i-comm is a technologically advanced, patented product that uses a modern client server architecture to provide a platform that is reliable, scalable and secure.

i-comm Client (Front-end)

At the heart of the i-comm platform, is the i-comm client application. The i-comm client is where the intelligence behind the “non-intrusive” file transfer resides and serves as the touch point between the brand/community owner and the consumer. It resides on the user’s PC and runs as a background “service” in the familiar context of a System Tray icon. Behind this icon sits all the features of i-comm: user profiling, membership information, the Message Center, Help, configuration parameters, and other custom items. i-comm client code is brand-neutral, and has been built with “white labeling” in mind. This means that i-comm can be distributed under a different name with a custom look and feel. To achieve this, all of the configurable and customizable aspects of an i-comm application and community (text and labels, icons, images, fonts and styles, application title, menu items, etc.) are external “resources” which are separate from the code itself. The result is that the effort required to customize an i-comm community is minimal, and the flexibility to change the design and other community-specific settings is maximized.

i-comm Manager (Back-end)

The i-comm backend can be administered via the i-comm <Manager> application which allows the content owner to define, target, publish and maintain messages through the i-comm platform.

The i-comm <Manager> is available in Windows and web based versions. The application communicates with the server 100% via Web Services.

The addition of templates (message types) has been made as easy as possible, as all the steps required in the “Message Wizard” section of the i-comm Manager are described in an XML file.

Reporting Tool (Back-End)

The i-comm reporting is a highly flexible system that allows companies to gather detailed user profile information, track message delivery and user interaction. The i-comm Reporting System may be used to measure and evaluate performance, generate domain level statistics and view message specific results and behavior.

Server Overview

In the i-comm world, a distinct community is referred to as a “domain”. Domains are organised in a hierarchy, which simplifies administrative tasks such as message posting, client upgrades & features, and reporting.

On the server-side of i-comm is a robust platform where all user profile data, device information, message content, domain configuration, and statistics reside. It is this platform which is used to control the publication of the messages, relay information to the i-comm clients about software updates and message delivery, and provide a robust targeting and usage reporting to the community administrators.

The i-comm server-side components make use of the .Net version 2.0 framework, and are run on Microsoft Windows 2003 Server. ICG has implemented a virtualized computing environment in its data center – this means that multiple i-comm backend servers are running in virtual machines, which facilitates scaling the application to meet load demands, and disaster recovery as backups exist of a fully-functional i-comm server. In addition, clustered load-balancing devices are in place which distribute the load among the multiple virtualized i-comm services, further guaranteeing application availability and performance.