What is the Jabber or XMPP protocol and why do I care?

The Jabber (or XMPP) protocol is an Internet standard which was created to provide an open, vendor-neutral instant messaging protocol. For more information about the goals and capabilities of the Jabber protocol, visit the official Jabber Web site at www.jabber.org.

The Halloo phone service uses the Jabber protocol because it is not tied to any particular instant messaging provider, and because it avoids possible conflicts with any provider’s terms of service.