Zoho Chat and Plugoo.com - Plugoo.com wins...

The difference between Zoho Chat and Plugoo embedded chat plug-in's for websites are numerous. Eventhough I think much of the features of Zoho.com are wonderful such as planner, workspace, and other functions -- Plugoo.com is better. Plugoo allows for embedding chat widgets currently into MSN, Yahoo!, Google Talk, Jabber, and ICQ while Zoho's is limited to just (zoho.com id's). The Plugoo website, at the time of this blog post, is so new the terms of service are only available in French. To find out more functions of Zoho.com and Plugoo, or if you want this on your ccpl.org related blog, click on the Read More link, below the tags.


Patron Plugoo Features:
* no need for patron to create a user id or login for a chat session with librarian;
* ability to detach dialog page into a separate box to navigate separate web pages;
* dialog box identifies online, away, and offline with custom status indicators changed when status changes on miranda status.
* ability to confirm closure of a conversation;

Setup Plugoo Features:
* ability to use current (Miranda) IM software -- new training not needed for staff;
* meaningful name given for librarian (Main Ref Chat Help or CCPL Librarian);
* ability to change background, title, and lines of color to match website;
* ability to have a direct URL link or embedded HTML code on website.
* ability to use mulitple IM platforms as listed above...


Patron Zoho Chat Features:
* no need for patron to create a user id or login for a chat session with librarian;
* ability to select private (not a secure connection chat) or leave messages in a bulletin board fashion for all to see.

Setup Zoho Chat Features:
* dialog box size customisable to pixel level for complete size control;
* had difficult with audible alerts for incoming message or user.
* requires separate zoho.com chat id;
* terms of service easy to read (not in French only version).

I'm going to give this a few days to confirm functionality and do some user testing before I start passing around the html code before offering this function on library related blogs. If your interested or want to know more about plugoo and my experience, and possibly others using it, feel free to contact me via the plugoo box on this blog. Steven S.