Press Release
FaceTime Adds Support for BlackBerry and Microsoft OCS Group Chat to IMAuditor Security and Compliance Software
SMS messages from corporate BlackBerries can now be logged and archived to meet corporate governance and compliance regulations
BELMONT, Calif - May 12, 2009 - FaceTime Communications, the leading
provider of solutions enabling the safe use of Web 2.0 and unified
communications in the enterprise, today introduced key new capabilities for its
IMAuditor security and compliance software. IMAuditor now monitors SMS messages
sent by corporate BlackBerry users and provides real-time visibility and
logging of group chats conducted via Microsoft's Office Communications Server
(OCS).
FaceTime IMAuditor ensures security, management and compliance for unified
communications -- from presence and instant messaging to conferencing and voice
-- and has been continually developed to meet new challenges since its debut in
2001.
Support for BlackBerry Messaging
The new IMAuditor version 9.7 integrates with BlackBerry Enterprise Server to
capture SMS and PIN messages (PIN allows users to send messages between
BlackBerry devices based on their personal identification numbers). This
enables managers to monitor messages sent by corporate BlackBerry users, an
increasingly important requirement for companies in regulated industries such
as financial services, healthcare and energy. For example, regulations in the
financial services sector, such as the US's SEC and the UK's FSA as well as
other regional financial services authorities, demand that all electronic
records -- including communication sent via instant messaging and SMS – be
logged and archived.
Beyond the financial services sector, the advent of broad-based regulations,
such as PCI, Sarbox and e-Discovery requirements, makes it increasingly
important to monitor, control and archive enterprise messaging. The growing
popularity of BlackBerries represents a new messaging channel that needs to be
addressed.
"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.
"Organizations 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."
"President Obama, a well-known BlackBerry user, announced his running mate
using SMS, clearly demonstrating that this form of communication is both highly
effective and an accepted professional tool," said Kailash Ambwani, chief
executive officer for FaceTime. "Yet, many companies can't allow their
employees to use any communication tool that cannot be tracked. With IMAuditor
9.7, we enable our customers to use SMS and PIN messages on their corporate
BlackBerries – safely increasing productivity."
IMAuditor 9.7 also provides real-time monitoring and compliance capabilities
for group chats within Microsoft's OCS. This functionality was recently
introduced in OCS Release R2 and allows users to create topic-based chat rooms.
IMAuditor gives visibility into who joined and who left a particular chat room,
and when. Management can therefore determine exactly who was privy to certain
parts of the conversation. While group chat is a new feature in OCS, it's 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.
IMAuditor is used by Fortune 1000 companies including nine of the top 10 U.S.
banks and the majority of global financial services firms to secure and manage
real-time communications. IMAuditor ensures that instant messaging and unified
communications platforms can be safely used without compromising security,
allowing information leakage or impacting productivity. IMAuditor is also used
to meet regulatory and corporate requirements,
including e-Discovery, which
demand logging, archiving and easy retrieval of messaging communications.
About IMAuditor
FaceTime IMAuditor is a full-featured proxy that secures and manages all public
and enterprise unified communications use over an organization's network. The
IMAuditor, which resides on the Local Area Network, scans the system and
applies established policies to all the popular types of files transferred over
unified communications platforms. This includes Microsoft OCS and IBM Lotus
Sametime, as well as public networks such as AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, GoogleTalk
Windows Live (MSN), and now BlackBerry messaging.
The software analyzes and detects sensitive or confidential information in both
messages and file attachments, prevents transmission of the information, and
warns users about established company policy regarding the sharing of corporate
intellectual property.
IMAuditor maintains an integrated trust relationship with FaceTime's secure Web
gateway appliance, the Unified Security Gateway (USG). Working together,
IMAuditor and USG deliver complete end-to-end security, management and
compliance for real-time communications in the enterprise, ensuring that
corporate data is protected both from outside threats such as spyware, viruses
and worms, as well as from intentional or unintentional information leakage
from within the company.
IMAuditor 9.7 is available now from FaceTime and authorized distributors,
resellers and partners worldwide. For pricing and additional information, call
1-888-349-3223 or visit www.facetime.com
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 1,000 customers for security, management and compliance of real-time
communications. FaceTime supports or has strategic partnerships with all
leading public and enterprise IM network and unified communications providers,
including AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Skype, IBM and Jabber.
FaceTime is headquartered in Belmont, California. For more information visit
http://www.facetime.com or call 888-349-FACE. The FaceForward blog, at
http://blog.facetime.com, offers thoughts and opinions about the
changing nature of Internet communications.
PR Contact:
Sarah Carter
FaceTime Communications
650-631-6452
scarter@facetime.com
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