I was thinking about setting up an asterisk pbx box, and giving everybody a headset and softphone and having our development teams conference and be able to ask questions without getting distracted from their code or leaving their desk. Right now our team uses an IRC server which isn't ideal because they have to context switch from their code.
I figure if gamers use voice to coordinate why not use the technology to do something productive.
Is anybody out their employing such as solution?
Thanks
The best communication happens in person, face to face. I would suggest sitting the developers close to each other.
Well, if everyone is always on the conference call, won't they be distracted by conversations that don't pertain to what they're working on? From everything I've studied about the effects of context switching, it seems that as long as the question is still related to what you're working on, you shouldn't lose your groove.
We use IM for this, honestly I couldn't imagine my group chattering in my ear all day, though we all do sit within 10 feet of each other, so we basically have this already. Plus if someone wants to listen to music, what are they supposed to do?
Gamers can use it because they're all running the exact same instance or raid typically, your team will not usually all be working on the exact same piece of code.
We use OpenFire, a jabber based chat system.
We also use Trixbox for voip'ing but most developers seem to prefer being able to copy/paste code, silence and the paper trail that text chat offers.
IRC is great. They can copy/paste short bits of code, and not be distracted by it when they aren't actively using it. Also, I'd hate to wear a headset all day.
Amongst our team we use Yammer for general questions and then we use GTalk for specific conversations. I like using GTalk because Google will then index the conversation and keep it in GMail so you can search it later. I find this particularly helpful when it'll be something that I need to know on a time-to-time basis.
I agree that having a headset with people constantly wanting to chat in your ear would get distracting, which would then cause people to take them off and then miss something directed at them or they'd work slower.
Not a good idea.