The agony of choosing a corporate messenger: free, your own server, not iChat. Programs for system administrators, programs for the network Local communication
Programs for convenient online communication with your software.
↓ New in the "Network Communication" category:
Free
Net Speakerphone 4.8 build 090508 is a client that allows you to exchange messages on a local network. The Net Speakerphone application allows you not just to send messages to users, but to use your computer as a network phone.
Free 
Network Assistant 4.5 build 2668 is an application for communication and effective interaction using a local network, which does not require a dedicated server.
Free 
BORGChat 1.0.0 build 438 is a chat client that works for free on a local network.
Free 
LAN: Looking Any Network 2.75 is an application that, despite its ease of use, is quite functional. The LAN: Looking Any Network application will be useful for any type and category of users to be able to control and check a local or Internet network.
Free 
CommFort 5.40 is a multifunctional and quite convenient client-server chat, which is designed to work on a local network and combines not only text and voice chat, but also a tool for quickly transferring individual files or folders with files.
Free 
LanSend 1.3.0.27 is a convenient application that will help you send messages to other computers on the network. The LanSend application can send messages using a specific user or an arbitrary group of recipients as the recipient.
Free 
Intranet Chat 1.21b6 is a high-quality and quite convenient program for communication. The Intranet Chat program will allow you to communicate via correspondence not only on the local network, but also on the Internet.
Free 
Vypress Chat 2.1.9 is an application that acts as a text chat running on a local network. The Vypress Chat application can work between two computers or support more than a dozen.
Free 
VideoPort VideoPhone 5.5.6 is an application for video communication using the Internet or local network. The VideoPort VideoPhone application also has the ability to use noise reduction, face detection, automatically detects channel width and has other features that will ensure high quality video even with a weak channel.
Free 
Mixero 0.57 is a convenient, functional and powerful Twitter client. The Mixero application is equipped with tools such as Contexts, Activity Sheet and Filters, which allow you to organize and filter your Twitter feed, filtering out unnecessary information.
free
Mibew Messenger 1.6.4 is a free-source application that provides convenient and fast online consultation. Using the application, it is possible to add a button to the site with direct communication with your operator, and all communication will take place directly in the browser. The application allows you to communicate with a large number of operators at the same time and the choice of operator for communication occurs with manual switching.
Start
When I came to work on the first day, they showed me my workplace, gave me a computer, registered me in Zhira and Gitlab, and showed me the main means of communication between employees - iChat. You might think it was something about Apple, but it was a little worse.
To my oh-so-surprised face, my colleagues explained that this is how it happened historically (some link), and in general everyone understands that this is a little strange, but no one plans to change anything. After all, iChat (its full name is Intranet Chat - Wikipedia) has so many advantages:
- stands on our server and does not rustle
- everything is free (The author of the program released the latest version in 2002, free)
- “has an aesthetic and uncomplicated interface” (thanks for the quote, Wikipedia)
- has all the necessary functions - personal chats and “bulletin board”
- no history - restart your computer, and if yesterday your colleague Vasya sent you someone’s e-mail, go read the logs in a text file
- you can’t transfer files - welcome to a corporate ftp exchanger, shared folders on a disk, or personal clouds (I personally use my OneDrive account if necessary)
- It’s impossible to chat normally from an external network (it’s only possible to write to colleagues normally if you connect via VPN or RDP)
- You can’t write to someone who is now offline - if a colleague is working from home today, or left early, or it’s after hours - remember your message until better times
- to follow up, the client is only available for Windows since version 98 - no iPhones or online 24 hours a day
- Naturally, there is no normal highlighting of anything: code, links (okay, there is highlighting, but you can’t click on them), hypertext
So why not just use Skype/Whatsapp/Telegram/Viber/ICQ?
You can probably already tell what the problem is here. Firstly, all employees cluster around their chosen messengers. One needs to write there, another here, for one of my colleagues I even kept ICQ running constantly, he didn’t use anything else (not even iChat). And what is so typical is that no one wants to switch to another chat, and those who do not use them in principle (yes, there are many of them among programmers, mostly more senior employees, or paranoids, or both) do not want to start off.And secondly, I have classmates, acquaintances, and my entire contact list in my telegram, and it is impossible to properly separate my colleagues from everyone else. And I can only find out that a colleague is on Telegram by asking him himself. Sometimes I don’t even know that I have a new colleague until I see someone I don’t know at the computer in another office. In short, chaos.
Then I asked our department head if it was possible to take a newer and still more technically advanced program from Apple, so that everyone would not suffer from bullshit and could calmly chat in one place. “There is no such program,” came the answer. No way, I thought, and said that there definitely is, it can’t help but be. “Then find it, and we’ll see.” Ok, now is the digital age, everything is Googled, it’s not difficult to find something sane, I thought. I was a little wrong.
Chat requirements from the organization
- free or one-time payment for an amount below 5,000 wooden (“it’s free now, so I don’t want to pay, and even 3k every month” - approximately this is the attitude towards payment for chat that is in the organization, and I, too, am toad pressured to pay at prices that American companies offer to other American and not-so-American companies)
- installation on your server, if not necessary, is at least very desirable
- Russian language support (the English version is guaranteed to be used only by the development department, and then only with a stretch)
Chat requirements from me
- cross-platform. So that I could finally, while sitting at lunch, or in transport, or on vacation, write something to someone from my phone, and even find out what someone wrote to me. And so that my colleague, who has Linux, doesn’t make a sad face every time he hears the word “chat”.
- tailored for communication in companies. So that I have a chat where there is All my colleagues and only My colleagues
- live active project. So that bugs, like insects frozen in amber, do not hang in the product until the end of time
- file transfer. Well, why should I upload this picture to a shared folder if I can just send it through the chat!
- normal notification/unread sync. So that it’s not like in Skype, you catch a message, and then within 24 hours you find a notification about it on each of your devices.
In the footsteps of Aychat
At first I tried to find something similar to iChat, small, local, free, for Windows, without any tricks. Russian offerings in this market segment are often something incredible: a poor set of functionality, frozen somewhere in the mid-2000s, combined with a clumsy user interface a la “my first Delphi project” and an outrageous price that can marketers from JetBrains and Adobe can only dream of. Often the kit comes with a complete or partial lack of support.One of the best options that I was able to find is the “Comfort” chat. The name intrigued me, but in reality everything turned out to be not so comfortable.
The cost of comfort for my organization of about 30-40 people: 16 thousand rubles.
The product has attractive features, but is intimidating with its interface and does not inspire confidence in its quality. And for the price, we can’t climb with it.
Unfortunately, after several hours of googling, I was unable to find an option that met my criteria. If it does exist, I would be grateful for the link.
These hipster slacks of yours
Several times recently, in one place or another, I have heard about slack (Slack in the languages of the Romance group). That this is some new, previously unseen something, either a chat on steroids, or a forum with a strange way of displaying topics. Americans are crazy about slack, and every self-respecting startup uses it (on their MacBooks, while drinking smoothies and coffee from Starbucks). One of my colleagues recently left for a startup that is creating a competitor to slack.Well, slack means slack, there can’t be so much hype out of nothing. A quick examination of the patient showed the presence of new gadgets, some channels with hashtags and an unusual interface. And the desire to be on the cutting edge of technology was, of course, strong, but the interface of our overseas friend has no translations into other languages, and only Apple (which, as you know, can do everything, but doesn’t want everything) can install it on its server. Well, it's a bit of a fail.
Oh, and there's also hipchat. It's like slack, but hipchat. And there is also no translation, and there is also no way to put it to yourself. But for hipsters. And for robots.
But I would like ours
Having already become quite upset with hopelessness, a couple of weeks later I almost accidentally came across Zulip - an OpenSource competitor to slack (or maybe not a competitor, who knows), very similar to what I needed. It is free, and anyone can install it on their server, even if that person is a company of 50 people.Although it very quickly became clear that this option was not suitable due to its complexity (there are sections, in sections there are topics, and only in topics there are chats in which you can write something) and, how can I say this without Englishisms... okay, where without them, the User Experience in it is generally sad. And yes, only in English.
This is what a patient with an unclear name looks like
But it’s already closer, and maybe there really is something suitable in the OpenSource world! I searched the search bar a little more and found Mattermost and Rocket chat. The latter eventually received the People's Choice Award named after me, and entered our home as a new member of the software ecosystem. And why, because he has translations, translations!
This is what it all looks like
Briefly, the goodies and badges of Rocket Chat
First, of course, the pros:- There is a translation into Russian. Yes, it is not complete, but almost, and if something happens, you can translate the necessary things into your language. Translations are hosted on the portal lingohub.com, specially made for this purpose. The author of this post, to his credit (and modesty), has translated 60% of what has not yet been translated, and is not going to stop.
- You can install it on your Linux server with one line (really, just one, and it works).
- There are clients for all platforms except Windows Phone: (poor, poor WP! (I myself am a former Lumia owner)
- There is a web version, you can quickly log in from any device and, for example, transfer a log file from a client’s computer, send a stack trace, or simply write to a colleague
- Separately, you can configure all notifications: from which chats you should be shown notifications and from which not; separate notification settings for mobile and desktop devices
- There is a file server, you can upload files
- Free
- Actively being developed, new features are being cut, bugs are being fixed
- Bugs. Where would our loved ones be without them? They are. In some places, when you click somewhere, nothing happens, in other places, on the contrary, something happens that you don’t expect at all. But I must say that there are not many of them, and in general the situation is about the same as Xiaomi: cheap and with bugs, but overall it will work.
- The desktop client is on an electronic device, which in itself may not be a minus, but still not very cool.
- The mobile client is practically a copy of the desktop one, connected via WebView (probably). It is not fast or responsive on a smartphone.
- There is no list of all users anywhere in the interface. I don’t know about you, but in a corporate chat I want to see a list of all my colleagues. Because I don’t know the names of some of my colleagues, and I don’t even know about the existence of some.
- Mmm, what else is there. Yes, there is no "On Vacation" status. So I went on vacation, set the status to “on vacation” and everything was fine.
Winsent Messenger is a program designed for quick messaging and communication on a local network (messenger for local network). It allows you to organize a convenient and fast exchange of short text messages between individual network users and send messages and alerts to groups of users. The program is designed for use in small and medium-sized local networks of enterprises, offices and homes.
Simple and convenient interface
Search and import from Active Directory
The ability to import user accounts from a directory service will help you quickly fill out user groups in your contact list.
Compatible with NET SEND and WinPopup
Support for terminal server and latest versions of Windows
The unique internal architecture allows multiple users to use Winsent Messenger on the terminal server simultaneously. The program works in all versions of Windows (2000/XP/Vista/7/8), including Windows 7/8, in which the messaging service and the net send command are missing. These and the above features allow you to use Winsent as a full-fledged replacement for the messaging service (net send) and WinPopup.
Does not require a dedicated server or Internet connection
Winsent Messenger sends and receives messages in real time, without the use of intermediate servers. Messages are sent directly between users. No dedicated server, third party services or Internet access required. Since Winsent Messenger does not use public unsecured networks (Internet), your data is safe. Messages are transmitted only within your local network.
Economical use of computer resources
Economical use of computer resources is the result of careful optimization. Winsent Messenger is an extremely compact program - its installation package is about 600 kilobytes in size. The program works quietly in the background without interfering with your main work.
Free program
Winsent Messenger is a completely free program. Therefore, to verify the above, simply download and install Winsent. Considering the small size of the program, you will not spend much time on this.
Our programs for system administrators will help you keep abreast of everything that happens in the computer park and enterprise network, respond in a timely manner to equipment failures and software problems, and minimize costs and downtime. This page provides tools for monitoring the network, servers and hosts, for PC inventory, accounting for installed programs and licenses, creating reports on computer hardware, for traffic accounting, for studying the LAN topology and creating graphical diagrams.
The system administrator may also find useful utilities for searching files on local networks and auditing user access to file resources on servers. All these tools will help the system administrator improve the performance of network devices and servers and ensure the proper level of security in the enterprise network.
10-Strike software is included in the unified register of Russian computer programs of the Ministry of Communications and can participate in government procurement.
Programs for administrators, network utilities
A program for inventory and accounting of installed software and hardware on an enterprise PC. "Computer Inventory" allows system administrators to keep track of computers, view configurations of remote computers and lists of installed software, and track configuration changes (hardware and software). The program contains a powerful report generator. For example, you can create reports on the presence of certain software on computers and its quantity. At planning upgrades can be created report containing computers with insufficient disk or RAM memory. Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/8.1/2012/10/2016 are supported.
- program for administration and visual monitoring of servers and computers on the network, which allows you to observe the current state of devices in graphical form at any time. LANState monitors devices and signals various events. LANState contains many functions useful for system administrators: sending messages, shutting down remote computers, scanning hosts and ports, obtaining various information from remote computers (registry access, event log, etc.). Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/8.1/2012/10/2016 are supported.
- program for monitoring servers and other network devices, monitors the performance of hosts/servers and notifies the administrator of problems. Find out in time about a failure that has occurred (connection loss, server disk space running out, service stop, etc.) and fix the problem with minimal loss of time. The software signals problems using sound, on-screen messages, by e-mail, and can launch external programs, scripts and services, as well as reboot computers and services. Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/8.1/2012/10/2016 are supported.
- a program for searching files and documents on local network computers(via NetBios and FTP protocols). Enter a phrase or file masks and find the information you need. When viewing search results, found files can be immediately opened, saved to disk, or generated a report. The search uses multi-threaded technology, which significantly speeds up the work. You can set filters by file size and modification date. Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/8.1/2012/10/2016 are supported.
- program for monitoring user access to a shared folder and files, allows you to find out in time about the connections of LAN users to the computer. The program beeps, displays alerts on the screen, and keeps a detailed log of connections, which records information about who and when connected to the computer’s network folders, what files were opened, etc. Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/8.1/2012/10/2016 are supported.
3.0 FREE!
- scanner for local networks, IP addresses and hosts. This free program allows you to scan your local network and detect active hosts, computers and servers, as well as find open TCP ports. Supports scanning of IP address ranges and many protocols for discovering network devices (ICMP ping, port search, NetBios, SNMP, UPnP, ...). If you have administrator rights, you can read a lot of useful information from Windows computers. Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/8.1/2012/10/2016 are supported.
Sets of network programs for system administrators
Software suites for system administrators allow you to save money when purchasing several of our products or all at once. Get three products for the price of two and so on. For example, when purchasing Full set of administrator programs in option " for the organization"(without restrictions on the number of jobs), consisting of seven of our programs for system administrators, you can save up to 85,000 rubles or 30%!
Other utilities
- CD cataloger (CD, DVD). With its help, you will quickly find the files you need on the CDs and DVDs of your collection. SearchMyDiscs helps you organize your CD and DVD collections, allowing you to find the disc you need in a few seconds. If you are tired of searching for the right disk for a long time every time, this tool is for you! Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/8.1/2012/10/2016 are supported.
- program for analyzing Raw log files of the Apache web server. Creates various reports and histograms on statistics of user access to the website, and counts direct file orders. The analyzer has many settings and filters that will allow you to get accurate information about your site, downloaded files, and who is coming to you and from where. Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/8.1/2012/10/2016 are supported.
Payment and delivery
When ordering software by legal entities, payment by bank transfer is accepted. Invoices are issued electronically and an agreement is concluded. Electronic delivery: the distribution kit is downloaded from our website, registration keys are sent after payment by e-mail. After payment, the original contract and documents for accounting are sent to the buyer by mail.
Issue an invoice (indicate the required names of programs and types of licenses, your details and the name of the director for the agreement)
All our products and licenses are also presented in the Softkey and AllSoft online stores (follow the “buy” links from our website).
Our clients: small and medium-sized businesses, government and budget institutions, hospitals, schools, colleges and institutes, banks, oil industry, telecoms.