tend to do them poorly): persistent, IRC-style channels / conference rooms, and ad hoc group chats.

Their business model at the moment seems to revolve around charging you only if you want access to archived messages for search. Which is nice, but if you don't care about that, you can just use the free plan.
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:25 PM on October 15, 2015


Skype for Business (fka Lync) is what we use and it integrates with Outlook for scheduling meetings, etc.
posted by Flamingo at 8:18 AM on October 16, 2015


I asked a similar question recently and was also offered Slack, but my friends rejected it on the basis that it doesn't offer group voicechat. If you need that as a function, you should be aware.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 9:40 AM on October 16, 2015


If HypotheticalWoman's point about voice chat is an issue, consider Google Hangouts. I used it when I was freelancing. Not great, but good.
posted by sincarne at 10:08 AM on October 16, 2015


Another option is Jabber/XMPP. It's more of a traditional messaging app like AIM, but it does include chatrooms. ejabberd seems to be one of the best, and they boast a "180 second setup". Clients abound for pretty much every platform you can imagine.

Dreamhost has Jabber as part of their standard hosting package if you don't feel like setting it up yourself.
posted by sincarne at 10:14 AM on October 16, 2015


A small group of us at work are actually testing Discord. While it's meant for gaming, it handles notifications well, supported on all relevant platforms (both desktop, web, and mobile), allows for multiple channels as well as direct messages, and supports voice chat if necessary (I'd imagine that's not important in your case)
posted by chillin411 at 10:23 AM on October 16, 2015


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