How to Remain Productive with Corporate Messenger
A corporate messenger is designed to help you exchange information with coworkers and clients very quickly and efficiently. Instant messaging is faster than phone calls, and unlike emailing, you can get an immediate response. Still, instant messaging can easily get out of control. Quick questions sent by IM can turn into long chats, and answering messages can really break your focus. There are some simple things you can do to use IM to your best advantage.
Restrict Messages to People on Your Contact List
Adjust your privacy setting so that only people on your contact list can message you. This will keep random strangers, and other people you don’t need to talk to, from bothering you and wasting your time. But remember that when you want a new person to message you, they will have to prearrange it some other way, such as by email.
Edit Your Contact List
Restricting IM to those on your corporate messenger list won’t help if you have a hundred people on there. To really cut down on wasted time, you will need to limit contacts to those you really need to keep in touch with. Keeping it to ten or twelve people is a good rule of thumb.
Use Different IM Log-ins for Friends and Work
One way to maximize efficiency is to keep your corporate messenger for work use only. That way you will be offline to your friends while you are at work, and they won’t bother you. Your pals are probably more likely to have long chats with you than coworkers are, so this will really cut down on distractions.
Let People Know When You are Busy
When you are working on something that requires a lot of concentration, set your status as “away.” You can also add other status alerts such as “busy,” “in a meeting,” and “out to lunch.” That way people will have an idea how long they will have to wait for you to be available. Also, if you want to be available for quick questions but not long conversations, just be sure to let the other person know you don’t have time to visit when they message you.
Use Invisibility
If you need to ask someone a question, but you don’t want everyone to know you are online, just use the “invisible” setting. This setting allows you to IM one person at a time, and everyone else will still see you as offline. Someone was thinking when they invented that one!
Instant Messenger Security Issues and Solutions
With identity theft and corporate espionage on the rise, having instant messenger security is essential now more than ever. Hackers can use instant messaging as an unchecked doorway into any computer. Once a hacker has the “in” on one computer, the instant messaging software can be used to infect everyone in a business. Here are some ways that hackers attack a computer and how it can be prevented.
Issues
These are some reasons why instant messenger security is so important. Once a hacker gets into a computer, he or she can send a password stealing virus. This virus will steal the password and other useful information and send it back to the hacker in a variety of ways. With account information and passwords, a hacker can hi-jack or impersonate a client or co-worker. If a hacker is successful, he or she will attack all the individuals who are allowed to send and retrieve instant messages to first victim. This is why instant messenger security is very important. Another method that a hacker can use to steal information is through log files. Log files are created to store and send the messages through an instant messaging service. These files can be sent back to the hacker, so that he or she can access them.
Solutions
The only way to have instant messenger security is to use a secure network. There are two main features that security has, which are providing encryption and packaging the message as only for the recipient. With the packaging for recipients, the message goes from the sender to the receiver in a sterile package. This keeps hackers from identifying the parties involved and seeing the contents of the message. Messages are sent by protocol in a manner similar to how a letter is delivered. The instant messenger security also encrypted the message. This encodes the message before sending it, making it harder to read. In order for the receiver or a hacker to read the message, it will need to be decrypted. This decryption will require the use of a Rosetta stone or key. The decryption keys are always changing to provide a secure message.
This is why choosing the right IM client for your business is so vital, and why Brosix.com is the enterprise IM client for you. Brosix.com provides these instant messenger security features and much more so that your business can remain as safe as it needs to be.
Brosix 3 BETA released
As you probably know we are developing a new Brosix version. We call it Brosix 3 (current official version is 2.0.3). The news this month is that we have Brosix 3 BETA released. You can download it and experience the latest innovations in the Instant Messaging world. We would be very grateful if you share with us your experience, thoughts and suggestions.
You can download Brosix 3 BETA for your OS (Linux and/or Windows, Mac is coming soon) from here
http://www.brosix.org/beta.shtml
Members of Brosix private IM networks can dowload the enterprise version from here http://www.brosix.com/beta.shtml
More about Brosix 3: Brosix 3 Features
The great new features in Brosix 3 (Multiple Languages and Skins) need your help.
We do not have enough knowledge in different languages. So, if you want to see Brosix to speak your language, please spend 1 hour and do the translation. For more information on how to help translate Brosix go to the forum http://forum.brosix.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=72
We have asked the best designers to make some skins for Brosix that are both good looking and easy to use. But if you want to see Brosix look your way go to the forum follow the instructions
http://forum.brosix.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=73
Brosix 3 Features
The original reason for Brosix 3 was to release a Mac and possibly a Linux version. Over time we have decided that at some point we should completely stop developing Brosix 2.0 and replace it with Brosix 3 for all platforms - Windows, Mac and Linux.
We started a completely new development (not just porting the old code) that will work on Windows, Mac and Linux. After more than 8 month’s work we are close to completing it. Brosix 2.0 has many features, and it will take us some time to implement all of them for Brosix 3. So, we are going to release Brosix 3 with a sub-set of Brosix 2.0 features and over the time we will release other features one by one.
We have tried to select the most important features for Brosix 3:
- Text Chat
- Text Conference
- History - compared to Brosix 2.0 this contains information about all communication events, not only text chat which is the case with Brosix 2.0
- File Transfer
- Co-Browse - this uses improved and more user-friendly process.
- Screen-shot
Missing features are:
- Whiteboard
- Screen Sharing
- Audio call
- Video call
- Voice Conference
- Voice Mail
We are going to implement these in a completely new way that will improve user experience.
There are some new features in Brosix 3:
- Multiple languages - in addition to English user interface we will make translations to other languages - Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Russian, Bulgarian etc.
- Skins - Brosix 3 allows users to select from different skins for the GUI.
One of the important changes in Brosix 3 is that we will remove “Full text formatting” feature in the Text Chat. This feature allows user A to send user B a text by changing the font, color, background, style of each character. We will allow only bold, italic and underline formatting. The reason for this decision is that user A may want larger font size, but user B sends him/her text with small font size. This could be very inconvenient for A and also inconvenient for B to receive large text by A. Also, text font by A may be incompatible with Text Chat area of B (blue letters on blue background for example 
The major rule will be “Everyone sees the text in his own setting - font, size, color, and only bold, italic and underline will be allowed to help people emphasize on words or phrases”
Business IM Client Support: Spam Blocking
IM spam may not be as big a problem as email spam right now, but it will be, and the right business IM client will help you get ahead of the spammers before it becomes a problem. IM spam will be able to carry viruses just like emails, but trying to block IM spam is hopeless because spammers can easily move to another script and start spamming again as soon as they’re caught and their site is destroyed. The key is for businesses to control their IM networks. This is why it is so important to find a business IM client who can give you the support you need.
Controllable Features
To start with, your business IM client should offer you the ability to control IM use by employees, like with the Features Control offered by Brosix.com. You could completely deny IM use to those who have no reason to use it, while some employees could be restricted to using internal IM only with others in the company. Other employees could be allowed to IM your clients. And a few people, like sales staff and tech support, would need unrestricted access.
Contact List Management
A business IM client should also offer you the ability to allow and block users. This way you can only allow employees to IM through a single, secure server like Brosix.com. Brosix lets a business choose a list of authorized users and keeps all others out, insuring that all file sharing and chatting remain within the company.
Activity Log
You may also want to keep tabs on your employees’ IM-ing activities. A top-notch business IM client will allow you to monitor in detail all IM activities, including file transfers as well as messages. If any employees are trying to sneak in some chatting unrelated to business, you’ll know about it. With Brosix.com, every voice call, chat, and file transfer is traceable so that you know exactly what your employees are up to in the IM network.
Avoid a spamming disaster via your company IM by choosing a secure business IM client such as Brosix.com who offers the right support. Just make sure that your client offers you controllable features, contact list management, and an activity log so that your IM spam blocking is effective enough to keep your employees focused and your company safe.
Bells, Whistles and Wasted Space
When you are choosing an Instant Messenger for business you will have a lot of decisions to make. One of the ones most open to debate is what features do you really need?
Too many features, and you will end up wasting space on your systems, which can be costly. Most companies really cannot afford to spend more money on a tool than they absolutely have to.
Too few features and you will end up spending perfectly good money on a tool that does not do the things you really need it to. That will lead to a misused and under used tool.
Either way, you end up with egg on your face, and cash that could have been better spent elsewhere. How do you choose the features that you need in a business instant messenger? Simply andwer these questions.
- How will the staff be using this instant messenger tool?
- How much space can we afford to host this software? How much can we afford?
- What are the possible future uses of this technology?
Once you know these things, it should not be too hard to figure out which features you need, and which you can have.
How to Use Enterprise Instant Messaging in Your Company
Brosix is a powerful, secure private enterprise instant messaging service. When your business is ready to increase information sharing security, cut out advertising and out-of-company contacts, and have the ability to manage users and permissions, then you are ready for Brosix Enterprise Instant Messaging. Brosix increases productivity focusing users solely on company business by eliminating outside contacts and distracting advertisements. Then there are all the great features - in which permissions are managed by your company’s IT administrator - such as text messaging, chat history, voice chat, video chat, file transfer, co-browse (users view the same screen), whiteboard, and many more. Brosix Enterprise Instant Messaging increases the efficiency with which your company can communicate between different departments and locations. Once you simply set up your Brosix network, implementing its use is a breeze.
Customized Set-up
Brosix maintains their own servers leaving only the administration of the enterprise instant messaging to your IT department. With the easy-to-use online administration console, they will begin setting up user IDs and permissions for each user. They can also generate a default contact list, another great advantage over each user taking the time to set up their contacts. Features can be assigned to users on an individual basis. Also available in the administration console are user activity logs, including all chats, voice calls, and file transfers.
Implementation
The following is a list of features to which users will have access, along with some tips on how to use each feature effectively within your company:
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Text messaging – ideal for simple communication between departments throughout the business day, available when users are offline as well: the message will appear next time they log on. Get a quick answer from your colleague even in the middle of a conference call.
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Chat history – chats are automatically stored so they can be referred back to as needed.
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Voice chat – make use of this feature to keep phone lines free or in cooperation with other features such as the whiteboard to clearly communicate ideas. If the recipient of your call isn’t in, you can leave a voicemail.
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Video chat – reduce traveling to other company locations for meetings by using the secure video chat feature.
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File transfer – send confidential files related to your chat session from the same console.
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Co-Browse – instead of trying to explain what you are looking at on a website, invite your coworker to a Co-Browse session. The website will be opened in a window allowing both users to see and navigate throughout the site. If one user clicks on a link, the page will change in both users’ co-browse session window.
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Whiteboard – allows you to invite another user to a whiteboard session where both can collaborate on a new design or idea. Users can modify the whiteboard simultaneously making it great for brainstorming sessions.
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Screen sharing – another incredibly helpful tool for sharing information and reducing travel time and expenses. Simply open a screen sharing session with any user in your contact list. They will be able to see your screen as you run through a presentation or upcoming project and provide immediate feedback.
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Voice conference – to complete your online meeting using Whiteboard, Co-Browse, or Screen Sharing, invite attendees to a voice conference where all can listen and speak as needed during your presentation.
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User Status – alerts other users that you are online and available, or online and busy, or away.
Using Brosix enterprise instant messaging provides so many advantages, that your company can’t go wrong with this service. Not only will inter-office communication be easier, but it will also be more secure. Download your IM package from Brosix today so that you can rest easy tomorrow knowing that your corporate communications are in safe hands.
Business Instant Messaging: Core Features
More firms are leaning on their employees to get lean, mean, and efficient. One of the best ways to empower employees is to enable communication to flow freely through the organization. Business instant messaging has quickly become a primary communication tool in companies of all sizes.
But business instant messaging has its own risks: security and even productivity are threatened when a public instant messaging client is used, such as MSN or AOL. So a business instant messaging client is used instead - one that includes robust security and the ability to control with whom employees are chatting.
But not all business instant messaging clients have the same feature sets. Which ones form the core tools your employees need? Some of these im clients only offer chatting, but what about other important features?
Chatting - of course
Sure, you should make sure that your business instant messaging client has chat features. Also make sure emoticons and basic emphasis tools like bold, underline, and italics are included. These embellishments help employees communicate subtle - and not so subtle - emotions that may not always be clearly made through plain text alone.
Screen shot
The screen shot tool is quickly becoming incredibly important for support purposes. Instead of calling support staff, employees can just use the screen shot tool to send a snap shot of the problem.
Co-browsing
Another key feature is the co-browsing feature which allows employees to show each other information that is accessible through a web-browser. Since many people use different browsers - Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and IE - a co-browsing tool will make sure everybody sees the same thing.
Video and audio chat
Finally, the ability to chat by video or audio is becoming important as well. Not many companies take advantage of this feature - yet. More firms are utilizing webcams so employees can chat face-to-face; often from across the world!
Conclusion
Give employees all the tools they need. Business instant messaging goes beyond plain text. Make sure emoticons and other basic emphasis tools are available. Screen shot and co-browsing are two other features that should be available to help in times of need. Finally, video and audio chat are becoming increasingly important, so make sure your im client contains these as well.
Using Brosix to Network
In tough times, like the ones that we live in, we all need to avail ourselves of any tool to stay ahead (or afloat).
One of the best ways to do that is to keep your self in the mix, to keep yourself noticed. Most of us call this networking. It sounds simple, but it can be very hard to do effectively. If you happen to be shy, or you are in a community of professionals that are scattered to the winds, then the IM can help you out.
How?
By giving you a chance to connect with people, no matter where they are. It also gives you the chance to work with other people without having to introduce yourself in a crowded room.
Think about it.
The Value of an Enterprise Instant Messenger
Knowing the costs of setting up an enterprise instant messenger are obvious. You can simply request a price quote, and soon hard data will be on your spreadsheets.
Cost however, is not always the same as value. How do you measure the value of an instant messenger?
* In terms of the agility that it can offer you within an ever changing marketplace is a big issue for most companies.
* In terms of the cost that it can save you, both in office space and other programs.
* In terms of the customer service responsiveness it allows you to provide because without customers you are out of business.
Just remember that before any decisions are made value should be determined not just cost.