Userplane, a developer of Macromedia Flash-based communications and workflow applications, is aiming to parlay the success it's seen with its text- and video instant messaging client into an offering targeted especially to clients in regulated industries.

That offering, a secure version of the firm's Instant Communicator, comes on the heels of earlier work by Los Angeles-based Userplane in enterprise and consumer-facing IM launches. Last year, for instance, online dating player MatchNet launched a video and text IM app, based on the company's platform.

"We released our audio video and text messenger last year and had a great response," said Michael Jones, a partner at Userplane. "But we had a few industries requesting secure messaging -- primarily financial, medical, and educational."

In response, the company earlier this month unveiled a version of its video and text instant messaging solution geared for enterprises and incorporating Secure Socket Layer encryption.

As with its unencrypted version, Instant Communicator is a Flash-based application, run within a Web browser. The application itself is streamed from a Flash Communications Server MX located behind the firewall. (Alternatively, the system can be hosted by Userplane and partner Media Temple.)

In terms of secure messaging, much of the heavy lifting is actually handed by Macromedia's technology. Flash Communications Server MX 1.5 supports SSL-based communications -- so that communication between a Flash application and the server is encrypted, as is the actual program as it's being loaded into a Web browser. That capability is built into the actual application by Userplane.

Additionally, Instant Communicator supports archiving, which has become critical for several industries' regulatory requirements -- especially in the finance segment. Like many enterprise IM systems, Userplane's offering also provides for integration with other enterprise applications and databases -- for instance, tying the IM client into corporate databases or authentication systems governing employees' access privileges.

"We offer APIs to integrate our tool into their login and user management systems, and we also offer clients a pre-developed system," Jones said. "Most of the sites that we work with design their own user management system -- they design who accesses what, how they can access it, session time outs, that sort of thing."

Flash might not be the first development environment that comes to mind when a company looks at an IM solution. But the technology makes sense for one important reason: Flash is close to being ubiquitous, nearly as omnipresent as the Web browser itself, since Macromedia estimates that 98 percent of all Web browsers are Flash-enabled.

Because Flash works with -- and is already deployed in -- most of the Web browsers in use today, an enterprise IM application using the technology makes uses like deploying a client to partners, clients, or other extranet users a fairly simple task. There's little in the way of individual client maintenance needed, since it's all pulled from the Flash server at load time.

Flash also is increasingly finding its way to handheld devices, like the PocketPC, and other emerging platforms, like interactive TV.

Based on those advantages, Userplane is already in talks for deploying the solution to several businesses in the medical industry.

"These companies really want to be able to do a cross-country, cross-nation IM," Jones said. "They generally ended up on our doorstep because our platform is Web-based and easy to maintain, and can be used on any PC that happens to have a Webcam."

The interest also underscores the growing demand for having PC-to-PC videoconferencing linked with IM -- a trend that a number of vendors are looking to cultivate and exploit.

Earlier this week, Apple Computer took the wraps off an enhanced version of its AOL Instant Messenger-compatible IM client that offers new video- and audio-conferencing capabilities. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the product, iChat AV, is aimed at bringing easy-to-use, presence-enabled videoconferencing to the masses.

IM giant AOL Time Warner is looking to add video capabilities to its AOL Instant Messenger network -- although it first must win FCC approval for such a product launch.

America Online's loss has been its rivals gain, however: competitors Microsoft and Yahoo! have for some time offered video integrated with their IM clients -- efforts which are ramping up of late.

Last week, Microsoft began showing off its upcoming MSN Messenger 6 client and its new video features. Earlier this month, Yahoo! inked a deal with Web conferencing player WebEx to better integrate advanced collaboration tools into Yahoo! Messenger Enterprise Edition.

Meanwhile, America Online is planning to roll out a more limited form of video messaging -- one lacking real-time streaming -- in the upcoming version of its namesake Internet service.

For its part, Userplane plans to continue taking advantage of the trend with a multi-user video conference room application, set for launch in coming weeks.

Christopher Saunders is managing editor of InstantMessagingPlanet.com.