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UT INF 385T - Knowledge Management and Messaging

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Foundations of Instant MessagingPresenceComparing Consumer and Enterprise IM PlatformsOther Instant Messaging ApplicationsEnterprise Applications for Instant MessagingJabberTara Carter SmithMay 6, 2003I385T - Knowledge Management SystemsSpring 2003 - TurnbullKnowledge Management and Messaging Instant Messaging (IM) is the communication tool of the internet-age. The community that is created by the awareness of other people online, and the real-time conversation IM enables, makes this type of communication essential for theglobal experience. Instant Messaging has reached more than 200 million people and is forecasted to connect 500 million users by 2006.1 It is a virtually free communication tool that is able to connect people instantly, creating interactive possibilities in a multitude of situations. Messaging has become a standard component of many web-based activities. After examining the foundations of instant messaging, this report will focus on enterprise applications for knowledge management. Foundations of Instant MessagingInstant messaging is an Internet protocol (IP)-based application that provides convenient communication between people using a variety of different device types. The most familiar today is computer-to-computer instant text messaging, but IM also can work with mobile devices…and can incorporate voice or video.2 Consumer platforms drove the development of instant messaging, beginning with the 1996 Mirablis release of ICQ. It was the first tool to feature a popular, real-time communication application. ICQ (shorthand for “I seek you”) isstill widely used today, though it was acquired by AOL in 1998. Based on this technology, AOL’s Instant Messenger (AIM) application is currently the most 1 ZDNet Australia. Instant Messaging for Business. February 5, 2003. 2 International Engineering Consortium. Web – IEC: Instant Messaging.widely-used instant messaging platform. AIM is a proprietary-protocol system, like most other instant messaging utilities. This means that, in most cases, both end users must be on the same platform in order to communicate. While some utilities do allow users from different platforms to exchange messages, there is no standard protocol for establishing presence. PresencePresence is the ability for a user to display to others that he/she is online, as well as the ability to detect that others are online also. Presence is essential to the foundation of any instant messaging system. With presence, users indicate their status – whether they’re available or not…This feature reduces phone tag, enables ad hoc meetings to occur, and in general facilitates the sort of electronic communications that might naturally occur in person.3The capability for users to connect with other people, and for other people to connect with them, is what makes instant messaging the most direct, efficient form of communication available for a wide variety of interactive tasks. Some utilities have expanded the idea of presence to include sharing applications in use, works in progress, and additional location information. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is working on a standard protocol for IM and Presence. The goal of this work is to enable “an internet-scale end-user presence awareness, notification, and instant messaging system.”4 This working group is pursuing the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) 3 Greenfield. “IM’s Buddy Brawl.” Network Magazine. December 4, 2002.4 Internet Engineering Task Force. Instant Messaging and Presence Protocol Charter. 2and SIMPLE (SIP for IM and Presence Leveraging Extensions) as the standard for the industry, and is supported by Microsoft and IBM. An alternate standard forIM based on Jabber’s XML protocol, XMPP (Extensible Messaging and PresenceProtocol), is being pursued by another IETF working group5.Instant Messaging supports a variety of interactive communication tasks. It is an informal tool which is primarily used for quick questions and clarifications; coordination and scheduling; arranging impromptu social meetings; and keeping in touch with friends and family.6 The success of IM as a communication tool lies in the fact that it is virtually immediate, flexible, and expressive. In many cases, itis easier to get a quick response through IM than with a phone call or email message. According to an ethnographic study reported by Nardi, Whittaker and Bradner, instant messaging also supports the non-interactive aspects of communication by providing an easy tool for screening presence, and the option to delay responding through plausible deniability. These functions give IM users more control over their interactions than other communication mediums. Comparing Consumer and Enterprise IM PlatformsGiven the pressure of the knowledge-based economy for just-in-time processes and real-time decision-making, instant messaging has recently begun to capture the interest of corporate planners as much as it has the interest of teenagers. “The Gartner Group predicts that by 2004, sixty percent of real-time 5 Greenfield. “IM’s Buddy Brawl.” Network Magazine. December 4, 2002. 6 Nardi, Whittaker, and Bradner. Interaction and Outeraction. Page 81-82.3communication…will be driven by IM technology.”7 There are essentially three levels of IM platforms available today: consumer (usually free) systems, enterprise (usually more secure) systems, and hybrid systems that try to bridge features of both. The consumer-level platforms include AIM, MSN and Yahoo Messenger, and ICQ. These utilities are proprietary protocol systems, requiring each end-user to be on the same system, and are not considered secure. IM applications for business allow the company to establish much more control over the communication function. Systems targeted for business use include Lotus Sametime (soon to be Lotus Instant Messaging), Microsoft Exchange, and Jabber. The current trend in Enterprise IM applications is for companies to manage their own user namespace. This control allows a businessto integrate directories; ensure message encryption for each end-user; and provide auditing/reporting mechanisms for more secure communication than is currently available through the consumer IM platforms.8 Hybrid systems claim to add increased security and functionality to the publicly-available IM utilities while exhibiting presence across platforms. One hybrid system is IM Age’s IM-Policy


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