Agreement Federates Sametime with AOL IM

January 23, 2006

By Michael Hall

AOL and IBM have announced an agreement that will allow Lotus Sametime 7.5 users to gain access to the AIM and ICQ instant messaging (IM) networks.

According to a statement issued by AOL, IBM will include federation with AOL's IM network "as an embedded feature for each user," bringing IBM's user base into communications with more than 70 million AOL, AIM, ICQ, and Apple iChat users. An AOL representative also noted that the agreement will extend to access via the Mobile AIM service, available on devices such as the Blackberry, Treo and mobile phones.

According to the announcement, Sametime users will be able to transparently exchange presence information with users on AOL's IM network by adding AOL identities to their Sametime contact lists and inviting AOL users to add them to AIM Buddy Lists.

The agreement also provides for access to AOL's new AIM Clearinghouse service, which will simplify Sametime user access to both AOL's network as well as to users on other enterprise instant messaging (EIM) systems.

AOL provides connectivity to its network via its Enterprise Federation Partner (EFP) program, in which companies pay an annual per-user royalty to gain access to AIM for their users. In its statement, AOL said the deal with IBM brings the total share of EIM users accessible via AIM to 75 percent. Other EFP participants include Reuters,Antepo, Microsoft, Jabber, Inc., Omnipod, Communicator, Parlano, Thomson Financial, and Pivot Solutions' IMTrader service.

Source: http://www.instantmessagingplanet.com/enterprise/article.php/3579316