Business Instant Messaging

Facilitating Inter-Office Communication

Problem Statement

• Create a mechanism that enables employees to engage in conversations in real-time where the conversations can be archived and retrieved.

• The system must be accessible both from within a local network and from the internet.

Failed Solutions

Email• Burst nature (spam

factor)• Diverging

conversations• External access

difficult

Instant Messaging• Insecure• No central repository

of conversations• Difficulty sharing

conversation contents with others

Our Solution

• Instant Messenger with server based archival abilities and optional encryption.

• Web message boards for discussing projects amongst team members that can be accessed from inside or outside the LAN.

• They are integrated.

January

February

Robert and Melissa Chat about Product X

Unfortunately, Melissa quits and Robert moves to a different department. Before leaving, Robert makes their conversations public

April

Tom and Lisa, two new hires, are assigned to Project X. Although nobody is actively working on the project, all dialog has been archived and organized.

Server

Database

Controller

Model

View

Web UI Design Decisions

Database Design Decisions

• Main Entities are User, ContactList, Alias, Messages, GroupPage, Conversation.

• Normalized, 3NF.

• Uses ADO to talk to Web UI and ODBC to talk to communications layer.

• Test in Access run on SQL Server.

IM Server/Client Communications Layer Design Decisions

• Need for IM Server to be scalable

• Binary protocol chosen over XML protocol due to time and space gains.

• ODBC chosen over ADO for DB connectivity.

• C++ chosen over Java due to performance and scalability concerns.

Client GUI Design Decisions

• Interface modeled after popular instant messaging software.

• Use of Borland C++ over Microsoft’s Visual C++ due to ease and flexibility of GUI development

ScheduleTask Aug

28Sep 4

Sep 11

Sep 18

Sep 25

Oct 2

Oct 9

Oct 16

Oct 23

Oct 30

Nov 6

Nov 20

Nov 27

Dec 4

RequirementsElicitation

X X                        

Research   X X                      

Product Design     X X  X                  

Software development

      X X X X X  X  X        

Debugging and Testing

           X  X X X X X X X  

Module integration

                  X X      

Customer testing

          X           X  X  

Prototyping           X                

Customer Training

                          X

Final Presentation

                          X

Test Plan Matrix

Requirement 1 Requirement 2 Requirement 3

Test A X

Test B X

Test C X

Test D X X X

Project Risks

• Customer Backs Out

• Product Fails In Production Environment

• Team Member Falls behind Schedule

• Project Is Too Ambitious