Tag Archives: Chat

Chatzy

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Chatzy is a site that allows users to quickly and easily start their own free and private chat rooms.

Chatzy homepage
Chatzy homepage

All you need to do is fill out a few boxes with your nickname and the email address of the person/people you are inviting. Your friends receive an email with a clickable link. Then you join the chat and away you go.

From Chatzy’s website comes the following details:

  • Chatzy has no registration steps – your friends can join instantly
  • Chatzy is free and has no popup ads
  • Chatzy does not require any installation on your computer (= no spyware)
  • Chatzy works on any PC, with any language and through corporate firewalls
  • Chatzy is simple and easy to use
Chatzy chat
Chatzy chat

Chatzy is a good, no frills way to reflect with colleagues and friends via a back channel when at conferences, professional development and so on.

Thanks to Jenny Luca for the heads up on Chatzy.

Dimdim

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Dimdim is a free web conferencing service where users can communicate quckly and effectively.

Dimdim home
Dimdim home

The Dimdim website says that its features are:

  • It’s Easy, Open & Affordable
  • No Install to Host/Join meetings
  • Easy Share Screens & Webpages
  • Audio & Video Conferencing
  • Present PowerPoint and PDFs
  • Private & Public Chat
  • Whiteboard & Annotations
  • Record and Playback Meetings
  • Open Source and open APIs

As with many of the Web 2.0 tools now available, there is the option to upgrade membership from free, basic account to a premium paid account.  The fee structure is as follows:

Anyone wanting to set up a web conference either for professional development or for schools to communicate and work collaboratively, the Dimdim free account gives users the opportunity to do this.

Yuuguu

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Yuuguu is an interesting tool. It is a free (there are premium services that do cost) tool that once downloaded allows PC, Mac and Linux users to share their computer desktops with each other. The free account lets you share your desktop with up to five others at a time, while also sharing control of your keyboard and mouse.

Yuuguu home
Yuuguu home

Yuuguu also has a chat function and conference calling (conference calling incurs a small fee). Yuuguu could be a good tool to teach others how to use specific Web 2.0 programs or for country or remote schools to communicate with other schools or regional staff.

Siosus

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Siosus is a free total online sharing and collaboration workspace.  The free basic package includes unlimited workspaces and unlimited number of members.  

Siosus homepage

Siosus homepage

Tools that are included in the free basic package are useful and extensive:

  • Contacts and group manager
  • Custom workspace
  • Manage your files
  • Calendars and events
  • Blogs
  • Discussions
  • Chat and IM
  • RSS feeds
  • Web database management
  • Project management
  • Task automation
  • Permissioning 
What's included?

What's included

The drawbacks are that there are limits to the free package:

  • Only 25MB free storage
  • Advertising appears on your homepage
  • Only 200 MB monthly transfer
  • 10Mb file size upload limit

 There are three upgrades that increase all of the storage/transfer/upload options and give better support; however they cost from US$15 to US$100 per month.

Upgrade options

Upgrade options

Siosus does appear to be just about the total package when it comes to sharing and collaborating with colleagues who are sitting next to you or on the other side of the world. However, limits will affect the efficacy of the free package. It all depends on how much space you actually need to use.  

Siosus is the platform chosen by James Henri and Sandra Lee to run the Your School Library online conference.