This article is about replacing Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, Slack, or Teams with a secure alternative for on-premise use. This requires on-premise installation, but still must be easy, fast, not memory-consuming like Bitrix, secure, and with no phone bind.
What’s wrong with using public messengers? (Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, Teams)
Using public messengers seems very convenient from the point of view of a regular person. You go to the Play Store or App Store on your phone, download the messenger you need, and install it. Then, you perform a simple login using your phone number and an SMS confirmation, and that’s all.
And voilà — everything starts to work like magic. First, you are willingly giving away your number to a service that analyzes your contacts. All phone numbers are automatically sent to a server located God knows where.
For example, Telegram’s servers sort numbers in international format and detect who from the contact list uses the same messenger as you. This is how all the contacts appear in the application. This idea was initially implemented by Yan Kum, a WhatsApp developer.
It is very convenient but not secure at all. You give away your whole contact list, and if some special services or bad people get into it, they will find a lot of information about you. And there are no difficulties in finding your location precisely, even if your GPS is off (using triangulation between base cell towers). If you are located in a city where the concentration of these cell towers is very high, you basically give away information about your location with an accuracy of several meters.
Hackers can easily get information about where you were yesterday, when your lunch break was, where you go to vacation, your daily route to work, what you buy online, your browser history, and so on. If your kids use mobile phones, it is also possible to find out that these are your kids.
And this is actually the scariest part.
That is why spies in the movies rarely use gadgets — this is a question of survival for them.
“I am a regular person who does not break the law and has nothing to hide, who can spy on me?” — you may ask. However, there are real cases from people who survived filtration in warzones. They tell their stories about how special services showed them deleted message history from their personal phones. It means that if you delete a message in WhatsApp or Telegram, it does not mean it will be deleted completely. A modern smartphone is a digital representation of a person that stores a huge load of information you aren’t even aware of.
You do not bother yourself with technical moments such as connection, firewall, registration, configuration, etc. It’s working as long as there is a connection to the internet. The server address is already put into the application, and you use the client part. But you do not have any access or information about the server, because it is somewhere in another country, managed by completely unknown people. No internet connection — no messenger.
Alternative private messenger
Servers of public messengers (Telegram, Viber) are unavailable for personal installation because it is complex software, and company owners are not going to share it. But if you have a self-hosted messenger, you can install it on any computer with Windows.
It is simpler than it seems. All you need are computers and smartphones that you most likely already have. If you need to connect via the internet, you need an external IP address and a domain to get a free HTTPS certificate for encryption. That’s all. Launch the server and connect to it however you like: in a local network (if you have a completely private closed network), or via the internet, or via VPN, or combining these options — it’s up to you. What is really important is that the server is under your full control — locally or in a private cloud. All message history is stored on your server inside your company. Calls between subscribers are performed directly through your server and only between your devices. Thus, you can manage rights for people: who can make calls and who cannot.
It is very hard to block such traffic because it’s encrypted, and there is a zero chance that someone will be interested in “hunting” a small company. Telegram or Viber servers are easier to block or hack because their addresses are publicly known.
The most important fact is that a private messenger is not bound to a phone number at all. Of course, you need something for user identification: login, email, or a digital number of some sort. It is up to you. Moreover, when you download an application from a mobile market, you connect to your server address. This option is more secure and controllable on your side.
Recommendation: MyChat as a business messenger
To sum up everything above, we recommend installing MyChat messenger. A free version with no trial period is provided.
All is open, you do not have to pay extra, there is a license for 20 connections for testing. A Messenger, a forum (knowledge base), calls, Kanban project management, and a lot of other helpful tools. For installation, you need only a regular computer with Windows and 5 minutes.
Client applications for all operating systems. Linux, macOS, Windows. Mobile applications on Android, iOS, and even for Huawei. Also, there is a web application to work in a browser in case you do not want to install MyChat on a computer or laptop. It is not that convenient and a desktop app, but it works just fine.
Calls work in any operating system. Make a call from Android to Windows, or from Linux to Mac, or directly to a browser.
Good integration with Active Directory, because the messenger was initially developed for Windows. AD is commonly used by companies with hundreds or thousands of employees. You can deploy MyChat quickly by using Group Policies and an MSI package. If a company works with Active Directory with one or a couple of domains, there is most likely a company structure implemented via organization units: people’s full names, phone numbers, email addresses, work positions, photos, etc. MyChat imports all this and builds a tree-like contact list based on OU. This list is automatically loaded for all users in your company.
Thus, you not only have all contacts in the chat without adding them like in Telegram or WhatsApp, but also all that information is correctly organized. A new employee sees a tree-like contact list with company structure and has no problem connecting to the right teammate from the right department.
Transparent authorization (without entering login and password) is an additional advantage. A person turns on a work laptop or computer, logs in to Windows, and instantly enters MyChat. You can also use a mixed authorization: for example, if you need a domain user to log in on an Android device..
Additional customization and integration
When you use a public service like Skype (when it was working), Teams, Viber, or WhatsApp, then you use the provided default features only. Customization is either impossible or limited. In Telegram, however, you can set up some bots to perform routine work for you. But you still have limited actions because it is a public service. So you can create a bot with logic, but can’t send an automatic message to a user due to anti-spam policy. And this is a normal behavior for a public platform.
But if you have your own messenger with a private server, then there must be no limitation — you are in charge of everything. Need to send a message from the CRM system? No problem. Need to call a person with an automatic response? You can do it by managing your own server. MyChat is open for a large range of customization.
Plugins. Use ready plugins, create your own, or customize existing ones for a Windows application.
Integration API on the server that is available via REST. And you can perform a lot of actions if you work directly with the server: send messages, register new users, create important messages and bulk notifications, and add tasks to the Kanban project management board.
Script engine on the server. This feature provides a large set of different functions and scripts that extend MyChat’s abilities. Your tech team can write new scripts or modify the existing ones to improve messenger logic according to your needs. You can also order script development directly from developers.
MyChat support team is always ready to consult and help with any questions.
Security and isolation
Various premises, enterprises, and companies that work with sensitive information (banks, insurance, health organizations) need to keep it inside a private environment.
MyChat perfectly works even in a completely isolated network(LAN), without an internet connection. Or in a premise VPN, when all company devices are located in a kind of virtual private network, even though people may be physically located worldwide.
MyChat is immune to blockings, because its server is under your full control.
Brief information about main features and privacy measures:
- traffic encryption;
- encryption of client application databases;
- encryption of voice and video calls;
- a branched system of rights and restrictions;
- option to block screenshots and text copying (copy & paste) directly from the chat at the operating system level;
- filters by IP addresses, MAC addresses, and hardware (HardwareID);
- tracking employee locations on a map via GPS coordinates on mobile devices;
- special panic code for emergency data deletion on mobile devices;
- physical deletion of any chat messages for any period;
- viewing of message history on the server by the company’s security service;
- monitoring and logging of running applications and their titles on employee computers;
- integration with remote management systems (UltraVNC, RAdmin, LiteManager).
MyChat secure software system has been dynamically improving since 2004, with a large number of users worldwide.
Developers always listen to users and fix obvious flaws and bugs as soon as possible.
Licensing and switching to the commercial version
- The free version is available for download on the website.
- No additional configuration is needed if you decide to purchase a commercial license.
- Purchase a license for a precise number of users online, and the server becomes commercial after you enter the key.
- All your settings, message history, scripts, and other data are safely stored and continue to work.