If you were using Meebo for chat reference at your library or to offer customers with online support this post is for you. Effective July 11, 2012, Google will shutdown (decommission) Meebo (click here to read more). If you have depended on Meebo you are probably looking for a replacement.

Below you will find a list and brief description of alternatives to Meebo and what they can do. The list is based on suggestions made by librarians that subscribe to LM_NET listserv.

Rather then start with the list, I have created a matrix that allows you to see at a glance what each of the services described offer.

Name	Free	Easy to Setup	Download Required?	Web Interface	Customization	Private Chat	Multiple Private Chats	Requires IM service?	Chat Log
ChatWing	YES	YES	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Chatango	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	YES
Digsby	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES
eBuddy	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO
Imo.im	YES	HUH	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Library H3lp	NO	YES	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES
Plugoo	YES (LIMITED FEATURES)	NO	NO	YES	YES (limited w/o paying)	YES	NO (ONLY if paying customer)	NO	NO
Spark	YES	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES
Zoho	YES	YES	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES

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ChatWing (http://chatwing.com/)

ChatWing is a tool that allows organizations to offer live chat on their website. However, this tool is not currently designed for the one-on-one conversations that librarians engage in with patrons. It does not allow any visual customizations (background color, text size) either. However, it does have word filters.

ChatWing FAQ: http://chatwing.com/faq

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Chatango (http://chatango.com)

Like ChatWing, Chatango allows users to create their own chat room. So, for those interested in having undisturbed one-on-one chat sessions with several people at the same time, this is not for you. However, this is useful in situations where someone (e.g. book author) is engaging with many people.

Chatango Help http://www.chatango.com/help

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Digsby (http://www.digsby.com)

According to some librarians, Digsby and Meebo are a lot alike. The main difference between the two is that Digsby must be downloaded and installed on every administrative machine and it is not available for Mac or Linux. Users of Digsby appreciate its simple and uncluttered interface, but are not to fond of the ads at the bottom of the chat windows.

Digsby FAQ: http://wiki.digsby.com/doku.php?id=faq

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eBudddy (http://www.eBuddy.com)

eBuddy is described as a reliable tool that allows patrons to sign in through AIM, eBuddy, Facebook, Google Talk, ICQ, and MSN, MySpace and Yahoo! to engage in a chat session on your website.

eBuddy Support https://ebuddy.zendesk.com/home

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Imo.im (http://imo.im)

Imo.im is a web-based service that works with several IM services including AIM, Facebook, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN, Skype and VKontakte. Unlike many of the other options, Imo supports voice messages. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that visitors of your library site can chat without logging in to one of the mentioned networks. Also it is not clear how to embed it within your library’s website.

IMO Features https://o.imo.im/features.html

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Library H3lp http://libraryh3lp.com/

Library H3lp, a fairly inexpensive fee-based service that has features that surpasses what Meebo ever provided. For details on that see the video comparing the two services on their homepage. For those of you not sure you want to pay for a service, you can give LibraryH3lp a 90-day free trial and see if it’s worth it.

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Plugoo – http://www.plugoo.com/

Plugoo is another customizable real-time messenger program. Once you set it up, messages submitted by patrons using your library’s website are forwarded to your instant messenger client (AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, etc). A notable feature of Plugoo is that it forwards messages to your email if you are not available via IM.

Plugoo FAQ’s http://www.plugoo.com/faq.php#2

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Spark (http://www.igniterealtime.org/projects/spark/)

Spark is an open source, IM client. It includes things like in-line spell checking, group chat room, bookmarks, and tabbed conversations. If you want to use Spark, you should have a web server and technical expertise.

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Zoho Chat http://zchat.wiki.zoho.com/faq.html

Zoho Chat is a web-based chat system that can be accessed using any web browser. It can be integrated with other IMs including AIM, Google, ICQ, Jabber, MSN and Yahoo. Aside from some minor things (grey overlay used in widget), Zoho users have expressed satisfaction with the chat client and believe this is a great replacement for Meebo.

Zoho FAQ: http://zchat.wiki.zoho.com/faq.html

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Time to Make a Choice

Would you like me to recommend a product for your library? Sorry, I can’t!

The decision on which tool should replace Meebo should be made on a case by case basis. The matrix  (top of page) combined with the brief descriptions can help you narrow the potential options. From there, you and your colleagues should test the finalists and then make a decision.

Good luck! Once you’ve selected a product, come back here and use the comments section below to let others reading this post what system you decided to go with and why!