In the latter half of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, the Quantum Link online service for Commodore 64 computers offered user-to-user messages between concurrently connected customers, [citation needed] which they called “On-Line Messages” (or OLM for short), and later “FlashMail.” [citation needed] (Quantum Link later became America Online [citation needed] and made AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), discussed later). While the Quantum Link service ran on a Commodore 64 , using only the Commodore’s PETSCII text-graphics, the screen was visually divided into sections and OLMs would appear as a yellow bar saying “Message From:” and the name of the sender along with the message across the top of whatever the user was already doing, and presented a list of options for responding. As such, it could be considered a type of graphical user interface (GUI), albeit much more primitive than the later Unix , Windows and Macintosh based GUI IM software. OLMs were what Q-Link called “Plus Services” [citation needed] meaning they charged an extra per-minute fee on top of the monthly Q-Link access costs.
Modern, Internet-wide, GUI-based messaging clients as they are known today, began to take off in the mid 1990s [citation needed] with PowWow , ICQ , and AOL Instant Messenger . Similar functionality was offered by CU-SeeMe in 1992; though primarily an audio/video chat link, users could also send textual messages to each other. AOL later acquired Mirabilis , the authors of ICQ; [citation needed] a few years later ICQ (now owned by AOL) was awarded two patents [citation needed] for instant messaging by the U.S. patent office. Meanwhile, other companies developed their own software; [citation needed] ( Excite , MSN , Ubique , and Yahoo ), each with its own proprietary protocol and client ; [citation needed] users therefore had to run multiple client applications if they wished to use more than one of these networks. In 1998, IBM released IBM Lotus Sametime , [citation needed] a product based on technology acquired when IBM bought Haifa-based Ubique and Lexington-based Databeam. [citation needed]
The protocol was standardized under the name Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). [citation needed] XMPP servers could act as gateways to other IM protocols, reducing the need to run multiple clients. [citation needed] Multi-protocol clients can use any of the popular IM protocols by using additional local libraries for each protocol. [citation needed] IBM Lotus Sametime’s etime Gateway support for XMPP. [citation needed]
Many instant messaging services offer video calling features, Voice Over IP ( VoIP ) and web conferencing services. [citation needed] Web conferencing services can integrate both video calling and instant messaging abilities. Some instant messaging companies are also offering desktop sharing , IP radio, and IPTV to the voice and video features. [citation needed]
The term “Instant Messenger” is a service mark of Time Warner and may not be used in software not affiliated with http://besthookupwebsites.org/down-dating-review AOL in the United States. For this reason, in ed Gaim (or gaim) announced that they would be renamed ” Pidgin “.
Clients
Each modern IM service generally provides its own client, [citation needed] either a separately installed piece of software, or a browser-based client. These usually only work with the supplier company’s service, although some allow limited function with other services. [citation needed] Third party client software applications exist that will connect with most of the major IM services. [citation needed] Adium , Digsby , Jappix , Meebo , Miranda IM , Pidgin , Qnext and Trillian are a few of the common ones.
Interoperability
Standard, complimentary instant messaging applications offer functions like file transfer, contact list(s), the ability to hold several simultaneous conversations, etc. [citation needed] These may be all the functions that a small business needs, but larger organizations will require more sophisticated applications that can work together. [citation needed] The solution to finding applications capable of this is to use enterprise versions of instant messaging applications. [citation needed] These include titles like XMPP, Lotus Sametime , Microsoft Office Communicator , etc., which are often integrated with other enterprise applications such as workflow systems. [citation needed] These enterprise applications, or enterprise application integration (EAI), are built to certain constraints, namely storing data in a common format. [citation needed]
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