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ProcessOne, the web communications company, today announced the availability of a new hosted instant messaging (IM) service aimed at small businesses and workgroups. Hosted.IM allows businesses to easily create a business-class instant messaging capability using their own domain name, without the IT overheads of on-premise software and hardware.
“Instant messaging is becoming an increasingly valuable internal communications tool, yet many of today’s business-class instant messaging platforms are out of reach for many small businesses,” said Mickael Remond, CEO of ProcessOne. “By providing small businesses with a hosted service, we can significantly reduce the financial and management burden. At the same time, Hosted.IM gives small businesses the opportunity to remove uncontrolled consumer applications and replace them with a more secure and professional instant messaging service.”
Hosted.IM is free for up to five users and all businesses need is their own domain. In order to cater for growing companies, ProcessOne also offers several commercial user packs for organisations that require an XMPP service for more than five users. The packs are suitable for companies with up to 10, 25, 50, 75 or 100 users and are priced accordingly.
Key features of Hosted.IM include:
• Simple set up – Accounts can be quickly and easily set up;
• Personalised instant messaging accounts – Each user receives an account based on the company’s own web domain name (e.g. john[.]process-one.net
• Flexible management – Companies can easily add or remove users using the IMhosting web interface;
• Group chat – Employees can use Hosted.IM’s group chat capabilities to improve their collaboration and productivity;
• Connectivity with other networks – Users can not only exchange messages with their co-workers using the same domain-based IM system, but they can also connect with users of other networks, such as GTalk and Microsoft OCS;
• Message archiving – Chat logs can be enabled or disabled, depending on company preferences and industry-specific legal requirements;
• Existing account re-use – If individuals already have instant messaging accounts with MSN, Yahoo, AOL or ICQ, for example, they can re-use them within their domain-based instant messaging account;
• File transfer – Users can send and receive files, such as documents and images, using Hosted.IM and have the option to ‘accept’ or ‘reject’ attachments.
“Many small businesses are still using free consumer IM clients as they don’t have the time or money to manage a business-class solution. While consumer IM clients do allow for greater employee communication and collaboration, they don’t offer the security and compliance that today’s businesses require. With Hosted.IM we are giving small businesses an easy and cost-effective way to set up and manage company-branded instant messaging across their entire business,” added Mickael Remond.
About ProcessOne
Founded in 1999, ProcessOne (process-one.net) is a specialised creator of high performance instant messaging solutions. The company actively develops the instant messaging server ejabberd and offers a high level of commercial support throughout the world. ProcessOne is one of the principal providers of instant messaging solutions and real time communications services.
ProcessOne’s solution has become the benchmark in the deployment of high performance instant messaging solutions. Solutions are for enterprises who want to deploy an internal instant messaging solution with or without interconnection with existing networks (MSN, Yahoo!, AOL). They are also for online communities that want to improve the services offered to its users. Known for its robustness under heavy loads, the solution is deployed with important clients around the world for building personalised services (Meetic, Portugal Telecom, SIPPhone, Nero) and today has over 35 million users.
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