Instant messaging (IM) and web conferencing are fast becoming essential business collaboration tools, but public services lack the security many companies look for.
IBM’s Lotus Sametime addresses this by allowing you to host your own secure IM and conferencing systems with, in the latest 7.5 release, a raft of extra features and functionality.
With this release IBM has completely rebuilt the Lotus Sametime product using the open-source Eclipse development framework.
You still need a Domino server but this doesn’t have to be used for email, and users can be authenticated against any Ldap service, including Active Directory. Sametime chats can also be logged and archived in an auditable format. Plus there’s an optional gateway to securely connect Sametime networks together and provide links to public IM services from AOL, Google and Yahoo.
On the client side Sametime Connect software is available for Windows, Mac and Linux PCs with a slick new interface offering rich text editing, emoticons and, for the first time, a spell checker to help keep everything grammatical.
The new client also lets you send documents and other files directly from within a chat window, even capture a part of the screen and send it using IM, which is useful for helpdesk operators trying to troubleshoot problems.
It’s also a lot easier to find people in this version with searchable buddy lists and a new business card facility which pops up more detailed information when you hover the mouse over a name.
Screen sharing is another useful collaboration feature, enabling participants to work on documents and run applications co-operatively. Plus you now get Skype-like VoIP (Voice over IP) facilities. So, add a headset and all you have to do is click on a button to talk directly to your IM ‘buddies’, either one-to-one or as part of a conference call.
Similarly you can organise ad-hoc or formal web conferences using Sametime, with a user-friendly management interface that requires very little in the way of technical expertise.
Another big advantage of the Java-based Eclipse framework is the ability to add functionality using plug-ins, both from IBM itself and third-party developers. IBM includes support for presence this way, with the Sametime server working out your location based on where and how you log in. Other users can then see exactly where you are and, if just down the corridor, simply pop in for a chat rather than calling you online.
Other plug-ins can also use the presence information. For example, there’s a plug-in to find a restaurant based on your location while within IBM itself users can find out where the nearest printers are in any office worldwide.
The list of third-party plug-ins is growing already and the software will also work with the next version of Notes, being developed using the same Eclipse framework, and which will also incorporate a lot more of the Sametime functionality as standard.
For companies already using Lotus Domino, Sametime is an easy and inexpensive add-on. Others, however, may find the need to deploy a Domino server costly and a bit of a chore, although a small-business Express implementation is available.
Alternatively you may want to wait for the upcoming Linux server release (due out in the first half of 2007) which will be based on open-source middleware and do away with the Domino dependency altogether.
