September 17, 2010

Live Help & Support is available to users on our websites

New important feature is now available on all our websites including www.bopup.comwww.bopup.eswww.bopup.de and www.bopup.ru domains. It is called "Live Help" and allows to send questions, feedbacks, inquiries and get a response instantly via Windows Live Messenger system. This built-in system does not require users and visitors to have their own Live ID to use this IM system. So if a user has no Windows Live Messenger account he is also able to send messages to us and get a reply with a few seconds.

How this looks and works

When a visitor browses our websites he is able to see the "Live Help" window on top left corner of pages. If a user clicks the orange button with B Labs caption there then a new pop-up window appears in the browser with the Messenger interface. It also contains current presence status of our support and pre-sales department, i.e. Online or Offline. To start a conversation with us click "Begin a conversation" link, then the built-in messenger offers to choose which an IM account to use. If a user already has his own Windows Live ID installed in the system then he is able to choose to use that account or send messages to us anonymously. 


By the way, if you already have a Windows Live ID account and use MSN/Windows Live Messenger you can find and contact us via IM system by searching blabsoft@gmail.com e-mail address.

September 16, 2010

B Labs become a sponsor of gaming event in Germany

We proud to announce that our company has become a sponsor of the gaming event in Schwebda, Germany. This gaming event will take place on 15th—17th October 2010 and include about 150 participants in various game genres, from 3D shooters to strategies. This event called "LAN Party" is organized by the "Group 36 Lan Team" (Gruppe 36 in German) since 2005 year. In order to extend and improve LAN communication and file transfer options between gamers and connected computers we offer Bopup Communication Server and Bopup Messenger licenses for free.

For more information on this gaming event please visit Gruppe 36 Homepage.

September 14, 2010

FAQ on Bopup IM software has been appended with 2 new questions/answers

Our FAQ section at http://www.bopup.com/support/faq/has added new questions and answers that briefly overviews the new functionality of the server and messengers.

The first question sounds: Can instant messages be sent from the communication server using a command line interface? An answer contains a brief information on bcscmd.exe command line utility which is designed to send personal and group messages from external applications and programs.

The second answer is related to the folowing question: Is it possible to distribute and install the messengers with a built-in brand/company logo? This information belongs to new function supported by the instant messengers when a custom BMP image with the brand-logo.bmp filename can be simply placed near an MSI setup package in order to be distributed, installed and shown in the messenger as a common branding logo.

These questions and FAQ section are also available to Russian clients and customers at http://www.bopup.ru/support/faq/

September 12, 2010

Send instant messages from the IM server using a command line interface

New version 3.3.19 of Bopup Communication Server have been released. It includes new great functionalities which allow you to send instant messages directly from the Management Console and from a command line interface.

Sometimes it is required to send a personal message to user or send group messages directly from the Management Console, for example you want to send an urgent event or important message. Now there are no needs to create a News message or run the messenger on the server computer to perform this task for a single time. Just select and right-click on a user account or messaging group in the console and choose "Send instant message" from the pop-up menu. This functionality offers to send urgent and offline messages if recipients are not available at the present moment. Refer to the product documentation to see how to send personal instant messages to users.

Another great feature helps you to perform sending messages from the IM server using a command line interface. The new version of the server includes the bcscmd.exe module. You can find this file in the installation directory of Bopup Communication Server. This command line utility allows you to send news and instant messages using command line switches and parameters. So now you can access the server and deliver messages to users and groups from third-party applications, scripts or batch files. For more information about supported command line arguments and switches, please refer the Using BCSCmd.EXE command line tool topic.

New versions of the messengers add support for a pre-existing branding logo

New versions of Bopup Messenger 5.4.16 and Bopup Observer 4.3.14 are available for download. The latest releases come with the support of a pre-existing branding logo image file that can be placed near the MSI setup package during installation of the applications.This works similar to pre-configured settings in the Setup.ini file. Create and place your company logo/image with the brand-logo.bmp filename into the same folder where the MSI package is located. When the messenger will be installing or deploying via GPO it will find and use that image file as a common branding logo in the software. Of course, the logo will be always overwritten when you upload a new logo image on Bopup Communication Server from the IM Client Updates & Branding view. For more information about support of pre-existing branding image please refer to the FAQ section at Frequently Asked Questions on IM software

The new version of Bopup Messenger also improves multiple selection in the Contact List area. Now this works like Window Explorer works: when you right-click on currently selected contacts your selection is not cleared.