Imagine yourself and your friend working at two different ends of an office. You want to message/send any file and you don't have the internet. Just the LAN.
These situations can make the work more troublesome than its actually meant to be.
In these scenarios, a "novice level" simple interfaced software comes into existence to provide you with an innovative, simple and uncluttered interface. Now you can send instant messages/files over LAN, anywhere in the office, instantly and easily.
The app is called Lan Messenger, and it can be found, free of charge, over at Sourceforge. It works pan all major platforms – Windows, Mac and Linux.
Let’s Get Started
This app is currently at version 1.2.35 and the downloadable .exe file is of 11.5 MB size. Once you have downloaded it and completed the quick installation, it is time for setting things up. Obviously, for this to work, you will have to do the same installation and configuration for each computer within your network.
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| Lan Messenger download page |
Once installed, this app will make a home for itself in your system tray. Right click it and choose “Show LAN Messenger” to launch the service. From the small, G Talk-like window you can control a number of options.
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| Lan Messenger Main Screen |
What You Can Control
There is a short menu across the top of the window. Messenger allows you to open chat rooms. Tools provides the ability to attach files, view history and set preferences.
The third and last item is, unsurprisingly, Help. This provides the usual array of the actual help page, the about and the option to check for updates. But believe us, you won't be needing them anytime soon !
Among all of these, perhaps the most useful features, are the preferences and the chat options. These are probably where most users will be heading to, though preferences will likely be set once and left unless there is a necessary change.
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| Lan Messenger Preferences |
The Preferences option has a number of options arrayed down the left column, including general, account, messages, history, alerts, network, file transfers, appearance and hotkeys. All of them allow you to track the history and tweak the service to do the work perfectly tailored to suit your work.
For instance, appearance has an option for the look of the contacts list, while account allows you to give your name and even write a short biography in the about section – in case your family doesn't know you, I guess !
The Chat option lets you to open a new chat window and choose what contact you wish to include. Alternatively, you can make the message public so that everyone gets to participate.
Conclusion
The app is free, and things could not be more simple to use. Setup is easy and chatting with others on your local network can be figured out by even a novice user. The software is also open source, meaning it is vetted and should have no loopholes, not spyware of any kind. In the end, if you live in a home with
multiple computers and users or a workplace with hundreds of staff, this is a service worth considering.
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