WSG Newsletter: Instant Messengers - Who's Online

Issue: October 26, 2001

There has been lots of hype about Instant Messengers (IM for acronym lovers). This is the software that combines the convenience of email with the immediacy of live chat. Studies by Gartner, the research group, indicate that Instant Messaging could surpass email as the primary tool for electronic interaction by 2005.

Why all the fuss you ask? It’s just another chat service, right? Wrong. IMs are a breed unto themselves with a unique set of features. This newsletter describes what IM’s can do, some of the uses IMs are being put to, which are the best ones, how to go about getting and using your own IM.

What is IM?

Like chat, IMs operate in synchronous time, that is to say, real time. You can “talk” live with anyone simply by typing text. Whereas chat occurs in a room or channel that you must connect to, instant messaging requires a software program to be downloaded and installed. The service lets you connect directly with other people who are online. It’s a form of peer-to-peer – a bit like Napster users sharing music files.

IMs allow you to specify whom you chat with and when you chat – you invite people to be part of your buddy list, and the IM client lets you specify your availability to chat. No one can drop in on your conversations unless you invite them. You can chat one-on-one, have several conversations running simultaneously in different windows, or hold a “conference” conversation.

Status
One of the key benefits of IMs is their ability to notify you when your “buddies” come on-line. Likewise, anyone in your buddy list will know when you are online. Privacy features are available on IMs – you can change your status to reflect your present state: busy, on the phone, or away. Status options vary from IM to IM. It is also possible to make yourself appear offline, even when you aren’t, if you don’t wish to be contacted.

Audio / Video
Some IMs come with voice and/or video capability (see the rundown of the various software clients later). Tired of those long-distance calls? All you need is a headset, the same IM as your buddy and voila! You can talk in real-time all over the world for the price of an Internet connection. Add a webcam to the mix and you can see each other as you speak! (Quality of voice and/or video varies depending on ISP and available bandwidth.)

Surf the Web
Instant Messengers allow you to surf websites with your “buddies”. While your browser is open, you can pop the IM on top and visit different sites. You can invite your online friends to look at the website you are viewing by cutting and pasting the URL from your browser into your IM. Your friend(s) can click on the link, and their browser will automatically open to the website. Odigo, one brand of Instant Messenger, lets you post notes onto websites that other Odigo users can read.

Business Use
IMs are not restricted to home use. They are a growing phenomenon in the workplace too. InsightExpress found from its studies (August 2001) that, “Instant messaging is seen as a workplace tool, not a distraction”. In their survey of consumers, 47% used instant messengers, and 20% of those used it at work instead of the phone or email.

Instant messaging can get an instant response from a coworker, instead of having to wait for a return phone call or email.

Instant Messaging Services

The most commonly used IMs are AOL’s Instant Messenger (AIM), ICQ (I seek you), MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger. According to several articles in June 2001, AIM and ICQ have over 100 million registered users each and Microsoft Messenger is in third spot at 32 million. Yahoo and a fifth, Odigo are nipping at the heels with new features. Because the IM systems do not connect well to each other (if at all) many users will have more than one IM installed.

To see how the five most popular IMs (and a couple of others) stack up in the opinion of this TIG staff member, read on!

AOL Instant Messenger (AOL or AIM)
(http://www.aol.com/aim/home.html)
AOL Instant Messenger may be the most popular instant messenger judging from studies such as InsightExpress’s that finds it is used by 45% of users. It has all the standard features of Instant Messengers: chat, instant messages, buddy lists, graphical emoticons, the ability to transfer files, and share URL’s, online status indicator, built in search capacity, and most recently, is Voice Stream phone capable. AIM also displays a stock ticker at the bottom of the window. This TIGger has never been an AOL AIM user – simply because none of my “buddies” use it. Nonetheless, it is simple and intuitive to use, you don’t need an AOL account to use it, and in most cases, if you have Netscape, it comes with the browser.

ICQ ( http://web.icq.com/) invented instant messaging. It was the first IM, introduced to the Net in 1996. In 1998 AOL bought it. Today, one look at the web site and you find yourself drawn into another world. Heck – you can send kisses and hugs. ICQ is instant messaging on steroids. Not only can you do all the things you can do in other IM clients, you can also send messages outside the ICQ environment to cellphones and pagers. ICQ also allows users to hold PC to PC, PC to phone, and Phone-to-Phone calling card calls. Users can launch Microsoft’s Netmeeting from the ICQ platform in order to hold a videoconference. This TIGger likes ICQ, but knows it can be confusing to use. Newbies to IM may prefer to start with AOL or MSN Messenger.

MSN Messenger
(http://messenger.msn.com/)

MSN Messenger has the standard features -- chat, graphical emoticons, transfer of files, an online status indicator, and URL sharing. Users in Canada and the US can get stock quotes through MSN’s Money Central. Microsoft’s NetMeeting is incorporated into the program for video or voice conferencing and MSN Messenger is integrated with Hotmail and/or Outlook Express. Like ICQ, MSN’s IM allows you to page mobile phones with messages. The best feature of MSN Messenger is the typing indicator which shows when someone is typing a message. You don’t have to wonder if the person is ever going to respond! So far, this is unique to MSN Messenger, although Yahoo Messenger has said it will be in their next release.

TIG’s staff (Gwen, Laryssa, and I) often use MSN Messenger for work to discuss current projects, trade information and files, and stay in contact. It’s invaluable for knowing when contacts are available and for the immediacy of the contact with your “buddy”. MSN Messenger is simple and intuitive to use – a good introduction to the IM world.

Yahoo Messenger
(http://messenger.yahoo.com/)
Yahoo Messenger is pushing hard to nudge ahead of MSN. It has everything MSN has (except typing) plus weather, news, calendar, and easy access to the hundreds of Yahoo chat rooms. As an instant messenger, YM can be set to automatically archive conversations for ten days – significantly for privacy concerns, the archives are to your computer hard drive, not a Yahoo server. The feature I liked best about YM was the funky font colours – available on other IM’s for sure, but not in the wide range of YM’s rainbow colours! A typing-in-progress function (similar to MSN Messenger’s) is to come, and the beta version of YM looks to include what they are terming IMVironments -- you can download different backgrounds to customize your chat environment.

Interoperability
One of the biggest drawbacks of Instant Messengers has been the lack of messaging standards that will allow interoperation of the various programs. For example, a MSN Messenger user can’t converse with ICQ users, and vice versa. The villain of the piece is AOL which has persistently blocked access from other IM operators. Odigo, Jabber, and Imici, promise to bridge the gap by offering interoperability with the major players with varying degrees of success.

Odigo
(http://www.odigo.org)
Odigo is a small New York company who has been battling with AOL for platform compatibility since mid-1999. It promises interoperability with AOL AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, and ICQ. However, despite all assurances to the contrary, the feasibility of interoperability between Odigo and other IMs is questionable. As J.D. Biersdorfer said in the New York Times (June 16, 2001), “Depending on the day and the Odigo software version you have, you can sometimes use Odigo Messenger to communicate with AOL Instant Messenger users, as well as with Yahoo Messenger and ICQ devotees.” Of course, as he wryly points out, as soon as AOL discovers Odigo has a connection, they block it.

Odigo is also notable because it allows users to post notes on websites for other Odigo users to read. When surfing the Internet, you can see who else is at a website besides yourself and your buddy(s). Odigo has a choice of avatars you can use to represent yourself.

Sympatico Internet Messenger
(http://im.sympatico.ca/)
Canadians (and Sympatico subscribers in particular) may be interested to know that Sympatico has licensed a version of Odigo called (Sympatico Instant Messenger or SIM. The service is available to anyone and includes a web-based email account with GoSympatico and web space at Tripod.ca.

This is a promising product, but both Gwen and I found the two-step registration and download process rather “involved”. It took three days to get a user number from Sympatico to proceed with the step for downloading the software. Sympatico has a few bugs to work out yet. In our test run of SIM, we also found it somewhat confusing to use. It took using MSN Messenger, an IM client we were familiar with, to communicate to each other how to use SIM! However, once we got the hang of SIM, we enjoyed surfing to sites and sending messages.

Jabber, and Imici
http://www.jabber.com and http://www.imici.com
Jabber and Imici are two other IM clients promising interoperability with ICQ, Yahoo! and MSN Messenger, and AOL AIM for Imici only. In my test run of both, I was only able to import my MSN Messenger buddy list and, despite that small success, was unable to contact any of my online buddies.

Security Precautions

Although chatting to one buddy via an IM client may seem secure from prying eyes and “listening” ears, beware of transmitting any sensitive material such as passwords, or confidential documents, whether personal or work-related. As an April 2001 ZDNet News article stated, “It's one of the dirty little secrets of corporate communications: Executives and other employees routinely chat via notoriously insecure instant messages.”

According to the same article, use of IM’s in corporations introduces some of the same problems of email. IM’s are also subject to viruses and worms and can disseminate trade secrets efficiently or allow for the exchange of libel or harassment. See the web version of this newsletter at TIG for more articles.

Conclusion

In the end, the IM program you choose to use will be the one that your friends or co-workers are using. You are also likely to have more than one.

The advantages of IM are fairly compelling – better than phone tag, voice mail, or the black hole of email for reaching people. IM tools are developing into message centers for managing all communications – online, cell phone,and email, and conducting conferences. These may also become a mini current-awareness service for news headlines and stock quotes.

Business use may increase also for collaborative work on projects as well as online service and technical support. IM won’t just be something kids do.

Newsletter by Kirsten McKnight, TIG Support, – currently trying to figure out how to disentangle herself from all the IM services on her desktop!