We recently started using OpenFire and Spark. I have to say it was one of the quickest and easiest deployments we’ve done in a while - and staff loves it (great job dev team). Now our management has asked if we can integrate some additional functionality into the instant messaging system. They are looking for a solution that will send a predefined message to all currently logged on users when a certain keystroke is pressed - basically creating a digital panic button. In a nutshell, we’re looking for a way to have the receptionist secretly hit a key combo (say ctrl-shift-esc) and have it broadcast a message (such as aggressive customer in lobby, please call police") to the other staff. Since I’m not much of a developer and our total budget for this project is a whopping $0, I thought I’d ask if anyone knew of an existing plugin or other east way to accomplish this.
In theory anything is possible. But there is no such plugin in existence. One would have to create it (by hiring a good Java developer). I can only tell how i see it. One can modify Spark itself, but it is better to make as a plugin, so it would be easier to incorporate into new versions of Spark. Spark already has broadcasting option and it can broadcast to only online users. So this plugin can use existing code and preconstruct a message, add all online users and send a message programatically. Then you can add this function as a menu in Spark, say in Actions menu, name it say “Panic button”. Then one can also assign a shortcut for it, so one could launch it only with keyboard. Although Spark window would have to be in front and active for this to work. Maybe it is better to invest money into some alarm system designed for this than making messaging client into alarm system. Also be prepared for users hitting this menu/shortcut accidentally.