User:Daimyo2/Brosix Instant Messenger

Brosix Instant Messenger (also known as "Brosix") is a business Instant Messaging and collaboration tool launched in 2006. Brosix focuses on secure team communication and offers two versions of its program: Brosix Personal, a free IM program, and Brosix Enterprise, a paid version which provides businesses and organizations with their own private IM networks. The service is designed to allow streamlined inter-office communication without the risk of being hacked or losing sensitive information as a result of leaks. Brosix is mainly marketed towards businesses of varying sizes as a tool to increase team communication and collaboration.

One of the oldest Instant Messengers available, Brosix is currently used by several global corporations, private universities, and public governmental organizations such as Xerox, Harvard University, Georgia Department of Community Health, and many more.

History
Brosix was founded in 2006 by brothers Stefan and Svetoslav Chekanov. The service was created in answer to what Stefan and Svetoslav saw as a lack of IM applications focused on secure business use.

The origin of the name Brosix stems from a combination of the words "brothers,” for the founding brothers, and "Asterix," for the favorite movie and comic of Stefan’s son.

Funding
Brosix was founded on the bootstrapping financial model, and continues to operate without external funding.

Security
Brosix markets itself as a secure instant messenger based on several security features including data encryption. Brosix utilizes the AES 256-bits algorithm for data transferred through the program and 128-bit encryption using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for its web pages. File transfers on Brosix are peer to peer, ensuring that files never enter Brosix servers. Data that is handled by Brosix passes through a tunnel server with encryption from the sender and decryption upon receipt. No data is stored or processed directly by Brosix, allowing customers to meet HIPAA, HITECH, SAS-70, or SSAE 16 requirements.

Brosix servers are operated on a distributed and redundant system, which redirects users to an active server in the case of any other server failing.

Features
Brosix features are divided between standard free features for personal use and enterprise features. Free features include text chat, voice and video calls, file transfers, chat rooms, and built-in collaboration tools. The enterprise features are focused on the administration of the private team network that comes with enterprise plans with a focus on facilitating internal team communication. However, the mobile version of the application currently contains only a few of the features that the Desktop client has.

PCMag gave Brosix a 2.5 out of 5 score (Fair) describing its interface as "dated" since its appearance resembled older instant messaging services, such as AIM or Yahoo Messenger. Additional features include chat rooms, screen sharing, virtual whiteboards, and virtual desktop.

Reception
On August 17, 2017, Jill Duffy from PCMag reviewed it as a "secure instant messaging program for teams, but while it delivers on security, its downfall is usability."

In the November 2018 edition of CIO Аpplications, Brosix Instant Messenger was listed as one of the 25 best enterprise communication solutions, and was praised for its "ability to offer a single, comprehensive package of collaboration features, which eliminates the need to purchase multiple platforms to serve different collaboration purposes."