Meeting Adendum

Hello everyone,
I forgot to mention something during yesturday's a-team tech meeting. Reports suggest that Instant Messaging software can help increase productivity. I think this is something that would be great for our office and particularly our team. Here are a few programs I suggest for us to use:
Google Talk - I know that this was kind of a pain for us to use in the beginning, but hear me out. Google Talk is something I like to refer to as a "gateway program." The interface may not be working for everyone, but it can be used in parallel with other programs, such as:
Adium (Mac Only) (This is the program I use for my instant messaging.)
Digsby (PC and Mac)
iChat (Mac Only)
All of these programs allow you to use their messaging service, but also pull from other messaging services and compile them into one list. For example, I have an AIM account and a Google Talk account. Instead of having both programs running at the same time, I run Adium, and I can access both lists from one place. I also like Adium because it is infinately customizable, you can choose your own layout, sounds, notifications, etc. Digsby works the same way, but is also PC compatible.

So, how do we do it?


To get started, I recommend creating a Google Talk account. Beth and Lorelei already have this, and it's simple to set up, so don't fret Heidi. Just go here and choose a login name and all that. It will ask you to embed the chat window in your homepage or download the full program, it doesn't matter what you choose, as long as you activate your account.
Next, download one of the programs listed above, I strongly recommend Digsby for PC users, and Adium for Mac Users, but any of the listed programs follow the same steps to do the same thing-
The program will ask you for an account name, just use the same one you used for Google Talk to avoid confusion. The program will then load, go to file>Add Account (this could be under File or Preferences if on a Mac). You should be able to pick GTalk from a list, then input your Google Account information and go go go. This is only one of the myriad options available to you though, so please let me know if you need help picking one or setting it up. =)