If you're not familiar with WebMessenger, don't worry - neither was I. But if you're in financial services or use "persistent chat," you are either using WebMessenger or most likely will be in the near future.
Here's some background about the WebMessenger product for OCS:
Microsoft acquired Parlano, a company that provides persistent group chat capabilities, and will offer this functionality in OCS as "Group Chat." Persistent group chat helps to organize large groups of people around business-critical contextual topics and lets individuals apply filters, alerts, and preferences to participate in large group dialogues. It's been a big hit in the financial services vertical.
Microsoft doesn't currently have a solution allowing Blackberry users to access OCS on their mobile devices. Blackberry devices are everywhere, and as the uptake of OCS continues, solutions that bring the two together are required. That's where WebMessenger comes in. The company built WebMessenger Mobile for Microsoft OCS, a gateway or connector to OCS, which will include the group chat platform. WebMessenger claims that it is currently the only vendor delivering a solution that provides access to OCS on the Blackberry and can provide persistent group chat capabilities on mobile devices.
WebMessenger Mobile for Microsoft OCS can also be used with other WebMessenger Mobile solutions to federate IM networks, connect with enterprise voice IP PBX platforms, extend persistent group chat solutions, etc. In addition to the OCS product, WebMessenger also has gateways to IBM Sametime, Microsoft LCS, Jabber, and Reuters Messaging, providing access to mobile users on a range of devices and clients including Blackberry, Palm, Pocket PC, Symbian, and Windows Mobile devices.
One drawback to the WebMessenger OCS product is that only IM presence is provided, and telephony presence is not available yet. WebMessenger is talking with several switch vendors about providing access to those platforms from within the WebMessenger OCS client, but there are no firm announcements at this time.
As more enterprise workers use IM and it becomes more mainstream, there is a growing need to access IM, in addition to presence and other capabilities on mobile devices. WebMessenger is one way of filling the gaps and making this possible. Just please don't IM while driving!
