IBM Unveils Wireless Instant Messaging

Fans of instant messaging who are also Lotus Notes users will soon have an integrated option that will work across wireless devices as well as PCs.

IBM is entering the instant messaging wars with software dubbed Sametime Everyplace 1.0, scheduled to be available this summer. Pricing is not yet set, but IBM plans to market the program online and through its various Notes resellers and retailers.

IBM unveiled the product at its annual Lotus DevCon developers' conference in Las Vegas this week.

Messaging for Managers?

IBM is positioning its program as a business-oriented alternative in the competitive field of instant messaging (IM). America Online markets two of the most popular programs, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and ICQ. Microsoft, meanwhile, is pushing its MSN Messenger, and Yahoo is promoting Yahoo Messenger.

As well as traditional IM functions, Sametime Everyplace provides business-savvy features, such as awareness functions that indicate not only who is online but their role within the organization. The system can indicate, for example, when a corporate group leader or expert is online. The IM system also caters to business users by including a firewall to ensure privacy, according to an IBM representative.

Its target is the more than 80 million Lotus Notes users. With Sametime Everyplace, they'll be able to detect the availability of coworkers and send them IMs not only by PC, but over wireless devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, and Pocket PCs, according to IBM.

Short Messages Only

IBM's new offering comes amid heightened interest in the burgeoning IM industry, which is trying to make the leap from the technology's early beginnings with chatty teens, to the quick-draw corporate market.

Although the software offers text and awareness functions, it does not yet offer file-sharing. That's because current wireless devices do not readily support transmission and receipt of entire files, a Lotus spokesperson says.