[Macpartners] IBM Lotus IM to work with .Mac members via iChat AOL

[Mateja Miljacki]

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

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.



-- 
Mateja Miljacki
mateja at apple.com
Systems Engineer
-- 



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