Section 46. About Instant Messaging Services
46. About Instant Messaging Services 42 About Instant Messages 43 Set Up Instant Messaging One of the biggest problems with instant messaging is the many divergent IM services, each of which requires you to use and potentially install its own unique IM client before you can communicate using that service. This might not seem like a big deal; just pick one service and stick with it, right? The problem arises when you start realizing that your friends , family, and business acquaintances all use different IM services. The only way to communicate with all of them using instant messages is to install all the IM clients , which is like having to install Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Opera on your desktop PC just so you can browse a variety of websites . Some wireless providers have helped solve this problem by offering built-in support for several IM services. For example, T-Mobile includes standard support for AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and ICQ in its 7100t devices. Of course, this leaves many MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger users out in the cold. The problem therefore still exists to some degree because you have a variety of IM services and no way to consolidate them under one roof. Or so it might seem. Before I touch on a solution to this problem, let's quickly assess the current major IM services. Here they are
There's a good chance you already have an account on one of these services, even if you've never used it. For example, if you are an AOL member, you are already capable of using AOL Instant Messenger with your AOL screen name . An even more likely scenario involves MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger, both of which are built on the .NET Messenger Service. If you've ever created a Passport account for one of Microsoft's many online services, you already have an account for use with MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger. Regardless of which type of IM service you might or might not already use, the challenge remains that you need a good way to consolidate them under one IM client. In an ideal world, all IM services would adopt a standard protocol such as Jabber's XML-based Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), which establishes a common language for instant messaging. But the world is not, in fact, ideal, so we're stuck trying to unify a handful of different instant messaging services under one umbrella. Enter unified instant messaging. If you're using a T-Mobile 7100t device and your family, friends, and business acquaintances all use AOL, Yahoo!, or ICQ for instant messaging, the IM consolidation issue really isn't a problem because your device already supports these three IM services. In unified instant messaging , a single IM client takes on the challenge of allowing IM conversations through more than one IM service. The default T-Mobile IM client does an adequate job of playing the role of unified IM client in that it supports AOL, Yahoo!, and ICQ instant messaging. But MSN and Jabber users are still left out in the cold. To pick up support for additional IM services, you must turn to a third-party application. Following are a few good IM client applications you might want to consider for unifying your instant messaging needs:
Unified instant messaging A single instant messaging client that supports several instant messaging services. Keep in mind that your ultimate goal with instant messaging on your BlackBerry device is to develop a consistent way to communicate with important contacts in a timely manner. If you are working within a closed corporate setting, you might be able to get everyone signed on to the same IM service, in which case a third-party unified IM client is unnecessary. As long as you can efficiently communicate with important contacts, it really doesn't matter which application or IM client handles the details of shuttling messages back and forth.  |
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