Abstract
SUMMARY-In this paper we propose a web-based instant messaging application. This application is full-featured and similar to other proprietary Instant Messaging applications but can be used from any computer with a web browser and a connection to the Internet. em9 manages your contacts and informs you who is on-line at any time, enabling you to communicate with them instantly in near real time. In this paper we discuss the instant messaging class of software and its advantage, em9 and how it compares, our method of implementation and finally we evaluate the performance of our first version. Currently the first version of em9 is freely available at www.em9.com.
