 ICQ
First Published: July 1999
Last Update: April 2002
Author: Computer Partners
ICQ is a unique program that tells you when your friends and
associates are on the Internet. It also notifies them when you are online. This
allows you to have a real time online chat with minimal effort.
Besides chatting you can also post messages, e-mail, play
games and transfer files. Many businesses provide an ICQ chat on their sites to
allow customers the opportunity to contact them directly when they are online.
Some online groups use ICQ as the preferred means of
communicating between members. The Business Chat List prefers it. The group
encourages members to get ICQ and give them their ICQ number so that all members
know each other's numbers and when they are online. The beauty of ICQ is that
messages move faster across ICQ because they take a more direct route.
According to the January issue of USA Today, ICQ has drawn 25
million users around the world since it was launched three years ago. There are
also 75,000 people who sign up to the electronic messaging service daily.
ICQ headquarters is in Tel Aviv, Israel and was created by
Mirabilis LTD. It was purchased by AOL in 1998. You can download the program and
try it out for a limited time for free. This gives you the chance to see if it
is something that you would find useful.
The icq.com site gives
instructions on downloading and setting up the program. Once you have it
installed, the ICQ program runs in the background and the icon shows up on the
bottom of your browser. Most of the time you don't even know it's there except
when it begins blinking, notifying you that one of your friends or associates is
also online. Once you get the initial install over with, it is very easy to use.
Once you are registered, when you log onto the Internet, ICQ
automatically detects the Internet connection and announces your presence. In
turn it also alerts you when your friends and associates sign on or off.
It's as easy as the click of an icon to initiate chat,
implement URL transfers, send messages, exchange files, or launch any external
peer-to-peer applications. If you haven't done a lot of downloading and you want
step by step instructions go tostep-by-step
download.
According to newircusers.com,
ICQ can run on virtually any computer system including Windows 95/NT, Windows
3.1, Mac, and Unix. As it points out, ICQ even provides avenues for people who
really don't want to be disturbed when they're on the Internet. You can tell the
program to set you as invisible, away, or even tell people that try to contact
you that you do not want to be disturbed! If the person you wish to contact is
not currently on the Internet, you can send and leave a message for them. Later
on when they connect, ICQ will deliver your message to them.
On the icq.com site there is
information that tells you how to register with ICQ. When you install ICQ, the
program asks you to register at a server, which is connected with the network of
servers across the Internet.
At the time of registration, you receive a unique ICQ number,
also known as a UIN (Universal Internet Number). You can also enter personal
information along with your ICQ#. This allows other ICQ users to recognize you
when you log on. Once you've registered, you can create a selected list of
friends and associates. ICQ uses this list to track those people for you.
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