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Looks very useful, my question is what makes this better than say Meebo, or other in-browser chat solutions? Frontpage design is clean but it doesn't feel smoo

Looks very useful, my question is what makes this better than say Meebo, or other in-browser chat solutions? Frontpage design is clean but it doesn't feel smooth enough. It seems rather flat I guess. What are your plans for monetization? Sell memberships? You have no mention of this on the site now, if that is your plan you should probably make that clear before a company gets set up with it thinking it will be free.

jamwt 17y ago
I think meebo is an entirely different service. It's basically a web-based interface that allows communication on traditional IM protocols/networks, like OSCAR/AIM, XMPP/Google Talk, etc. So, it's different in that it doesn't really provide company-specific networks, it makes traditional public IM networks web-accessible. It also, like IM patterns in general, is one-on-one chat first, group maybe, in the kinds of workflow it promotes. If you've used IRC much, this is team- or group- oriented first, private maybe. We tend to think this fits the real needs of workplaces better, because the group/team approach is more like a meeting (widely communicative, don't-repeat-ourselves, no secrets, etc) vs. hallway conversations (not well disseminated to all those who could benefit from it, inefficient from a repeating answers perspective, etc). Thanks for the input on the frontpage. We're considering a redesign. I mention monetization in the initial post. We're planning on charging per-user per-month fees to companies. Good point about being forthright about this; we should really give this thought, b/c we don't want customers feeling like we've pulled a bait-and-switch on them.
- trickjarrett 17y ago
  I agree Meebo is, in truth, different. But on the surface and at the depth I think most people think about, they see browser chat and browser chat (not to be confused with ceiling cat).
joepestro 17y ago
Looks cool, but while we're on the subject - what makes this better than the established players like Campfire (http://campfirenow.com/ http://campfirenow.com/)?
- jamwt 17y ago
  We looked closely at Campfire before we started, and it's certainly the offering we've found that's the closest to what we're shooting for. I think the target audience is one of the big differences. 37S, as usual, is targeting small teams with simple needs, and doing so with a diverse set of complimentary products, including campfire. They're doing 80/20, and doing it very well. We're focusing on chat specifically, and we'd like to add a lot more depth--background room notifications, sophisticated group/room access rules, LDAP/AD integration, marketing ourselves to medium-sized organizations (several hundred users/company) that have higher standards when it comes to integration with existing systems, management ease, etc. We're shooting for a more complete solution. So, I think Campfire is one comparison where recognize we're competing along a difference of degree, not really a difference of kind.
- mrshoe 17y ago
  I think we do see Campfire as direct competition, but we believe this market to be largely untapped. As jamwt mentioned, we do serve a slightly different audience. I think (and hope!) that as more people start recognizing how useful this type of application is to their organization, some portion of them will choose us over Campfire.

jamwt 17y ago

I think meebo is an entirely different service. It's basically a web-based interface that allows communication on traditional IM protocols/networks, like OSCAR/AIM, XMPP/Google Talk, etc. So, it's different in that it doesn't really provide company-specific networks, it makes traditional public IM networks web-accessible. It also, like IM patterns in general, is one-on-one chat first, group maybe, in the kinds of workflow it promotes. If you've used IRC much, this is team- or group- oriented first, private maybe. We tend to think this fits the real needs of workplaces better, because the group/team approach is more like a meeting (widely communicative, don't-repeat-ourselves, no secrets, etc) vs. hallway conversations (not well disseminated to all those who could benefit from it, inefficient from a repeating answers perspective, etc). Thanks for the input on the frontpage. We're considering a redesign. I mention monetization in the initial post. We're planning on charging per-user per-month fees to companies. Good point about being forthright about this; we should really give this thought, b/c we don't want customers feeling like we've pulled a bait-and-switch on them.

trickjarrett 17y ago
I agree Meebo is, in truth, different. But on the surface and at the depth I think most people think about, they see browser chat and browser chat (not to be confused with ceiling cat).

joepestro 17y ago

Looks cool, but while we're on the subject - what makes this better than the established players like Campfire (http://campfirenow.com/ http://campfirenow.com/)?

jamwt 17y ago
We looked closely at Campfire before we started, and it's certainly the offering we've found that's the closest to what we're shooting for. I think the target audience is one of the big differences. 37S, as usual, is targeting small teams with simple needs, and doing so with a diverse set of complimentary products, including campfire. They're doing 80/20, and doing it very well. We're focusing on chat specifically, and we'd like to add a lot more depth--background room notifications, sophisticated group/room access rules, LDAP/AD integration, marketing ourselves to medium-sized organizations (several hundred users/company) that have higher standards when it comes to integration with existing systems, management ease, etc. We're shooting for a more complete solution. So, I think Campfire is one comparison where recognize we're competing along a difference of degree, not really a difference of kind.
mrshoe 17y ago
I think we do see Campfire as direct competition, but we believe this market to be largely untapped. As jamwt mentioned, we do serve a slightly different audience. I think (and hope!) that as more people start recognizing how useful this type of application is to their organization, some portion of them will choose us over Campfire.