Paul Pival points to the new AIM WIMZI Widget. From first glance it looks pretty sweet. I currently use Trillian to connect to my IM screennames, for a variety of reasons. I also use the Meebo widget on the Biz Wiki and on my Business Blog. I probably get about 20 questions a week via the Meebo widget, and about 15-20 IM questions( mostly AIM), so both modes of communication have been very successful. Unfortunately, I often have a hard time remembering to change my availability in meebo when I step away from my computer, so patrons often try to contact me when I am in fact away from my desk. Since the AIM WIMZI connects directly to my AIM screenname, I simply have to change my availability in Trillian (or hit CNTRL-ALT-DEL) to make both my IM and the WIMZI widget read “unavailable.” I love Meebo, but AOL has me strongly considering jumping to to their new widget. I’ve embedded a widget below to tinker with the thing. After a little testing, I’ll have a better idea of how stable the widget is.
So why don’t I just switch to Meebo for all of my services? Well, Trillian has Meebo beat in a number of areas:
- Trillian allows me to send files over IM.
- Trillian allows me to configure my notifications. Meebo’s notifications are still a little weak, as the little ding is often very hard to hear.
- I can do audio and video chat over Trillian.
- I like how Trillian does different tabs for simultaneous IM transactions. For me, it makes things a little less cluttered.
Meebo wins by letting me access IM from anywhere. However, when I am mobile, I generally use IM on my Treo 700P, not the web. Since my primary place of using IM continues to be my office desktop, I still prefer the more robust features of the Trillian desktop client. On another note, I’ve signed up for the Trillian Astra alpha test, so hopefully I’ll hear something about that soon, assuming I am chosen. I’d love to put the new Trillian through its paces.