I enjoy Facebook and GChat as much as the next person, especially Facebook chat thanks to the large number of Facebook friends I am able to keep track of. Facebook has enabled a large number of friends to keep track of each other in real time, which is nice. That said – the chat has a number of problems including:
- Facebook Chat is buggy. It was and remains buggy often times.
- It is in browser only – you can’t close out your browser window and continue the chat – plus it is contained in one tab alone so you can’t just look around the internet and chat at the same time.
- Anyone can contact you at any time – if your network is large that can pose a productivity problem.
A few Instant Messenger clients such as Meebo and Adium are offering ports of Facebook Chat but those remain way too inconsistent as in some cases Facebook doesn’t sanction them and can shut off access with a tinkering in the code.
GChat is also a great in browser Instant Messenger but it has similar in browser limitations – and tab limitations! People also have to have a gmail address to use it which can pose a problem as well.
Both are great clients but neither offer the sort of features that businesses need, not to mention that blocking access to gmail and Facebook can help secure your business networks from viruses – AND – help save you from productivity draining websites.
That is why Brosix Enterprise Messaging continues to be the only client that I use at work. The network is secure, the network is self-hosted, and Brosix offers businesses a chance to choose the networks that they wish their users to belong to.
Check it out at http://www.brosix.com!