Jabber is a free instant messaging service based on the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP).
Known as the original instant messaging service, Jabber.org launched in 1999 and offered free XMPP accounts to users. The service took its name from ‘Jabber’ the original name given to the XMPP communications protocol.
The XMPP protocol was developed by an open-source community and enabled near real-time instant messaging, presence information and contact list maintenance. Unlike most messaging services, XMPP is defined as an open standard and uses an open systems approach of development and application – this means that anyone can take the XMPP service and interoperate it with other organisations’ implementations.
Designed to be extensible – meaning it took future growth into consideration – Jabber has also been used for gaming and IoT applications like the Smart Grid.
Which networking giant bought into Jabber in 2008?
The commercial product of Jabber, Jabber XCP, was acquired by networking giant Cisco in 2008.
Cisco Jabber, as the product was rebranded following the acquisition, is sold as a unified communications platform by Cisco. Offering many of the same features as the original Jabber, such as instant messaging and presence information, Cisco sells the platform as a means to ‘collaborate anywhere on any device.’
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Cisco Jabber seeks to address one of the main business issues of today – productivity. Integration with Microsoft Office alongside other features like the ability to communicate from within web apps, offers employees the ability to collaborate no matter where they are. The aim of this is to decrease downtime and increase productivity.
