Control OCS R2 Group Chat AND Blackberry messaging

[scarter@facetime.com]

Reading, UK (12th May 2009) – FaceTime Communications announced today key new capabilities to its IMAuditor security and compliance software enabling it to monitor SMS messages sent by corporate BlackBerry users and provide real-time visibility and logging of group chats conducted via Microsoft’s Office Communications Server (OCS). Logging and archiving all electronic records, including messages sent over instant messaging and SMS is a key requirement for companies in the financial services sector including FSA and SEC regulated companies.

IMAuditor version 9.7 integrates with BlackBerry Enterprise Server to capture SMS and PIN messages for compliance purposes. (PIN messaging lets users send messages between BlackBerry devices based on their personal identification numbers.) With IM Auditor, organisations can allow certain employees to use these forms of text messaging, while blocking others. The integration of IMAuditor with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server also makes it possible for compliance officers to review SMS and PIN messages sent by corporate BlackBerry users.

“In a dynamic sector such as financial services, information is often only valid for short periods of time, which is why the immediacy of SMS and chat applications is so popular within the industry,” comments Nick Sears, VP EMEA of FaceTime Communications. “But without monitoring or logging these conversations, organisations not only leave themselves open to regulatory issues such as compliance with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), but also run the risk of wayward employees abusing the system.”

IMAuditor 9.7 also provides real-time monitoring and compliance capabilities for group chats within Microsoft’s OCS. This functionality was recently introduced into OCS and allows users to create topic-based chat rooms. IMAuditor gives visibility into who joined and who left a particular chat room, and at what point. Management can therefore determine exactly who was privy to certain parts of the conversation. While group chat is a new feature in OCS, it has been available as a stand-alone application for several years and has developed a large user-base over time, hence the need for a solution to monitor these electronic conversations. As a Gold Level ISV Partner of Microsoft, FaceTime is the only vendor that provides this capability.

“As mobile devices – led by the BlackBerry platform – become more widely deployed, a greater proportion of corporate data will be sent from and to these devices”, said Michael Osterman, President of Osterman Research, Inc. “Organisations that do not adequately manage and archive the content on these devices run the risk of creating serious regulatory, legal and data management problems that they could easily avoid.”

About IMAuditor

FaceTime IMAuditor secures and manages all public and enterprise instant message use over an organisation’s network. IMAuditor, which resides on the local area network, scans and applies established policies to all the popular file types transferred over unified communications platforms such as Microsoft OCS and IBM Lotus Sametime, as well as public instant messaging networks such as AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, GoogleTalk Windows Live (MSN), and now BlackBerry messaging.

IMAuditor is used by Fortune 1000 companies and financial services firms to secure and manage real-time communications and ensure that instant messaging and unified communications platforms can be safely used without compromising security, productivity or allowing information leakage. IMAuditor is also used to meet regulatory and corporate requirements, such as eDiscovery and SEC regulations, which demand logging, archiving and easy retrieval of messaging communications.

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About FaceTime Communications
FaceTime Communications enables the safe and productive use of instant messaging, Web usage and Unified Communications platforms. Ranked number one by IDC for five consecutive years, FaceTime's award-winning solutions are used by more than 1000 – for security, management and compliance of real-time communications. FaceTime supports or has strategic partnerships with all leading public and enterprise IM network providers, including AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Skype, IBM and Jabber.
FaceTime is headquartered in Belmont, California. For more information visit http://www.facetime.com

PR Contact:
Sara Claridge
Marylebone Media Relations
sara@marylebone.co.uk
+44 (0) 20 8133 5572
+44 (0) 7968 626838 (mobile)