Deerfield.com Augments Messaging Suite With New IM Management Solution

Deerfield.com, an international provider of messaging and security software, announced today the release of IMbrella, instant messaging management software that allows businesses to detect, block, monitor and archive all IM conversations occurring on their networks.

GAYLORD, MI (PRWEB) August 9, 2005 -- Deerfield.com, an international provider of messaging and security software, announced today the release of IMbrella, instant messaging management software that allows businesses to detect, block, monitor and archive all IM conversations occurring on their networks.

Roughly 85 percent of all North American companies use IM, according to a recent report by market research firm Radicati Group. Like email in the 1990s, IM is emerging as the next business-critical application improving the speed and efficiency of communications between companies, partners, vendors and customers. Also like email, IMs adoption is accompanied by a growing number of threats to corporate networks and company productivity and liability.

The addition of IMbrella products to Deerfield.coms Messaging suite is both timely and astute. Its popular mail server, VisNetic MailServer, features a built-in instant messaging server that secures internal IM transmissions via encrypted, SSL connections. With IMbrella, Deerfield.com will extend security and control to public IM communications on corporate networks (e.g. AIM, MSN, ICQ and Yahoo). The addition of IMbrella enables Deerfield.com to offer corporate IT managers the capability to detect, block, control and archive IM communications-public and private-across their networks.

As early-adopters, Deerfield.com has long recognized IM as a valuable business tool," said Mike Deerfield, Chief Executive Officer of Deerfield.com. For business communications, our staff relies on IM extensively, as do many of our technology partners, resellers and customers," Deerfield explained. Now a ubiquitous business communication tool, IM affords organizations of all sizes the ability to easily and affordably correspond and collaborate in real-time," Deerfield continued. As with email, the next step will be to secure, monitor and archive IM communications. The IMbrella solution will meet this need, giving IT administrators flexible and proactive control of all IM communication on their networks."

IMbrellas IM management software provides a range of administrator controls that are simple to deploy and use, transparent to users, affordable and scalable," said Deerfield. In short, it is a natural fit for our product suite and in keeping with Deerfield.coms commitment to providing unsurpassed value to its customers."

Instant messaging via free public IM platforms like AOL IM can be a significant business tool, but until now, managing it was something only Fortune 500 companies could afford," said Marty Schultz, CEO of IMbrella. Our new SMB product line makes IM management easy and cost-effective for overworked IT Managers and CTOs."

IMbrella products include:

IM Detector: Detect excessive Instant Message Use/Abuse on an ongoing basis BY USER.
IM Spotlight: Monitor one problem employee for one month.
IM Blocker: Blocks all AOL, MSN, Yahoo and ICQ, regardless of IP address, URL, website or port number.
IM Blocker Plus: Blocks all AOL, MSN, Yahoo and ICQ, but allows administrators to designate specific time periods when IM is allowed.
IM GateKeeper: Enables management to pick and choose who has IM access
IMbrella Secure Enterprise: Enables IT managers to control IM privileges for all employees.
IMbrella Secure Enterprise Pro: Enables IT managers to control and archive IM for all employees. Both versions of IMbrella Secure Enterprise feature standard usage reports and the ability to view live conversations.
IMbrella Enterprise Compliance: Meets compliance standards for NASD and HIPAA-regulated firms.
Through a single executable, organizations can trial any or all of the functionality listed above.

Pricing and Availability

IMbrella solutions offered by Deerfield.com start at $100.00 US and license options allow organizations to incrementally add as few or as many features as they need.

Learn more at: http://www.deerfield.com/products/secure-instant-messaging/

About IMbrella Software, Inc.:

IMbrella safeguards public instant message use for companies, schools and government organizations of all sizes around the globe. The company provides a complete line of simple and affordable tools that detect, block, control, secure and archive IM, including all AOL, MSN, Yahoo and ICQ traffic. IMbrella is the only company that provides this full range of customized IM management products. Based in Salem, NH, with offices in the Bay Area and South Florida, IMbrella is dedicated to providing tools whose simplicity and functionality helps overworked IT managers manage the exploding use of unregulated IM in their organization.

About Deerfield.com:

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Gaylord, Michigan, Deerfield.com® is an International provider of Internet software and services designed to meet the connectivity, security and messaging needs of small-to-medium sized businesses and organizations. Deerfield.com publishes a leading suite of Internet products distributed via ESD (Electronic Software Distribution) globally through both direct and multi-tiered distribution channels. Deerfield.com continues to bring its vision of the Internet to its customers through a range of products including WinRoute Firewall, a flagship Internet sharing solution; DNS2Go®, the companys dynamic DNS service; Shavlik HFNetChkPro, patch management software; and a newly commissioned family of products, appropriately named VisNetic®.

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