WebToIM.com - Bringing Web Services To Your IM

A service that goes by a suitable name, Web To IM aims to bring some of the functionalities we all ready associate with instant messaging services to the ones inherent to web browsers and vice-versa. As the team responsible for it explains, one of the main disadvantages of a browser is that the presence of the user is not as prolonged or at least as imminent as that maintained when employing an IM tool.

The project is taking off, and the first development that has materialized is an “Answers” service that (for the time being) is available only to Gmail users. Support both for Yahoo and MSN Messenger is underway.

This Answers service uses the True Knowledge API and lets anybody pose questions in the hope of finding an instant answer. Useful when you have to write an essay and you need very specific information such as dates and so forth, as immediacy is what characterizes IM from the word go.

Hopefully, the other messaging systems that were mentioned above will be supported in due time. It will also be interesting to see which other telecommunication developments are forthcoming from the team behind this solution, as this one is quite useful in itself.

“The web is a collection of services provided over the browser. One major disadvantage of the browser is its inability to maintain the user's presence for longer than a few minutes. The Instant Messenger on the other hand, can. And this allows for continuous processing of results on the server side. For example, you could have booked a flight ticket online but if the flight is cancelled after a few hours there is no way for the browser to update you this as you have already left the page. WebToIM has the Answers service to start with. It uses the True Knowledge API and aims to provide direct answers to questions that you hope the web might answer.”

It is an interesting way to find answers to specific questions by coupling the flexibility of IM with the power of web browsers.

When is the next major update scheduled for?