instant messaging

Google Wave Isn’t All Sunshine and Lollipops

OK. I swear that I am not anti-Google or anti-Google Wave, and I promise not to repeatedly bash Google Wave. In all honesty, I couldn’t wait to get my Wave invitation and I am still very excited to jump in and see what its all about. My previous post about being underwhelmed has more to do with what it looks like now during beta testing and not living up to the hype, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think it will eventually be a very capable product.

That said, there are two sides to the Google Wave coin. Its not all ice cream and rainbows, or sunshine and lollipops. First, the real-time collaboration is a huge benefit and the ability to see others typing as their fingers hit the keys is novel, but do we really need to watch others type…wrong…then backspace….then retype?

Have you ever written a message in anger or frustration? Then you take a step back and a deep breath, re-read it, and decide that there is a more appropriate way to say things so you edit the message before sending it? If you were holding that conversation in a Google Wave the other party would be able to watch as you type what a complete jackass….brain dead moron…..jerk….good person with the right intentions, but poor execution your boss is.

Real-time typing has its drawbacks.

What about the ability to chain and forward a Wave well after the fact? Say you start a Wave with a friend and you are venting between the two of you about a third friend. The Wave evolves and later the third friend is inadvertently added to the Wave. That person can go back to the beginning of the Wave, replay it, comment on it, etc.

Once its a Wave its sort of out of your control and the concept of assuming that everything you type will be shared publicly takes on a whole new meaning.

It will be interesting to see how some of the pitfalls of Google Wave are addressed as development evolves and the fully functional Google Wave eventually hits the Internet.

If you are on Google Wave, you can feel free to connet with me at s3kur3@googlewave.com.

Microsoft Unleashes More Comprehensive IM Connectivity

Organizations using Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS 2007) have a powerful instant messaging tool with Office Communicator and Communicator Mobile. Federation allows different organizations running OCS to link up so that the users in each entity can see each other’s presence and communicate seamlessly.

As it turns out, not every organization is running OCS 2007. I know, right? There are even a vast number of small and medium businesses with no enterprise instant messaging solution. Go figure. Many organizations rely on free IM options- AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, etc.

Microsoft had two announcements this week that change the landscape for instant messaging with OCS 2007. First, it released the XMPP gateway for OCS R2.  The new gateway expands the options for IM by enabling connectivity to systems such as Google Talk and Jabber. 

The second announcement was that connectivity with AOL is now included in the licensing price, along with Windows Live, which was announced a few months ago.  That means that OCS 2007 R2 can connect with AIM and Windows Live Messenger accounts without the need to purchase Public IM Connectivity (PIC) licenses.

Organizations that want/need to connect with Yahoo IM accounts will still have to purchase the necessary PIC licenses.

Resistance is Futile

You will be assimilated (for those perhaps not as nerdy as me- that is a Star Trek reference to The Borg).

That is sort of how new technologies work. Instant messaging went from IRC (Internet Relay Chat) used primarily by uber-geeks, to services like AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) embraced by consumers, and eventually to platforms like Microsoft Office Communications Server providing instant messaging capabilities in the enterprise.

Perhaps you can relate to this. I know people who rejected my overtures to connect on LinkedIn. They didn’t want to join and fought the tide. Then eventually I get an email asking me to join their LinkedIn network. Ironically, many of those same friends told me they refused to join Facebook. They already had LinkedIn, so what was the point? Fast forward a few months and I am getting Facebook friend requests from these people. Then it was Twitter. Now all of those people who said that they wouldn’t join the silly networking service that only allows 140-characters per message are watching how it has transformed International politics and media in the recent post-election protest violence in Iran and thinking “maybe there is some value to that after all?”

In fairness, there have been a number of lesser services that have not reached the popular acceptance of Facebook or Twitter: Plaxo, Spock, Friendster, etc. so I can understand approaching new technologies with caution or a healthy dose of skepticism. But, those that achieve the critical mass necessary eventually go from fringe uber-geek technology, to popular consumer technology, and then to a business tool embraced by enterprises.

There is some overlap though between the features and functions of some of these services and the functionality delivered by unified communications. Can social networking be leveraged as a ‘poor man’s unified communications’? Do enterprises have to choose one or the other? Or, will there be some sort of convergence of services that enable the two worlds to peacefully co-exist in the enterprise?

Reality Check: Enterprise IM security and social networking security

I sat down again with Elaine Hom, Associate Editor of SearchUnifiedCommunications, to do the Reality Check podcast. This month we focused on the impact of instant messaging and social networking on enterprise security. We talk about whether or not social networking sites belong in the workplace, and how to prevent hacks and breaching. In the podcast, we also discuss best practices when trying to maintain enterprise security while facing IM security and social networking security concerns.  

Click here to listen: Reality Check: Enterprise IM security and social networking security

Unified Communications & Social Networking

Many of the components included in unified communications started off or at least became mainstream in the consumer market. Instant messaging, web-based email, wikis, etc.. These technologies seem to catch fire as a grassroots movement from end-users jumping on the latest cutting edge technologies often before they even understand what the point of them is. Eventually, they become more mainstream and enterprises find ways to leverage or exploit them as well and they become integrated into the corporate network.

Unified communications is an established market, but also a young and evolving market at the same time. Web 2.0 and social networking continue to evolve almost exponentially as well. Where the two meet they can either assimilate and become one, or battle to the death for dominance. Read this article to learn more about a panel discussion at Interop 2009 focused on the future of unified communications and social networking convergence.

Eye on the Unified Communications Market

TechTarget’s SearchUnifiedCommunications site has launched a new feature called Eye on the Unified Communications Market. This monthly feature will take an in-depth look at a specific vendor to provide insight into that vendor’s approach to unified communications and the pros and cons of that approach. For this first month, the column focuses on Microsoft.

The column’s author, Blair Pleasant, points out that “There are several groups of players in the enterprise UC arena, all coming from different directions: the switch, enterprise IM and presence, messaging, mobile devices, conferencing/collaboration, applications and so on.”

Depending on the existing infrastructure and applications already in place, and the overall goal or objectives that an organization wants to accomplish by implementing UC, one approach or vendor solution may make more sense than another.

Organizations need to have an eye on the long-term future though as well. Making decisions purely based on the current architecture could paint the organization into a corner and handicap their ability to maximize their efficiency and productivity with unified communications. Consider your ultimate unified communications goal and work backards to define logical phases to get there rather than starting purely from where you are and expecting to someday get where you want to be. If you aren’t aiming at a target it is hard to predict where you will ultimately end up.

Cisco Buys Jabber

With the speed of computers and networks today, email is virtually instant. But, many corporations consider instant messaging to be a valuable complement to email communications and a vital component of efficient communications. When 10 seconds is just too long to wait for an email to be delivered, you can rely on instant messaging to get your message there even faster.

When instant messaging first emerged, it was primarily consumer oriented and handicapped by its own proprietary nature. AOL users could only communicate with AOL users. ICQ users could only communicate with ICQ users. Etc. Jabber came onto the scene as one of the first products to legitimize instant messaging for corporate use. Jabber enabled companies to house the instant messaging server on the internal network where they could monitor, maintain, log, and secure the communications. It also provided cross-platform support, allowing users of Jabber to communicate with AOL, ICQ, Yahoo, and other instant messaging platforms.

I used Jabber at a former employer. It seemed like a solid and functional tool and I liked the ability to communicate with disparate instant messaging systems. Cisco apparently has seen the value in Jabber as well. They are purchasing the instant messaging company to add the functionality and capabilities to their line of unified communications products. You can learn more from this Information Week article.

Nortel Interactive Communications Platform

One of the next big frontiers for Unified Communications is integrating UC functionality into call centers or customer support departments. Granted, most organizations are still struggling to manage the original frontier of how to deploy UC in the first place and realize the values and benefits it delivers. But, the ability to leverage those same benefits and increased efficiency can really translate to ROI when you are talking about how hundreds or thousands of calls are routed for customer support centers. Nortel has introduced their Interactive Communications Platform, or ICP, which provides Web 2.0 style widgets that companies can incorporate into their web sites which will provide customers with the ability to initiate instant messaging sessions with company representatives, or use a click to call function which will automatically initiate a call back from the customer support center to the customer. Evangelyze Communications has also developed a click to chat utility that links with the Office Communicator instant messaging functionality to allow customers to chat in real-time with Evangelyze Communications representatives and get answers to their questions.

Policing Instant Messaging

One of the key building blocks of unified communications is instant messaging. Instant messaging (IM) client software acts as the focal point and primary interface for a variety of unified communications solutions including Microsoft Communicator, and Avaya One-X Communicator. IM has come a long way from its early days as an unauthorized rogue application installed by tech-savvy users. Many organizations have adopted IM as a business tool, but most were reluctant and slow to climb onto the bandwagon. Now, IM is the keystone of next-generation communications. IM still poses a risk though. It can threaten productivity. It can represent an attack vector for malware. It can be a compliance issue. Companies can gain many benefits from the effective use of IM, but they need to provide guidelines for its use in defined, and written policies. Check out Instant Messaging Policies Reduce Risk for more details about the issues and what should be included in a corporate IM policy.

Callwave’s Fuze Brings UC to SMB’s

TMCNet’s Rich Tehrani recently wrote about a UC offering from Callwave called Fuze. Unified communications can level the playing field for smaller companies that want to compete with the big boys. In this instance, Callwave is leveraging their approach to unified communications to produce a unified communications solutions aimed at small and medium businesses, and, in the process, squaring off with the big boys in their own arena like Microsoft, Cisco, and Avaya. Fuze appears to provide a fairly comprehensive approach to unified communications, including email integration, Skype-based audio and video conferencing, media sharing, follow-me functionality, and more. What is most unique about Fuze though is that it is a web-based solution, with no software to install and no special equipment to deploy. That could be a tremendous advantage, and it could be an achilles heel. The product is in Beta now, projected for a summer 2008 release. Fuze may be worth taking a look at if you are evaluating UC solutions for a small or medium business.