Following a recent makeover to their online productivity suite, Zoho is launching version 2.0 of its instant messaging client, which will offer multi-protocol support for Yahoo, Google, MSN, AIM, ICQ, and Jabber-based IM networks. But while there are many other more popular options out there, the company claims the real value of Zoho Chat comes when it's used with the rest of its productivity suite.


For example, users can talk to a co-worker while collaborating on a document in Zoho Writer or they can add items to the calendar within the chat window and so on. It also lets users carry their chats between applications, and continue conversations as they move from Zoho Mail to Zoho Writer to Zoho CRM. So while Zoho Chat 2.0 is indeed a competitor to Meebo and other web-based instant messengers, in the end its introduction is probably not so much about gaining a larger share of the IM market but rather to make businesses choose Zoho over rivals Salesforce.com or Google Apps.