Spec me an enterprise instant messaging solution (e.g lync)

[wasc]

Hi all,

We need a corporate instant messenger solution. I've been looking at Lync 2013 but it's quite expensive and it's too geared up for phone calls e.t.c - we already have an Avaya Phone system so it's functionality we don't really need.

I've looked at several, such as Akeni Enterprise Messenger but I'm struggling to find one that really fits the bill. What we are looking for are

Must Haves
-Work Internally (duh)
-Work externally without a VPN (we can open firewall ports as needed, but something that works purely over https will be ideal as these ports are likely to be unblocked at client sites)
- Either a Mac OSX client, or a web based client as we have a few mac users (95% PC based) - HOWEVER if needed I could install parallels on our 2 mac users and then berate them for buying a mac


Be nice to have, but can possibly do without
- Message Logging server side (management need access to all chat logs for compliance)
- Active-Directory integration
- Screen/Application sharing
- Ability for management to setup groups, which are deployed to everyone (i.e. some sort of global address book)


It may be that the answer is Lync, but I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.

 

[wasc]

Hi all,

Thought i'd update this
We went with Lync in the end. Personally I think it's very bloated for a small instant messaging system (i.e. needs several SQL databases, and also needs two servers to get it working properly externally).

It also wasn't the easiest thing to deploy - however we're there now and it's working.

OpenFire was a very close second place - certainly was much easier than lync to install.

 

[wasc]

Actually it doesn't need serveral SQL databases and it doesn't need two edge servers - it's purely down to your design.

With Standard it has SQL express. If you go to Enterprise then it does require a SQL backend and a minimum of two databases (one for the edge one for the internal servers) if you deploy persistent chat and monitoring then the database count goes up.

On the Edge side the only reason you'd have two servers is for DR. Also Lync isn't just an instant messaging system - it's more of a collaboration tool. You can share desktops, powerpoint presentations, video chat, send files, integrate into the phone system, etc.
M.

Hmm, interesting. When we installed it, it seemed to need global configuration databases as well as local configuration databases. As we wanted message tracking, we also needed to deploy archiving databases as well.

In addition, we tried to get it working with just one server but couldn't get mobility working properly - we had to deploy two servers in the end to get it working correctly from outside.