Today's Deep-Dive: rocket.chat

Welcome back, everyone. We're diving deep today into rocket dot chat.

It's a platform that's popping up kind of everywhere, right?

Like from small businesses to government agencies and everything in between.

And, uh, I know you mentioned a while back being curious about like secure

communication platforms and rocket chat.

Chat seems to be making some big bold claims in that space.

Yeah, it's definitely caught our eye.

Like their marketing material is packed with interesting features and our case

studies and stuff, but you know, let's take a closer look and see what really

jumps out, you know, especially in terms of that security and trust element.

Right.

Exactly.

And just so everyone's aware of the sources we're using are mostly coming

directly from rocket Jot itself.

So, uh, you know, we'll definitely be reading between the lines a bit to give

you, uh, a balanced perspective, so to speak, but okay, let's get started.

So right off the bat rocket chat, uh, they proudly call themselves the world's

largest open source communications platform.

Bold claim.

It is right.

And they even mentioned having over a 1000 developers working on the project,

which is kind of a mind blowing number of people.

It is, that's a pretty impressive community.

That's for sure.

And it kind of highlights, you know, one of the key things about open

source software transparency.

When you have that many developers involved, it means the code is constantly

being looked at, scrutinized, you know, improved.

It can lead to a more secure and, um, a much more reliable platform.

It's almost like a constant security audit, right?

But they don't just stop at security.

They also talk about the flexibility of open source, right?

They use the MIT license, which is known for being like pretty permissive.

Yeah, exactly.

So you know how some open source licenses, like the, uh, AGPL one, they, they

force you to share any changes you make to the code, right?

Well, with MIT, that's not the case.

You're free to tinker, tailor rocket chat, however you want to fit your

specific needs without having to like show everyone your work.

Yeah, keep your secrets.

It's yours.

Exactly.

If you're thinking of customizing a platform, that kind of control,

that could be a big selling point.

It's a big deal.

Now, listener, I have a question for you to think about.

Does knowing that a platform is open source actually make

you more likely to trust it?

Hmm.

Think about it, but let's move on to another big point that rocket chat

emphasizes this big focus on security and compliance.

Yeah.

And this is where things get even more interesting, especially, you know,

thinking back to your interest in secure communication.

Rocket chat is clearly targeting organizations with like very

serious security needs, you know, like we're talking government agencies

or anyone dealing with sensitive data.

They're really hammering home features, like, uh, on-premise deployment,

where you completely control your data end to end encryption

to keep conversations, you know, private.

It sounds like they're really addressing that growing concern

about data breaches and privacy violations.

That everyone's talking about these days.

They even mentioned granular access control.

Right, right.

You can be super specific about who can see what information.

Yeah, exactly.

It's about giving organizations the tools they need to really manage

their own data and comply with all the different regulations out there.

Speaking of regulations, rocket chat really likes to point out that

they're compliant with, uh, well, with standards like GDPR, CCPA and high PA.

Yeah, they seem to be like covering all the bases, trying to appeal

to those organizations that have those really strict security requirements.

They even talk about this, uh, sovereign AI feature.

Oh yeah.

And I don't know if you're familiar with that term, but basically it means

you can keep all your sensitive data, you know, inside your own network,

even when you're using, uh, AI features.

It's all about avoiding having to rely on those, um, those third party AI

providers and, you know, potentially exposing your data to more risk outside

of your control, emphasizing control and, uh, data ownership, which, you know,

really seems to be a central theme for them.

Yeah.

And it's not just, you know, empty talk.

They showcase some like real world examples too.

Like, um, they highlight how the public defender's office in Sao Paulo used

rocket chat to securely handle over a million citizen cases, which is, uh, a

lot of cases, that's a lot of sensitive information to requires a high level of

trust to handle that kind of volume.

Big time.

It shows that rocket chat is actually being used like in real world situations

where security is absolutely paramount, but you know, beyond security rocket

chat also really emphasizes like their ability to actually help teams work

better together, collaboration.

They go beyond just messaging and offer things like secure video conferencing,

file sharing, and even read receipts, which I know some people love.

It's almost like a Swiss army knife, right?

Like a tool for everything.

Yeah.

But what's interesting to me is a focus on, uh, integrations.

They seem to understand that most organizations already have like a bunch

of different tools and platforms and they're trying to fit in.

Yeah.

They point out how rocket chat can integrate with like all the

popular apps and services.

And this ensures smoother workflows prevents, uh, prevents teams from having

to constantly switch between different platforms, which can be a real pain.

It's all about creating a more, a more seamless and connected experience.

Yeah.

And speaking of connected experiences, rocket chat is also making a big push

into the, um, the customer service world.

They're, they're using an omni-channel approach, which is a kind of fancy way

of saying they're like trying to meet customers wherever they are.

Exactly.

They're talking about integrating with, you know, big platforms, like, uh,

WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, even good old fashioned SMS, all the favorites.

Yeah, it's about providing like a consistent and personalized experience, no

matter how the customer chooses to reach out.

And they're not just, you know, talking about it.

They're showing actual results.

They even include a quote from seeking alpha where they credit rocket chat with

helping them double their subscription revenue.

Wow.

That's pretty impressive.

Yeah.

And it's not just for big companies.

They also share a story about glue.

It's a, it's a smaller company that managed to win customers without even

needing to send engineers on site.

Thanks to, you know, rocket chats, omni-channel features really highlights

the, uh, the flexibility of the platform.

Yeah.

So they're not just catering to those, uh, big enterprises.

They're showing how smaller companies can really benefit.

And, you know, throughout all this, something I've noticed is they keep

coming back to this idea of being really conscious of privacy, like they seem

genuinely committed to, you know, giving users control over their own data.

It's definitely a recurring theme.

Like you see it everywhere from the, um, the fact that they're open

source to the emphasis on on-premise deployment, the granular access controls

we talked about earlier, they even mentioned a new VoIP calling feature

that's still in beta, but they're already promoting it as this super

secure and, um, provider agnostic way to communicate.

Oh, wow.

So yeah, you're not, you know, locked in, you have more, more freedom and control.

Yeah, it's a bold move, especially since it's still in beta.

It shows they're really thinking ahead.

They're trying to push the envelope.

Yeah, for sure.

But before we, um, if we go too far down that road, maybe let's take a step back

and look at the bigger picture, right?

Okay.

With all this focus on security and, uh, customization and this big vision of

like interconnected communication that they're talking about.

Rocket chat seems to be positioning itself as a major player in, well, in the

future of how we communicate online.

It's a big vision and they're definitely taking steps to make it a reality, but

to really understand the potential impact.

We need to look at one more key thing, their move into the world of AI.

That's where things get really interesting.

Ooh, AI.

I love where this is going.

AI is like, you know, the buzzword of the century, but like, how are they

actually using it and how does it affect, you know, you, the listener?

Well, that's exactly what we're going to explore in the next

part of our deep dive.

So stay tuned.

Okay.

Welcome back.

So last time we were just starting to, uh, to get into rocket chats, whole AI

world, I'm really curious, like how are they actually integrating that into a

platform that already seems to do so much?

Yeah, it's really interesting.

Actually, they seem to be approaching AI with those same, uh, those same core

principles that they apply to everything else, you know, security, giving users

control and like focusing on practical applications.

It's not just like, you know, throwing AI in there just cause it's trendy.

They seem to be doing it in a very thoughtful way.

So no, uh, no robot overlords taking over our chat room.

Not quite, but they are focusing on two main things, which is, uh, making

communication smoother and just streamlining workflows.

So imagine you're in a rocket chat channel, right?

And someone shares this massive research paper that, you know, everyone needs to

understand instead of spending an hour trying to read through the whole thing

rocket chats, AI can basically summarize all the key points in like seconds.

Okay.

See that's actually useful, especially for those of us who feel like we're like

constantly drowning in information overload.

Oh yeah.

It's like having a little research assistant built right into the platform.

Exactly.

And it goes beyond just summarizing documents.

They're also using AI for a, for real time translation.

So, you know, imagine how much easier that would make collaboration, you know,

for global teams, breaking down those language barriers.

No more awkward lost in translation moments.

That's a win.

Yeah, definitely.

But here's the thing AI often means handing over your data to like some big

tech company, you know, their algorithms, right?

So how does rocket chat address that, you know, especially given how

much they emphasize privacy.

This is where it gets kind of clever.

They give you the option to actually deploy your own large language model,

uh, which is basically your own custom AI.

Okay.

And you can do that right inside your own instance of rocket chat.

So it's like having a personal AI that lives just within your

company's own setup.

That's pretty cool.

No data leaving the building.

Yeah, exactly.

You get the power of AI without all those data security risks.

And they actually take it even a step further.

They give admins granular control over, uh, which AI capabilities are actually

enabled.

It's all about tailoring it to your specific needs and your own, you know,

your security policies.

Again, with that flexibility, they're not just like, here's everything, do

what you want, it's, it's very tailored, very customizable, but even with all

those safeguards, some people are still going to be, you know, a little

hesitant about AI in general.

Right.

Sure.

So how does Rocket Chat make sure it's being used responsibly?

Well, they provide, they provide tools for actually monitoring and auditing

how AI is being used within the platform.

So that adds another layer of, you know, transparency and accountability.

Admins can track how AI is being used.

They can identify any potential issues and they can adjust settings as needed.

It's not just, you know, set it and forget it.

Yeah.

Okay.

I like that little bit of oversight, make sure it's actually helping and not, you

know, creating more problems.

But let's not forget that at its core rocket, its chat is still, you know, it's

a communication platform, right?

So what are they doing to improve that, you know, that core experience, you know,

beyond all the fancy AI stuff?

Well, they've definitely been listening to feedback because they've made some

pretty big updates to their, um, their mobile apps, making sure that, you know,

it's a seamless experience, no matter what device you're using.

So whether you're on your, your desktop, your laptop, your phone, it should be,

you know, the same familiar user friendly interface.

That's important these days when everyone's, you know, constantly

switching between devices.

Absolutely.

And what about, um, accessibility?

Have they done anything to make the platform more inclusive for everyone?

Yeah, they've actually, um, they've improved their support for, uh, screen

readers and keyboard navigation, which makes it much more accessible

for, for users with disabilities.

That's great.

It's so important, you know, to include everyone, right?

Everyone should be able to communicate easily.

Speaking of which, have they added any new features to, uh, to actually

make conversations flow better?

Oh yeah, they've introduced, uh, message threading, which is really

helpful, uh, you know, just for keeping conversations organized and easy to follow.

Yeah.

No more endless scrolling.

Exactly.

You can actually find that one message you were looking for.

Threaded conversations.

Very nice.

Keeps things clean.

But all these features, especially, you know, thinking back to the AI stuff, it

must require a lot of like processing power, right?

Yeah, it does.

Yeah.

So how does Rocket Chat make sure that the platform stays, you

know, stable and responsive?

Well, they've been putting a lot of work into, uh, performance optimization, just

making sure that the platform runs smoothly, even when there are, you know,

lots of users, lots of messages flying around, no lag, yeah, no frustrating

delays, even during, you know, those peak hours when everyone's trying to use it.

That's important.

Have they made any improvements to the, uh, the search function?

Cause you know, being able to find information quickly, so important

in any communication platform.

Absolutely.

They've, um, they've actually enhanced their search function to make it easier

to find, you know, specific messages, files, even entire conversations.

Think of it as like a Google search, but just for your Rocket Chat world.

Okay.

So we've covered AI.

We've talked about user experience, improvement, accessibility, performance.

Is there anything else that Rocket Chat is working on that that you think

our listeners should know about?

There is actually, and this is particularly interesting because it kind of takes us.

Um, takes us beyond just, you know, the individual organization and into this,

this broader idea of interconnected communication.

Have you ever like wished you could just seamlessly communicate with, with people

outside of your organization, like even if they're not using Rocket Chat at all?

Oh, all the time.

Yeah.

I'm constantly juggling different apps and platforms just to, you know,

just to stay connected with everyone.

It's a pain.

So is Rocket Chat actually doing something to address that?

They are.

And that's what we're going to be diving into in the final part of our deep dive.

Get ready for a fascinating look into the future of, uh, of how we might

communicate.

Okay.

We're back.

Final part of our Rocket Chat deep dive.

And, uh, last time you were just teasing this idea, interconnected communication.

And I have to admit, I'm pretty intrigued.

Like, what is Rocket Chat doing to, you know, actually break down those walls

between different platforms?

Well, they're doing some really innovative things, two key features to

keep in mind, Federation and Bridges.

So picture this, a world where you can just seamlessly chat with colleagues,

with clients, you know, even with competitors, no matter what platform

they're actually using.

Okay.

That sounds amazing, but like, how does that even work?

Is it like some sort of, um, universal translator for chat apps?

It's actually even cooler than that.

So Federation is this thing that lets different Rocket chat servers

talk directly to each other.

Oh, okay.

So you could be on your company's server and I could be on mine, but we can chat

as if we were on the same platform.

So no more creating separate accounts or trying to remember like five different

logins just to talk to people outside my organization.

Exactly.

It just works.

It's seamless.

And then for those people who aren't using Rocket chat at all, that's

where the bridges come in.

Bridges like connecting different islands of communication.

I like that.

Exactly.

They've built bridges to popular platforms like Microsoft Teams, Slack, even

older systems like IRC.

So even if someone is, you know, stuck in their Slack world, you can still pull

them into the conversation.

Okay.

Yeah, that's huge for like, you know, businesses that work with lots of external

partners or clients, no more like app switching chaos, just to keep up with

everything.

And it's not just about sending messages back and forth either.

You get the real time communication, the file sharing, even notifications across

platforms.

Like it's really about creating a truly interconnected ecosystem.

It all comes back to that open source philosophy, right?

Like they're not trying to, um, to lock anyone into anything specific.

Exactly.

It's about breaking down barriers and, you know, not creating new ones.

They want to make collaboration easier across, you know, the entire digital

world.

I mean, there's something like almost philosophical about that.

Like in a world that feels more and more divided, the idea of actually connecting

people through this, like really open communication.

It seems more important now than ever.

Right.

It's about understanding, building bridges, you know, creating a more

inclusive digital world.

And who knows, maybe that's how we start to, you know, tackle some of those big

challenges that, that we're all facing.

Wow.

Yeah, I love that.

So listener, we've really gone deep on rocket chat today.

We've talked about, uh, their open source approach, their like obsession with

security and customization, their foray into AI, and now this, you know, ambitious

vision of interconnected communication.

What do you think, what stands out to you the most as you continue exploring rocket

chat and, you know, thinking about what we've discussed, here's something to

consider in a world where we're constantly worried about, you know, data

privacy and security breaches and all of that, could a platform like rocket chat

with it's, you know, it's focused on user control and transparency, could that

actually become the model for how we communicate in the future?

That's a great question.

And on that note, thank you so much for joining us on this deep dive.

Keep those brains buzzing and keep those conversations flowing.

Keep those brains buzzing and keep those conversations flowing.