David McKillen WebStrategies Inc.

Have you checked out IMO.IM yet?

Have you checked out IMO.IM yet? I have been using Meebo for a while now to combine all my different Instant Messaging applications. Meebo was the first of its kind (that I came across anyway) but still has yet to integrate Skype into it's list of available tools.

Today I happened to be on Skype and noticed a friend of mine had the tagline "I'm on imo.im" and it peaked my curiosity. Basically IMO incorporates all the main IM tools, including Skype, which makes it very useful to me. Not only does it allow you to easily incorporate Skype with your other IM's in one location but it also maintains the voice capabilities, enabling voice and video chat.

Video Chat and IM Capabilities

Another cool feature of IMO is the ability to video chat with any of your buddies, regardless of what IM client they use and whether that client has built in video chat capabilities. This is a very useful too for distributed work groups.

IMO can be "popped out" such that it sits as a sidebar on your desktop which is nice as it remains visible while you browse to other websites. Another cool feature of IMO is that it doesn't require any sign up. At first this was a little confusing to me - seeing a login box but not requiring any sign up (but then I'm pretty simple :) ). IMO simply allows you to login to any of the list of IM's you currently use (say Gmail). You can then log into each one in turn and then "link" them all so you can access all from the same spot. IMO encrypts and stores your passwords and you never have to login again - pretty nifty :).

The interface might not be a pretty as say meebo.com but it's clean and simple, and it works!

Nice extra features:

You can send broadcast messages to other IMO users in your network, there's a whiteboard that allows colaboration between IMO users in your network, invisibility and blocking and more.

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Quick update to this post:

For whatever reason it seems Skype/Microsoft have decided to block IMO from being able to continue integrating Skype into it's platform. There aren't too many other alternatives out there for people wanting an online version of Skype unfortunately. Plus.im is one option although perhaps not as UX friendly as IMO was.

At WebStrategies, Inc, we're always learning about new web tools to make your work a easier. Learn about more web tools from our Web Tools blog posts.

Have you used IMO.IM? Let us know about your experience in the comments section below.

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