> In terms of consumption, it is only feasible to really have a single chat application at a time, maybe two if one is being tested. Having more than 1 defeats the purpose of having an org wide chat...

I know you're talking about within an organization, but this made me realize how long it's been since I've used a client like Pidgin/Adium/bitlbee that could handle multiple chat protocols all from one client.

I'm pretty sure the majority of the protocols I used to use in these apps aren't even around anymore (other than irc and xmpp).