Odigo Messenger
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Instant messaging, Social networking service |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Fate | Acquired by Comverse Technology in 2002; ceased free service by 2004 |
| Headquarters | Herzliya Pituah , Israel |
| Parent | Comverse Technology (from 2002) |
Odigo Messenger was one of the pioneering social networking service platforms focused primarily on instant messaging. It allowed users to interact when browsing the same website simultaneously and offered interoperability with other IM services such as ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and AOL Instant Messenger.
In 2002, the Israeli firm Comverse Technology acquired Odigo for approximately $20 million. Comverse leveraged Odigo’s server technology to create instant messaging applications tailored for mobile devices but ceased offering the free service by 2004, deciding not to continue supporting a general-purpose IM platform.
Odigo was introduced in 1999 and operated under multiple brand names through collaborations with various web service providers. The term "Odigo" is derived from the Greek verb "οδηγώ," which means "to guide," "to lead," "to drive," or "to steer."
Odigo and the 9/11 investigation
Approximately two hours prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks, staff at Odigo’s office located in Herzliya Pituah, near Tel Aviv, received an anonymous instant message containing a threat about an impending terrorist incident. The employees only reported this message after learning about the attacks in the United States. One of Odigo’s New York offices was situated within one mile of the World Trade Center site, although the warning did not specify any particular location.
Odigo took initiative by tracking down the originating IP address and shared these details with the FBI to aid in identifying the source of the message. The anonymous communication, sent through Odigo’s "people-search" tool, contained a warning of an upcoming attack along with an anti-Semitic insult, stating that "something big was going to happen in a certain amount of time."