Instant Message Archiving

IM archiving
Overview
SmarshIM
Hosted IM Proxy
Archiving Features

Not Knowing Who Said What Could Be Costly

Corporate instant messaging in the workplace provides productivity and collaboration benefits, but these communications systems need to be archived and supervised for regulatory compliance, e-discovery purposes and to ensure efficient and appropriate use. Not knowing who said what to who can be potentially damaging or costly.  

Instant messaging can feature rapid-fire, back-and-forth communication across decentralized public messaging networks. While many firms have found email compliance to be a challenging task, IM archiving compliance can be even trickier. Smarsh IM archiving solutions give you the archiving and supervision tools to enforce your corporate policies, meet regulatory obligations and protect sensitive data. 

Smarsh Instant Messenger (smarshIM)

smarshIM is a turnkey corporate instant messaging service that can be used by any firm, small or large, with no expensive hardware or software to purchase. Users simply install the smarshIM client application on each PC. Users can then communicate securely with other employees in their organization over an encrypted corporate network that protects sensitive data that would otherwise be sent over unsecured public IM networks.

Smarsh Hosted IM Proxy

The Smarsh Hosted IM Proxy is a service that enables customers to use the instant messaging client application of their choice. This is often favored by traders with a strong preference toward a particular tool (ex. IM Trader, Trillian, etc.). Instant messaging communications are simply routed through the servers in the Smarsh data centers responsible for capture, archiving and IM feature control.

Other Corporate Instant Message Archiving

Clients can utilize multiple capture deployment methods, and all messages are preserved in their native form and indexed via IM archiving. Messages can be searched and produced on-demand from the instant message archive. 

  • Operating their own IM proxy or IM capture solution and electronically transferring message data to Smarsh for archival and supervision services. This is sometimes preferred by larger broker-dealers with established infrastructure.
  • Smarsh OmniArchiver custom message archiving. This service enables clients to archive and retain virtually any message or content type, including their own home-grown messaging solutions.
  • Mobile Instant Messaging - Many mobile instant messaging clients for iPhones, iPads, BlackBerry, and Android are compatible with Smarsh archiving (ex. Beejive).
  • Web-based Instant Messaging - Many web-based instant messaging services have been integrated with Smarsh archiving (ex. Meebo).
  • IM Client Log Shipping - Active instant messaging users will often prefer a particular IM client application. These applications typically have logging features that integrate with Smarsh archiving.
  • The Smarsh archiving and compliance application also supports integration with Enterprise Unified Communications platforms such as Microsoft Lync Server and OCS, IBM Sametime, Cisco Unified Presence, Cisco Jabber and MindAlign, as well as third-party networks such as Bloomberg, Reuters, Pivot and YellowJacket.

Smarsh Instant Messenger (smarshIM)

smarshIM is a turnkey instant messaging service that can be used by any firm, small or large, with no expensive hardware or software to purchase. Users simply install the smarshIM client application on each PC. Users can then communicate securely with other employees in their organization over an encrypted corporate network that protects sensitive data that would otherwise be sent over unsecured public IM networks.

The smarshIM platform enables communication with third-party users on public networks such as AOL, Yahoo, Google Talk, Jabber, MSN and ICQ simultaneously. As an additional security measure, smarshIM will also encrypt public IM communications wherever possible.

Since there is no hardware to manage, users can literally be anywhere in the world and all of their IMs will be archived in an instant message archive. The compliance officer(s), or designated reviewers can search and review IMs, while also establishing granular permissions and restrictions over instant messenger usage. Sample controls and permissions available to compliance officers include: the ability to establish communication barriers or “Chinese walls” between departments (ex. trading and research), the ability to restrict employee access to public IM networks, and the ability to prevent end-users from attempting to circumvent the firm’s IM system by instantly blocking and shutting down unauthorized IM applications.

smarshIM Web Edition provides the same compliant access to instant messaging over any internet browser, from any PC, Mac, Linux, or Unix computer. This is also convenient for users working from a temporary computer.

Features Include:

  • Online presentation functionality gives users ability to see another’s display - great for collaborative tasks
  • Multiple connections states (“busy”, “invisible”) with automatic “not available”
  • Spam filtering
  • Virus protection
  • Attachment blocking
  • Multi-person, multi-network chat
  • Message history logged locally (in addition to at the server level)
  • “Invite People” tool
  • Multi-network file transfer option
  • Emoticon support
  • Remote desktop computer sharing
  • Custom automatic reply messages
  • Server-stored contact list, allowing users to see their contacts from any computer
  • Folder support in contact list
  • Multiple language support

Smarsh Hosted IM Proxy

The Smarsh Hosted IM Proxy is a service that enables customers to use the instant messaging client application of their choice. This is often favored by traders with a strong preference toward a particular tool (ex. IM Trader, Trillian, etc.). Instant messaging communications are simply routed through the servers in the Smarsh data centers responsible for capture, archiving and IM feature control. This service captures instant messages from more than 20 (and growing) different IM and social networks.

Features Include:

  • Establish communications barriers between departments
  • Add disclaimers
  • Prevent data leakage
  • Block viruses, phishing attacks, and SpIM
  • Block or restrict file transfers
  • Block messages using keywords or phrases established by compliance
  • Assign and enforce compliance policies at the company, group, or individual employee level

Smarsh Hosted Instant Message Archiving

Capture  |  Preserve  |  Search  |  Supervise  |  Produce

Capture 

  • Flexible integration | The Smarsh platform is designed to support the unique business needs of our clients rather than requiring our clients to alter or modify their processes to fit our technology. Smarsh supports multiple means of capture and provides flexible integration options. Solutions are interoperable with popular public IM networks such as AOL, MSN, Google Talk and Yahoo.
  • Real-time capture | Instant messages are captured and processed within the archive immediately.
  • Import legacy IM data | Leverage Smarsh client data management resources and migrate legacy data into one platform, creating a consolidated archive for rapid retrieval and review.

Back to top

Preserve 

Client instant messages are always readily accessible via the web-based Smarsh Management Console. They never go off-line (unless specified by the client).

  • Redundant data centers | IMs are preserved in the redundant, geographically-dispersed Smarsh data centers and saved to WORM (write once, read many) optical storage. 
  • Retention policies | Messages are retained in accordance with client retention policies (and active legal holds).

Back to top

Search 

Administrators can search across their email and electronic message archives based on virtually any criteria, either ad-hoc or on a consistent, systematic basis.

  • Robust field search | Smarsh indexes the entire electronic message, and enables search by Boolean combinations of virtually every associated field, including: body, sender, recipient (including group chat), and message date and time.
  • Saved searches | Save search criteria and repeat searches for convenience, consistency and evidence of policy enforcement.
  • E-discovery searches | Run robust ad-hoc discovery searches for one-time instances.
  • Support for multiple lexicon lists | Clients can customize company-approved lexicons of keywords/phrases for search and/or start with a default list provided by Smarsh.
  • Multiple IM networks and screen names | Search traffic of an unlimited number of networks or instant message IDs per employee.
  • Immediate search results | Once the desired messages have been identified in the archive search page, they can be immediately viewed online, downloaded directly to a PC, or encrypted and copied to portable electronic media. 

Back to top

Supervise 

Your supervision procedures are not at the mercy of inflexible technology. Customize your firm's supervision experience for optimal efficiency in message review and effectiveness in identifying and mitigating risk. 

  • Hierarchy structure | Permission-based review hierarchy can be configured to model the review structure of your organization. Administrators can assign message supervision roles/authorities to specific users and groups, and grant the appropriate level of access/functionality to them. Smarsh can grant temporary permissions or access to compliance consultants, outside legal counsel or other individuals.
  • Run saved searches | Execute review procedures with regularly scheduled saved searches.
  • Flexible search options | Match search type (random percent, risk score, keywords or phrases) to risk profile.
  • Contextual review | Track the entire thread of an instant message from multiple individuals, giving a conversation context during review.
  • Full audit review | Every administrator session and action taken throughout the entire lifecycle of a message is documented within the Smarsh Management Console.
  • Take action on messages | Reviewers have the ability to annotate, flag, open/close or escalate messages. All actions are logged and the subsequent metadata is indexed and searchable.
  • Reporting Center | Produce analytics reports on corporate instant message usage, system audit history and instant message archive data. Demonstrate policy enforcement and ensure accountability among multiple managers responsible for message review. Reports can be customized.

Produce 

Administrators can retrieve and produce as many messages as necessary, in original form, on demand. 

  • Production options | Instant messages can be securely downloaded to a PC or encrypted and saved to a portable media device. This can be utilized for real-time access to data during an investigation or examination, or to restore data for disaster recovery purposes.
  • Flexible e-discovery export | Export message data in popular e-discovery vendor “load file” formats (and the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) XML Interchange Format Schema) and transfer it directly to document review and processing systems.
  • Monthly DVD service | As part of its service package, Smarsh delivers monthly copies of client data via encrypted DVD.

Back to top

Use the filters below to find regulations and laws relevant to you and your company.

© 2012 Smarsh, Inc. All rights reserved. The Smarsh logo and name are registered trademarks of Smarsh, Inc. The Bloomberg name and logo are trademarks
of Bloomberg Finance L.P. or its subsidiaries. All other logos, company names and product names are property of their respective companies.