Despite the work full-service firms have put into Web-based client services, there's one function that's still missing -- the ability to chat in real time via text-based message screens. The term for ...

Instant messaging (IM) conjures up images of bored teenagers using a software-based gossiping tool. Most IM programs are free, and few competing products can talk to one another, making skeptics ...

The job of a network administrator is a busy and demanding one made only harder when users install unauthorized software, as they’re prone to do. A new company, however, is working to make ...

FOSTER CITY, Calif. (AP) -- An instant message exchange might seem as fleeting as a phone call or face-to-face chat. But, like everything else on the Net, it can have much more staying power than ...

UPDATE (March 17, 2026): The Google Messages app now has several new features, though they’re a part of the beta app, not the stable one. Google is testing yet another feature which is not yet ...

When Tom, an employee at a Buffalo non-profit agency, wants to find out what his college-age kids are up to, he activates his AOL instant messaging service and carries on a real-time conversation ...