There are certain phrases in instant messaging and through text massaging that isn’t normally used in normal, in-person (or email) conversation. Below are some of the common phrases that are used in digital conversations, courtesy of About.com.It should be noted that some of these phrases should only be used in more casual conversation.

• AFAIK: As Far As I Know
• AKA: Also Known As
• ASAP: As Soon As Possible
• BAK: Back At Keyboard
• BBL: Be Back Later
• BCNU: Be Seeing You
• B4N: Bye For Now
• BRB: Be Right Back
• BTW: By The Way
• dn: Double Nil*
• F2F: Face To Face
• ftl: For the Loss+
• ftw: For the Win+
• FWIW: For What It’s Worth
• FYA: For Your Amusement
• FYI: For Your Information
• gc: Good Cover*
• GFY: Good For You
• gg: Good Game*
• GGBB: Gotta Go Bye Bye
• GL: Good Luck
• GMTA: Great Minds Think Alike
• G2G: Got To Go
• GTGB: Got To Go Bye
• HAGD: Have a Good Day*
• HAGE: Have a Good Evening*
• HAGN: Have a Good Night*
• hb: Hurry Back (Used after someone says ‘BRB’)*
• ILU: Love You
• IDK: I Don’t Know
• IM: Instant Message
• IM ME: Instant Message Me
• IMHO: In My Humble Opinion
• IMO In My Opinion
• INALB: I’m Not A Lawyer But
• IOH: I’m Outta Here
• IOW: In Other Words
• IRL: In Real Life
• ITS: I Told You So
• KIT: Keep In Touch
• LOL: Laughing Out Loud
• LTL: Lets Talk Later
• LTNC: Long Time No Chat
• LTNS: Long Time No See
• LU: Looking Up
• MAYB: Maybe
• NM: Nothing Much
• nnp: Nice Nil, Parner*
• np: No Problem*
• npp: No Problem, Parner*
• NRN: No Reply Necessary
• NYO: Need Your Opinion
• p: Parner*
• PDQ: Pretty Darn Quick
• PLS: Please
• PMFJI: Pardon Me For Jumping In
• POS: Parents Over Shoulder Change Subject
• POV: Point Of View
• ROTFL: Rolling On The Floor Laughing
• RSN: Real Soon Now
• RTFM: Read The Fascinating Manual
• sry: Sorry*
• SRSLY: Seriously
• ss: So Sorry*
• STFU: Shut The (Flip) Up
• TIA: Thanks In Advance
• tldr: Too Long, Didn’t Read+
• TMI: Too Much Info
• TTFN: Ta Ta For Now
• TTYL: Talk To You Later
• TTYS: Talk To You Soon
• TU: Thank You
• TX: Thanks
• TY: Thank You
• TYVM: Thank You Very Much
• UKW: You Know Who
• U: You
• U2: You Too
• UW: You Wish
• WB: Welcome Back

Here at Brosix, we love hearing from our customers about how they found Brosix, and how they are using the instant messaging software and Skype Alternative to communicate with friends, family, and work colleagues.

Brosix has a Testimonial Page where we list testimonials from our customers. We are always looking for new reviews and testimonials to post.

Brosix also has a Case Studies Page that has more extensive experiences from clients and how Brosix has changed they way they communicate online and in the workplace.

If you’d like to let us know your experience with Brosix, please fill out the form on our Contact Us page.

Instant messaging can be a great tool (and Skype Alternative) for employees who need to stay home from the office for the day due to sickness or injury recovery. Because many employees do some work when they are home (even though they are taking a sick day), having a secure and effective (not to manage efficient) instant messaging program can help them get things done.

To best use instant messaging as a means of communication on a sick day, it is helpful to focus on one project at a time and talk to co-workers via IM to ask questions and work through the project. Staying up-to-date even though an employee is out of the office for the day can ensure that all assignments and projects stay current and help prevent an employee’s workload from becoming overwhelming.

In many cases, employees feel OK but have been told not to come into the office because they are contagious or a physical limitation prevents them from getting to work. Otherwise, they may be mentally able to care for any projects or assignments they are responsible for. Because of this, an instant messenger like Brosix can help them:

• Set up meetings for when they are back in the office
• Learn immediately about project developments
• Find out what happened in the office while they were gone

Using IM during a sick day can be an easy way to make sure everything is taken care of while you are gone.

Instant messaging can be a great communication tool for university and college students. They are able to have conversations through IM with their friends from high school, classmates, parents, and even their professors! A lot more college students report communicating with their professors through digital mediums, such as email, text, and instant messaging.

Instant messaging can be a good way to catch up with friends and family in downtime in between classes or right before lectures start. Additionally, for students that are good at multi-tasking, it is possible to take notes during class and also use an instant messenger. However, if this is distracting or gets in the way of learning or taking notes, then students shouldn’t do it.

Because some instant messengers like Brosix Public are free, using IM to stay in contact is a great, affordable way for students to stay close but also not spend a lot of money. Additionally, because Brosix offers free video chat as well, it is a great Skype alternative that is also secure, because all conversations are encrypted through Brosix’s servers.

College students can find that staying in touch is easy if their friends and family strive to have their instant messenger on while they are at the computer.

Instant messaging is a great way to set up meetings, make lunch plans with co-workers, or create after-hour dates with friends. Because instant messaging requires both users to be online at the same time, making plans can be a  lot more useful than trying to reach co-workers or friends through email, phone call, or even in-person.

In some cases, it can be much easier to initiate plans through instant messaging than the other mediums listed above because you know that the other user you are having a conversation with can see your message immediately, if their online status is listed as “Online” (Users who have their status message list as “Away” may not receive the instant message if they are away from their desk).

Additionally, because instant messenger conversations take place online, they can also make it easier to add proposed dates onto users’ online calendar immediately. This may not be the case if a user is on their mobile phone or having a conversation in-person and can’t add the event to their calendar right away.

Saving instant messaging conversations can also help users recall dates and times of meetings that have been set up through instant messenger sessions.

Did you know that Brosix Instant Messenger is a good way to stay in touch with your significant other during the work day or the weekends? While the Enterprise version of Brosix may not work best for this type of communication, Brosix Public is a great way to stay connected with boyfriends, girlfriends, wives, or husbands.

Talking to these important people in our lives daily can help us feel closer to them, even though we are not speaking to them in person. Keeping up a high level of communication online throughout the day can help you stay up to date on their activities. It is also a good distraction from work duties during breaks or lunches.

Besides using Brosix Public to talk to your significant other throughout the day, it is also a great way to make plans with him or her later in the day or for later in the week. This may be more convenient instead of finding time to call them or send them an email. It also gets a faster answer, since both users are online at the same time.

Talking to significant others can be a great way to make the days go by faster and make computer time something to look forward to!

Image courtesy of stock.xchng

The Brosix team is pleased to announce that Brosix Instant Messenger was voted one of the top instant messaging programs in the following categories in the About.com 2012 Readers’ Choice Awards:

• 1st place in “Best Enterprise(Business) IM of 2012“: Brosix beat out competitors, including Squiggle, 24im, and Microsoft Lync, for the second year in a row.
• 2nd place in “Best Mac IM for 2012“: Brosix is proud to be recognized in this category, as they offer their private and enterprise instant messaging software for Linux, Mac, and Windows operating systems.
• 2nd place in “Best Android IM of 2012: Brosix offers a version of their instant messaging software for both Android and iPhone. The Brosix mobile apps consistently bring positive reviews and users consistently download the apps and recommend them to other Brosix instant Messaging users.

“We are so excited that Brosix has been again recognized by the online voting community on About.com,” Stefan Chekanov, Owner of Brosix, said. “We enjoy participating in these types of awards each year because it motivates us to continue developing, supporting, and growing an amazing instant messaging product.”

For more details on the voting categories and results, go to: http://im.about.com/od/imreviews/ss/Best-IM-2012.htm

Many United States-based flights (and soon, international flights) offer wireless internet while planes are in flight. This is great for businesspeople and travelers on vacation who want to pass the time spent flying using the internet.

One big reason why some people hate flying is because they feel like the time spent up in the air is wasted. Thanks to wireless in-flight internet providers like Gogo and Boingo, using internet can make people productive and able to relax by using the internet while flying around the country.

Thanks to this internet access, instant messaging users can now use Brosix Instant Messenger while they are in flight. This is great for staying in touch with friends and family while away from home, or to talk with coworkers and clients while gone on a business trip.

Having conversations with important contacts during the flight can help save time as well. Once off the airplane, there is a less rush to connect with friends or coworkers, because a conversation could have already been had during the flight.

Additionally, users can use the File Transfer feature in Brosix to send files with utilizing the in-flight wifi. This can also help ease the burden of hurrying and rushing when getting off the flight. Once a user finishes a report or document during the flight, they can then send it via File Transfer. This definitely makes traveling so much easier and less stressful.

For many that use instant messaging every day, spelling and grammar errors are becoming more and more acceptable (and even less noticeable) because of the hurry and instantaneous feeling of communication that comes with IM. However, even though IM is sometimes considered a more “casual” type of online communication than sending an email or talking on the phone, it doesn’t mean that basic grammar and spelling rules should go out the window.

In fact, paying attention to grammar and spelling during online conversations can help maintain a more mature image for the working professional who wants to impress co-workers and managers. For instance, a manager may look more favorably on an employee that is well-spoken via IM than one that constantly misspells words and doesn’t use the correct grammar and punctuation. An employee who takes the time and effort to make sure they appear well-spoken online will be more likely to do so in person, as well as put more time and effort into their job and career overall.

Bottom line, taking the few extra seconds to check sentences in instant messaging conversations before sending them can greatly improve coworkers’ and managers’ impressions of you, as well as making it easier for you to be understood by fellow IM users.

Headsets can make video chat more effective.

For workers that are on the go or telecommuting, there may be instances where an individual may need to do work at a coffee shop, library, conference room, or other public gathering place. Because of this, it may be a necessity to use a headset to use the video chat feature on Brosix Instant Messaging or other program.

Headsets are great for video chat because they allow a conversation to become a bit more private. The person wearing the headset can only hear the other person’s voice, and their voice may also be less alarming to others because they are talking directly into the headset microphone. Because the microphone is closer to their mouth than the computer’s microphone, they will naturally lower the volume of their voice.

Additionally, because the microphone is closer to their mouth, it is easier for the person on the other end of the conversation to hear the person more clearly. This can lead to more productive conversations that can also be more efficient because time isn’t spend trying to hear and understand what the other person is saying.

As far as finding a good headset, ones that cover the entire ear on both sides is usually best for sound and audio quality. Additionally, paying a higher price for better quality can definitely be worth it, especially since they will be used frequently.