Rhombus IM Frequently Asked Questions
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Does Rhombus IM support AOL or MSN interoperability?
YES. We have rolled out official support for both AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger as part of our new Rhombus release. These packages are licensed separately from a standard deployment, to defray our high development costs to keep them up-to-date and functioning properly with these third-party networks. Because of this, you can rest assured that our technology staff will keep your interoperability online.
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Can I run Rhombus IM on my Blackberry or Treo?
Yes, you can. The Rhombus IM mobile solution is based on J2ME, which most mobile devices support out of the box. The Blackberry and Treo platforms are more complicated than the typical J2ME compatible device, so you need to use their custom software to install the mobile client on these devices. Contact us for help with this process.
Is is true that Java-based applications are immune to worms and other viral attacks?
Yes, it is generally true. Most worms propagate using a specific attack technique designed to compromise sloppy code by overwhelming it with more data than it expects. Since Java is a higher-level language, and runs in its own "virtual machine" sandbox, normal worm attacks are ineffective.
Does Rhombus IM support my LDAP server?
Rhombus IM is actively tested and officially supported in conjunction with OpenLDAP and Microsoft Active Directory. It uses LDAPv3 compliant APIs and should work with any compatible LDAP server, such as Netscape Directory Server.
I want to evaluate LDAP Integration, clustering or database features with my free trial. What do I need to set this up?
You will need an evaluation license and the accompanying enterprise documentation in order to try out our LDAP integration features. We'd be happy to generate a time limited license for you, just send us an email.
I want to evaluate Rhombus IM with more than 5 concurrent users. Can I get a license for more users?
We'd be happy to generate a time limited license for you, just send us an email indicating how many users you want to test with.
I am seeing strange errors when I start up the server, like NoClassDefFound, or LinkageError, or IncompatibleClassVersionError. What is going on?
Please make sure you are running a 1.4 or higher version of Java. You can download Java runtimes from Sun. You can check your Java version from the command line by typing:
java -versionIs there a discount if I am deploying in a university or non-profit setting?
Yes. We are committed to helping educational institutions and non-profit initiatives install reasonably priced software. We offer discounts on both server licenses and professional services. Please contact us for more details and a price quote.
I want to resell hosted IM services to my clients. Can I do this with Rhombus IM?
Yes. An unlimited user license also gives you the benefit of having an unlimited amount of registerable domains. Each domain acts as its own separate server namespace, and as an added benefit, users in the domains can send messages to and from one another.
What are the advantages of using an open protocol like XMPP over a proprietary solution from one of the big four (AOL, IBM, Microsoft, Yahoo)?
There are several advantages. First, you are not locked into any particular vendor for your IM solution. you have a wide variety of vendors to choose from, which gives you a lot of options when choosing end-user application software, development SDKs and servers. You can pick and choose from a variety of options to come up with the best IM solution for your needs. As the XMPP protocol gains popularity and market share, these options will only grow with time.
Second, you are not dependent on another company to run your messaging infrastructure. If you have trouble, your onsite staff can fix the problem, rather than relying on a vendors to fix critical infrastructure problems for you.
Third, most competing IM services are licensed on a per-seat, per-year basis. This creates a high ongoing cost to provide basic communications infrastructure for your employees. Our traditional licensing model allows you to run on your own hardware, and only pay small recurring support costs for software upgrades.