The eM Client has built in Instant Messaging service which will allow you to communicate instantly with other users of Jabber Instant Messaging network as well as many other Jabber compatible networks such as Google Talk, ICQ, AIM etc.
eM Client's Instant Messaging service is fully integrated into its E-Mailing and Contacts managing modules, which means you easily browse your chat log like you can with E-Mails, and send emails to your Messaging contacts as easily as you can with your other E-Mail correspondents. Further more, the IM and E-Mail modules share their contacts pool, This way eM Client can merge your E-Mail contacts with your instant messaging contacts and thereby create a truly integrated contacts roster.
Although eM Client supports only the open Jabber protocol, eM Client supports the use of Transports which will enable you to connect to other networks depending on the Jabber host you choose. Follow this link to learn more about the use of Transports. Follow this link to find out more about setting up your instant messaging system.
Jabber works in much the same way that E-Mail does. There are hundreds of Jabber servers through which a client program can connect. Each Jabber user has his or her own account with one of many Jabber services. When a message is sent, the message goes from that person's computer to his or her nominated Jabber server. This server then sends the message to the recipient's nominated Jabber server.
This way, the Jabber network can not be "down", whereas if the MSN server goes down for maintenance, then all MSN users in the world will be disconnected, if one of the decentralized Jabber server goes down, only the users registered to that server are effected.
Different Jabber servers support different transports, allowing you to connect to different messaging networks, such as MSN, ICQ, AIM etc, as well as some local networks such as weather and news networks, Therefore, you may wish to look around and find a server that suits you.
You can find a list of public Jabber servers here,
Unless you are an avid open source supporter or a Linux user, chances are you have never heard about Jabber. People prefer to use proprietary messaging services such as MSN or ICQ, because they think and not without reason that the more well known something is the more people use it. Jabber though does not enjoy the name recognition that MSN and AIM do, it can be used to connect to almost any of those networks through the use of Transport services.
Transports are small computer programs installed on Jabber host servers that translates Jabber message and addresses into other formats like MSN and ICQ and send them through their respective networks. Transports allow your Jabber client to connect to other networks depending on which transports your host server supports.
Click here to find out how to install and use transports on your eM Instant Messaging system.