Can’t recommend Slack enough.

It’s a web app with native apps for both iOS and Android.
You should be up and running in about 10 minutes, and comes
with a free plan which is more than enough to try it out.
Reminds me a bit of IRC too.

You can make the interface as small as you want; just resize your browser window.

Or maybe something based on Jabber?

quote:

Originally posted by farris Can’t recommend Slack enough. It’s a web app with native apps for both iOS and Android. You should be up and running in about 10 minutes, and comes with a free plan which is more than enough to try it out. Reminds me a bit of IRC too. You can make the interface as small as you want; just resize your browser window. Or maybe something based on Jabber?

Wow, this looks perfect. Thanks so much! Knew I could count on my TA bretherin.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN Wow, this looks perfect. Thanks so much! Knew I could count on my TA bretherin.

You’re welcome

HipChat isn't entirely text-based, as it allows file sharing, video, audio, etc. But, seems to meet your requirements. It's another option, and is free to try:

hipchat.com

quote:

Originally posted by farris You’re welcome

Thanks again mate. Slack is working nicely here, it's a bit over featured for my purposes (just ext communication between two rooms) but it's been flawless and super easy to setup.

Hipchat looks to be the same as slack.