Matrix chat hosting: Element and Synapse managed

Short answer

Matrix is an open standard for chat. With the Element apps you get rooms, direct messages, end-to-end encryption and voice and video calls. You can connect your server to other Matrix servers if you want, but you do not have to. We host the server in the Netherlands, install the updates and monitor it. It can replace Slack, or the chat in Microsoft Teams.

A standard, not a subscription

Slack and Teams are products of one company. Matrix is an agreement on how chat messages are sent, and any party can run a server for it. That sounds abstract until you want to move: then there is no supplier deciding what you get to take with you.

Jevana uses Matrix for its own chat. Element is the app you use to work in it, in the browser, on the computer and on the phone.

What you can do with it

Talking

Rooms per team, project or subject
Direct messages between two or more people
Voice and video calls

Keeping private

End-to-end encryption, switched on per room
You decide who may enter a room
Inviting guests without giving them access to the rest

Connecting

Optional contact with users on other Matrix servers
Signing in with your existing accounts through single sign-on
A domain name of your own for the server

When this fits

Your team is already in Slack and the bill grows with every new colleague.
You do not want confidential conversations held by an American company.
You work with partners and want them in the same chat, without needing an account with you.

Facts about Matrix and Element

Licence: The server (Synapse) and the Element apps are AGPL 3.0. Matrix and Element are trademarks of their owners and Jevana has no tie to them.
Replaces: Slack and the chat in Microsoft Teams
Federation: On or off, as you like
Own use: Jevana chats with it itself
Our part: We install Synapse and the web version of Element, update and monitor them, and make a daily backup with an external copy

Questions

What are Matrix and Element?

Matrix is the protocol: the rules by which chat messages pass between servers and apps. Element is the app you use to read and write them, available for browser, computer and phone. The server that stores the messages is called Synapse. We manage that server, so your team only opens Element and can start talking.

Can we talk to people outside our organisation with Matrix?

Yes, in two ways. You invite someone as a guest to a room on your server, or you switch on federation, which lets users of other Matrix servers chat with your people directly. Federation is a choice, not an obligation. If you want a closed environment, we switch it off.

Is Matrix chat really encrypted?

Rooms can be end-to-end encrypted. The messages are then encrypted on the device and the server cannot read them, and neither can we. An encrypted room does have a consequence: whoever loses their keys loses the old messages. We explain how that works and agree with you which rooms must be encrypted.

How does it differ from Slack or Teams?

Using it looks similar: rooms, messages, files and calls. The difference is ownership. Slack and Teams run at their maker, Matrix runs on a server you choose. On the other side, there are fewer ready-made integrations, and Teams is woven into Outlook and Office. We go through what you would miss before you decide.

Can we bring our current Slack archive?

It is not a given. Slack lets administrators export data, but an export is not yet a working chat history in another system. We look at your export beforehand and tell you honestly what can be moved and what cannot. What is certain is that you start with a clean, working chat.

Goes well with

Tell us what you run.

An introduction costs nothing. You talk straight away to one of the two people who will actually do the work.

Get in touch

or email info@jevana.systems

Matrix chat hosting: team chat in an environment of your own.