Hello ham22-ga,
Wow, I've searched and searched and the majority of the chat
comparions I found were from 1997-1998 - too old to be of much use to
you. I was able to find a few comparison charts. They are put up by
the vendors, however, and do not have dates - so use them as
guidelines only:
Comparison of Digichat, ichat, Volcano, & eShare
http://www.digichat.com/compare.html
Comparison of Raidersoft, Parachat, & Digichat
http://freechat.raidersoft.com/compare.html
Also, this article is old but includes a chat software user feature
checklist and a chat software administrator feature checklist which
may help you when comparing chat software:
http://wdvl.internet.com/Software/Applications/Chat/
Since I wasn't able to find a comparison of more than just a few of
the chat clients, I have included links to feature charts and pricing
info for the major java chat clients available. I'm assuming that you
are interested in java-based clients from the examples you gave, but
if you need something else please don't hesitate to ask.
VolcanoChat
Features Chart
http://www.volano.com/features.html
Pricing $495 - $15995 (depending upon number of supported users &
version)
ChatPro 2.5
Features
http://www.command-o.com/products/chatpro/features.html
Pricing $295
http://www.command-o.com/order/index.html
Chat Space
Features
http://www.akiva.com/products/commserv/prodinfo/features.cfm
Pricing $2995 - $7995
http://www.akiva.com/products/commserv/versions/index.cfm
Digichat
Features
http://www.digichat.com/PI_featureSet.html
Pricing $399 - $9999
http://www.digichat.com/buyitnow.html
Parachat
Features
http://www.parachat.com/product.html
Pricing FREE - ??? (depends on needs & configuration)
RealChat
Features
http://www.rcsoft.net/features.php
Pricing $495-$695
http://www.rcsoft.net/order.php
RaiderSoft Sigma Chat
Features
http://freechat.raidersoft.com/
Pricing FREE - $79.95/year
I see that nethound-ga has already posted the comparisons for
messaging options in case you are also interested in those...
I hope this answer meets your needs. If there is something that I have
omitted, please don't hesitate to ask for clarification. Thank you for
using Google Answers.
inquisitive-ga |
Request for Answer Clarification by
ham22-ga
on
21 Jun 2002 03:16 PDT
Hi inquisitive-ga,
Thanks for your answer. You are right about java-based chat, we are
looking for a chat solution to be integrated in a community site, not
a messenger software. It is also true that the charts listed are put
by vendors... but an independent view would be much more valuable.
So which would be the right choice for a small to medium site? To make
a choice we need a little more than just this list. I wondered if you
would have the time to compile a brief comparison chart for the listed
products, at least the top 3-5 in your opinion.
Thank you!
|
Clarification of Answer by
inquisitive-ga
on
23 Jun 2002 05:32 PDT
Hello ham22-ga,
Sure, I can put together a brief comparison chart, but it would help
me to know more about what you need first. For example, you mentioned
that you are looking for a chat solution for a small to medium site.
What exactly do you mean by small to medium? How many people do you
plan to have in chat at one time? Do you have any features which you
feel are 'must have' - for example, the ability to record and save
transcripts, the ability to hold moderated chats, etc.? Do you plan to
run the chat software from your own server, or do you need a hosting
service plan? Will you be running this on one site or multiple sites?
How customizable does it need to be? Answering these questions and
taking the time to sit down and make a list of what you need/want is
going to be of much more help to you than looking at a comparison
chart.
I do have one more chat client to add to my previous list:
ChatBlazer
Features http://www.chatblazer.com/features.htm
Pricing $395 and up
I also found a site with reviews of several of the top chat programs:
http://serverwatch.internet.com/chatservers.html
The other thing I would strongly recommend is that once you narrow it
down to a few programs that you spend some time either using a free
evaluation version (most seem to offer this), or get the name of a
site which is using the product and evaluate in real time. Comparison
charts look good on paper, but chat rooms are really more like buying
a car. You need to really sit down and take it for a test drive.
Hope this helps a bit more,
inquisitive-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
ham22-ga
on
24 Jun 2002 05:48 PDT
Hi inquisitive-ga,
Q: What exactly do you mean by small to medium? How many people do you
plan to have in chat at one time?
A: We are getting about 25,000 + unique hits daily and I expect a
constant load about 150+ chatters at a time.
Q: Do you have any features which you feel are 'must have' - for
example, the ability to record and save transcripts, the ability to
hold moderated chats, etc.?
A: Apart from moderated chat and logging ( which I believe is offered
by all the products mentioned ) we need a really good look and ability
to completely integrate the chat client with our existing layout (
change colors to match and all ... ). We also need an option to use
our membership database - in parts of our website users are required
to login to go to a members section and they already have their own
usernames. We want them also to be able to chat with the same names.
Q: Do you plan to run the chat software from your own server, or do
you need a hosting service plan? Will you be running this on one site
or multiple sites?
A: We have our own network of servers and would rather hots the chat
server on our machine ( Linux or NT ). For now we plan to run it on
one site only, but scalability would be considered as plus.
Q: How customizable does it need to be?
A: Extremely customizable. As I mentioned it needs to fit our site
design and we even want to provide ( paying ) members with all the
functionaly, while restricting non-members to a certain room and/or
options.
Q: The other thing I would strongly recommend is that once you narrow
it
down to a few programs that you spend some time either using a free
evaluation version (most seem to offer this), or get the name of a
site which is using the product and evaluate in real time.
A: You are absolutely right. In fact we have demo'ed half a dozen and
narrowed the list to: digichat, realchat and volano, spin. It seems
that the first two have the best look and customization options and
the second two to be focusing more on the server side. When it comes
to pricing realchat appears to be the lowest in price, while still
offering nearly all the functionality needed. Volano is pretty ugly
looking, but they claim their server can handle 6000+ simultaneous
users..
In fact we have almost made our choice, but still want to hear a
second opinion, that's why I am asking for it here. ( btw. Google
Answers is really GREAT )
Thank you!
|
Clarification of Answer by
inquisitive-ga
on
24 Jun 2002 13:41 PDT
Hello again :-)
Based on your criteria, I believe there are six major chat clients
which meet your needs. Digichat Enterprise, Parachat Enterprise,
VolanoChat Pro, ChatBlazer Enterprise, ChatSpace Premium, and RealChat
Enterprise. They each offer the ability to customize to match your Web
site, support for multiple platforms, moderation capabilities, private
chat rooms, integration with your existing membership database,
scalability, free support, and the ability to record and save
transcripts. They also offer http tunneling for users behind
firewalls/proxy servers (with the exception of RealChat, I believe)
and flood control. I started a comparison chart for you, but given the
limitations of this text window and the fact that each of these
products has almost all of the same capabilities, I decided to just
provide you with some information/opinion instead.
Of the above programs, I would personally recommend RealChat or
ChatBlazer as the ones which best meet your needs, but at a reasonable
price. RealChat's biggest drawback appears to be a lack of
firewall/proxy support (I'm behind a firewall right now and can't get
into their chat room). I also cannot find anything in their
documentation which provides firewall access other than through port
8080. This is something you should follow up with them to clarify.
ChatBlazer is a bit more pricey than RealChat (depending upon your
scalability requirements) but loads quickly and does provide http
tunneling.
If speed is a primary consideration then I would consider Parachat or
ChatBlazer. Parachat is usually the fastest to load, but you sacrifice
a bit in user controls (such as sounds, which I don't like in chat
rooms anyway). Parachat has a bit of a reputation for being unstable,
however. ChatBlazer's drawback is that it is a bit newer to the
market, but I like the fact that it licenses by site rather than the
more expensive server license model. They also offer an automatic
login option, which allows members who are already logged into your
site to bypass the chat login screen and go straight to their
designated chat room (based on their membership profile). I would
probably make them my first choice, if they provide enough
customization to meet your needs.
If you want a completely transparent integration, then I would suggest
Digichat as they even use OEM Branding to provide client-specific help
files, etc. Most of the chat clients here offer logo branding, but
only Digichat specifically mentions the help files. Digichat is also
considered to be the most stable of the chat clients.
ChatSpace provides everything that you need, but is a bit pricey and
large for your current needs. They would be more appropriate for a
large-scale distribution (such as the ChatSpace chatrooms on
About.com).
If you don't plan to grow your chats to a point where you need a
license for a few hundred, then VolanoChat is also a good choice. It
is very customizable, though a bit clunky to customize and it gets a
bit pricey as your number of users increases.
I hope this helps. Be sure to check out Web sites where these chat
clients are in use and remember that there is no "best" solution, only
the right one for you.
Thanks again for using Google Answers,
inquisitive-ga
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