Portable Hey, Joe!

The Internet quickly brought about new and enhanced communication methods. Starting from LAN chat programs to VoIP solutions, these can be nowadays accessed from nearly any device that can connect to this information superhighway. Amongst others, simple methods still remain efficient and preferred by the majority, with Portable Hey, Joe! being a suitable example.

As the name suggests, you don't need to go through a setup process, with the application being ready to go from the moment you finish downloading it. Consequences reflect in the well-functioning of your PC, since its registries remain intact, but most welcome is the possibility to take it with you on a removable storage device.

Note that the application is intended to be used over LAN connections, with no support for direct sending of messages via the Internet. You need to provide the target IP for successful message delivery, so you can use specialized solutions like Hamachi to create virtual LAN connections for an enhanced experience over the web.

There's no main window to work with and each of the application’s features opens up in an individual window. Sending a message is as easy as writing down the target IP in a dedicated field, typing the message and hitting the “Send” button. Your interlocutor receives it in the form of a popup box directly on the desktop, but with no option to reply.

You can set up a conversation between at most two interlocutors by connection to a host IP address. It would have been useful to be able to create rooms, but seeing it's dedicated to small environments this isn't a major inconvenience.

Automatic responses can leave a message on your behalf in case you're away from the keyboard. Custom sounds are used as a notification system for new messages. Each message is kept track of, but can easily be cleared at the press of a button. However, you can export logs to file by accessing them and choosing to export as text.

On an ending note, Portable Hey, Joe! is a small and reliable chat solution for LAN environments. It's not because of any innovation it brings to the market, but it's clever simplicity allows anyone to accommodate, while the fast process and windows that close after each message help you better focus on the task at hand and simply deliver your message without any distractions.