LAN messaging or chat software

I'm looking for a LAN only messaging or chat software. Ideally free or low cost. Must be very newbie friendly. Would prefer something that could work with different OSs. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions greatly appreciated.

Bryant Owen
Tech/Office Admin
Peterborough Native Learning Centre

Hi Bryant--

Jabber might fit the bill. It's free and open source, can be used on a variety of OS platforms & also run on a LAN. You might also check out this past discussion on Jabber and other chat options.

Best,

Megan

We use a software from our phone system (Intertel) called Oaisys. It works okay, but is somewhat lacking. We tried to replace it with Outlook Messenger, but it didn't work well and there was a small licensing fee.

We just discovered Oovoo and while its not restriced to LAN operability, its pretty slick and even allows you to use a web cam. We're going to use this to assist with handling meetings for our staff who telecommutes. It's free and from our early testing, will pay dividends in conducting meetings for those not in the office.

We use Softros LAN messenger.
It 's a low cost solution, very simple and stable.
But it supports Windows OS only.

If you looking freeware, pay attention to these free tools

http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/network/fwnetworkmessage.html

Hope it helps.