Small business owners are showing overwhelming predilection to the iPhone as a mobile device. And why not? The iPhone is beautiful from display to functionality, as well as design. There’s so much reason to like it and virtually none otherwise. This article will outline 5 of the best instant messenger apps on the iPhone to keep small business owners very easy to reach.
1. imo – No other IM client deserves the top spot of the list better than imo. Users can link multiple accounts to instantaneously sign into multiple instant messengers with just one account, as well as log in to a single account to mobile and PC at the same time. It also enables users to send voice IMs instead of typing them.
It’s fast and intuitive, and has support for most of the major instant messaging platforms on the web today which includes AIM/ICQ, Jabber, Facebook, Google Talk, MSN, MySpace, Skype, and Yahoo.
imo is simple and indubitably well-thought-out. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/imo-instant-messenger/id336435697?mt=8
2. IM+ – A bigwig in the iOS instant messaging scene, IM+ has a great deal of users and like imo, supports some of the biggest instant messaging clients today such as AIM, MSN/Windows Live, Gtalk, Facebook chat, Myspace IM, ICQ, Twitter, Jabber and Skype.
Moreover, it features geo-social network, group chats, message history, and multimedia sending. It also allows users to view their Twitter feeds and offers a more refined chat history browsing experience.
IM+ is available for $3.99 at iTunes. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/im+/id285688934?mt=8
3. eBuddy Pro – Another competitive name in the iPhone instant messaging space, eBuddy has already got a great deal of users. It’s basically the same as the IM+ and imo but in the end, user preference always becomes the biggest determining factor.
eBuddy Pro has support for major instant messaging clients as well such as AIM, MSN/Windows Live, Gtalk, ICQ, Hyve, Yahoo!, Facebook chat, and Myspace IM. You can download it at iTunes for $4.99. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ebuddy-pro-messenger/id336346413?mt=8
4. Kik Messenger – This IM app is very fast and has an intuitive user interface. However, it’s a proprietary so you can only interact with other Kik users. There’s no support for other instant messaging clients such as Yahoo, AIM, MSN, Gtalk etc.
This discrepancy shouldn’t be much of a problem if you and your friends are already using Kik, and can other who doesn’t yet to download it too. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kik-messenger/id357218860?mt=8
5. BeeJive – This one’s also interesting. It has a number of cool features such as support for multiple accounts, picture sharing, push notifications, and cute customizable chat bubbles.
Additionally, it has support for virtually all major instant messaging clients out there.
BeeJive is also a record-holder in session option that lasted for 7 days. That means a user only has to log in to his BeeJive account once a week and will be only for the rest of the week, that is if he doesn’t sign out. But this IM client is not alone as it shares the record with eBuddy.
And here’s the flipside, Beejive has software for different instant messaging clients. If you want to chat with your Facebook friends, there’s a Beejive app for that; if Gtalk friends, there’s another app for that; and the list goes on.
BeeJive is current available for iPad, Android and Blackberry.