The creators of virtual world Second Life have improved
support for business users of the service.
They have launched a voice and instant messaging client that
enables Second Life residents to connect and communicate with their
Second Life contacts who are both inside and outside their
virtual world.
Creator Linden Lab said the SLim thin client, provided by
Vivox, enables residents to
conduct voice or text conversations with members of their Second
Life friends list.
Linden said SLim is also a useful tool for the Second Life
enterprise offering, which will enable employees to communicate and
collaborate with colleagues meeting inworld without having the
Second Life application running.
"With Second Life becoming integrated into more aspects of our
residents' daily lives, we saw a need to expand the world beyond
its borders, enabling constant connection regardless of location,"
said Joe Miller, vice-president of platform and technology
development at Linden Lab.
"In addition to all the enhanced communication benefits, SLim
also helps solidify the value proposition of Second Life for
enterprise use by providing a powerful
voice over IP (VoIP) and instant messaging client."
Whilst the Second Life viewer will still serve as the primary
inworld communication engine, SLim is capable of running on any
computer and offers users a voice-enabled instant messaging client
that extends the value of the Second Life platform beyond the
virtual world, said Linden.
SLim provides Residents with access to their Second Life Friends
list with real-time "presence" status updates, enables users to
seamlessly migrate a text conversation into a voice call, and it
allows users to leave voicemails for offline friends.
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