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This is something I've been wanting for a while. A recent situation has made this a real bee up my... er, in my bonnet.

I want to set up a one-way instant messaging system in my office. This would allow the IT department (me) to broadcast a message to everyone. A client service running on every desktop would display the message front and center; the box would be modal and require that the user manually close the box before continuing with anything else. Ideally, the app that sends out the message would get feedback that the box has been closed, allowing us to go to the user and make sure they got it.

Again, this would not be a full-fledged instant messaging service, just a way for IT to tell people that the database is being taken offline for maintenance or that our website is being restarted. Emails haven't worked, so I'm looking for a more effective solution that does not involve shouting.

I am not asking for anyone to write the code; that wouldn't be fun for me and anyway, I will need to understand the system well enough to maintain it. I would prefer using just the Framework, without third party tools. The problem is, I have no idea where even to begin. Knowing what assemblies and namespaces to use would be a big help, and if anyone has links to articles or sample code, I would be most appreciative.
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Have you tried the "net send" command from DOS, while there is no indication that someone has read it, it does pop-up a message box center screen.

If you want an app you would be looking at a TCP/UDP broadcast message (System.Net, System.Net.Sockets) system either through an auto start application or a windows service with desktop interaction.

To start with I would try "net send" if that doesn't work go to an app.
 
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You could also create a windows app that has a NotifyIcon. As IT, you could write a script to start the program whenever someone logs on.

You could have the system check a database every minute or so for any new messages and if there are any, it could pop up a form with the message.

You could also set it up to post messages back to the database, for instance when someone closes a message, or if someone closes the program.

It really shouldn't be that hard to do.
 
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