ITET Chat server

Purpose

The ITET chat server provides a service for real-time exchange of text-based information, a.k.a. instant messaging.

The nature of this information is:

• Short-lived and of immediate relevance
• Specific to a topic, reflected in an appropriate area i.e. a chat room
• Low in data volume

For information of a different kind please use more suitable services like email, mailing lists, personal websites or polybox.

Features

• The instant messaging system offers chat functionality

• Telephone- and videoconferencing are currently not available

Who may use the chat?

• The chat is dedicated to ITET employees (like staff, professors and PhD-students).

• It is not available for regular students in general

• Exception: Non ITET-employees or students may request individual access (create a support ticket to support@ee.ethz.ch).

Accessing the chat platform

• Use your ETH account credentials for login.
• A special chat administrator account is provided for each organizational unit.

Browser-based access

• On any client, the Matrix Riot instant messaging surface my be accessed using a webbrowser at https://matrix.ee.ethz.ch/.

• Firefox or Chrome are recommended, Microsoft Edge is discouraged.

Desktop clients (Chat software)

• On ISG.EE managed Windows clients, installation of the Riot desktop client package (standalone client) can be requested individually at ISG (create a support request to support@ee.ethz.ch)

• On ISG.EE managed Linux clients, there is a SEPP package (riot-desktop-1.0-fg; standalone client) available, which provides the riot-web binary

Other clients

• In general, Matrix Riot clients for almost any platform, including mobile devices (Android, IOS), may be obtained from https://matrix.org/docs/projects/clients-matrix

Data protection and extensibility

• Chat data (history) is stored on D-ITET servers and will not leave D-ITET in general
• It is however possible to access the chats remotely (e.g. from mobile devices). Connections are encrypted.

• A cooperation/ chat integration ("Federation") with other, ETH-external organizations/ other chat platforms (e.g. Slack) might be possible, must however be intentionally requested by the customer. Contact support@ee.ethz.ch for more information.

• If a user's e-mail address is stored in the chatsoftware user-profile, the e-mail address will be submitted to an ETH-external directory. This would allow that user is found globally.

Chat rooms

• Chatrooms in general are impersonal

• The ITET-All chatroom is reserved for future purposes and cannot be used at the moment.

Usage policy and code of conduct

Summarized, the following rules apply for use of this service:

• No illegal activities
• No abuse
• No spam
• Be polite

Detailled information about ETH wide rules applying to this service can be found here:

• Acceptable Use Policy for Telematics Resources (Benutzungsordnung für Telematik an der ETH Zürich, BOT)

• ETH Code of conduct

Behave like being physically in a room with other people

Communicate in English, it is the common spoken and written language used in the multi-cultural environment at ETH.

Introduce yourself when entering a room. This is considered polite. It signals you want to participate in the conversation of the room as opposed to staying in the background observing others.

Show yourself

Use your first and given name as display name. This service is not anonymous, a chat members username is visible to everybody. Other chat members can identify you easier by your full name.

Stick to the topic

Join a room matching the topic of your information or question. If the topic of a conversation changes, relocate to an appropriate room or create one if it doesn't exist. If the conversation evolves into a dialog, open a chat only with your partner.

Do not waste resources

Do not send high volume content like movies or large images. Instead, place your content on a suitable service and provide a link to it. This saves space on our server and makes it easier for everybody to focus on the relevant content on this service.

Use according to purpose

Use this service for what is outlined under its purpose only. While it can do more, those features are not supported or maintained at the moment.

Best practice

Read recommendations on how to use this service on the Best Practice page.