IMLogic Offers Free Blocking For Instant Messaging

The free product replaces products that cost anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 to install and use.

You can easily find out if your employees are using instant messaging. All you have to do is get a free detection tools from IMLogic or another vendor that lets you check in on IM activity at no cost.

IMLogic today takes things a step further by today announcing that IM Detector Pro, which detects and can block IM usage is now available for free IM blocking. The free product replaces products that cost anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 to install and use.

The Waltham, Mass.-based company says they're doing this now because blocking is just an interim step on the way to getting IM usage under control. IMLogic vice president of marketing Dave Fowler said, "Because we sell products that set up policy, we wanted to give them a sense of how big the problem was, and give them a chance to reduce it."

Enterprise administrators freely admit that IM is a productivity tool, but they are quick to point out the potential for security breeches and compliance violations that IM offers. "There are lots of organizations that use IM or other P2P technologies productively for their business," said Fowler, "but they are also being used in ways that are inappropriate and companies don't have a good sense of how much and why this technology is being used."

The company's strategy is of course backed by IMLogic's range of more sophisticated IM management products. IM Manager is sold to enterprise customers as both a client and a server product that can manage enterprise or public instant messaging domains.

Traffic can be forced to comply with policies, laws, and regulations, on an individual or group basis, and fine-tuned for each service, including file sharing services which may be in use illegally by employees. The product is even available for individuals, enabling parents to control IM usage by children.

"Any technology," concludes Fowler, "can be used for bad things. This helps people get rid of that." For further information, go to www.imlogic.com.