Need IM suggestions for office LAN

[IFRs]

Any suggestions for IM popup software for use on an office LAN? I was using RealPopUp but my corporate IT department just changed the computer names to meaningless numbers. RealPopUp uses the computer name rather than an alias or login name, so I need another option. I'd rather not use AIM or Microsoft IM.

If this is not a good forum for this question, please point me in a better direction.

 

[Grenage]

Would an IM using the Messenger Service not suffice? There are many free available.

"Net Send Messenger" in google lists quite a few.

 

[Grenage]

I seem to recall "Net Hail" was a good one.

 

[IFRs]

Grenage - Thanks for the suggestion. I looked at Net Hail at

http://www.nethail.com/NT_Hail.html.

In the screen shot it displays the behavior I don't want - it uses the machine name to identify the sender. In the screen shot, it shows "Message from THERMIC to THERMIC.." where THERMIC is the computer name whereas the user is "Oleg Toropov". I was hoping for a program similar to Net Hail or RealPopUp that uses the user name instead of the computer name. Nice try, though !!

 

[Grenage]

Right, sorry I was sure It worked by username.

NET SEND (which is I believe what all/most messenger service programs use) can work by either username or machine name. I believe if you put in a username into Net Hail it would work.

I'm not sure what would happen if the username happened to also be a computer name.

Anyhow:

http://www.brothersoft.com/Net_Send_Messenger_Download_22177.html

is a free utilitiy which just gives you a nice graphical interface for NET SEND. You can put in usernames and type your message and off you go.

The only downside to this program (that I can see) is that it does not sit in the system tray like an IM.

 

[Grenage]

Okay tested. If you type the username directly in on Net Hail it does work, although it places a bit of spam at the bottom of the message about the product, so the previous link was probably better.

I did have (about a year ago) a really good messenger service program which sat in the system tray and it flashed when you got a message, instead of flashing it up on the screen. It wasn't free but it was very good.

I'll have a scout around to see if I can find it.

 

[IFRs]

Grenage - check out RealPopUp at

http://www.realpopup.it.

It is a nice small IM in the tray. But it uses the machine name. You can carry on a 2-way conversation, use groups, etc. I'm sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation of your suggestion!!

 

[SamBones]

SameTime by IBM Lotus uses user name.

http://www.lotus.com/products/lotussametime.nsf/wdocs/homepage

Hope this helps.

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

I am surprised no one has mentioned Jabber. You can run your own internal server and it isn't too hard to set up.

http://www.jabber.org

and

http://www.jabber.com

are a couple sites to start looking at.

iSeriesCodePoet
iSeries Programmer/Lawson Software Administrator

http://www.koldark.net

See my progress to converting to linux.

http://linux.koldark.net

 

[MasterRacker]

Does your IT dept support IM? If not directly, have you OKed it with them or are your trying to fly under their radar? If you haven't OKed it, they may not appreciate the extra network traffic.


Jeff
The future is already here - it's just not widely distributed yet...

 

[IFRs]

The IT department is OK with my small IM client. We are not going outside our office LAN. There is no traffic to speak of - it's just another communication tool within our 14 person office when email is too much work and a phone call is too intrusive. AOL IM and MS IM are way overkill, we just need a decent front end to the NET SEND functionality, which RealPopUp gave us.

At this point we are still using RealPopUp and signing our IM messages so the receiver knows who sent it. RealPopUp can browse the LAN for users and they are identified by computer name as well as login name so the sender does not have to remember cryptic computer names.