IBM Offers No Charge Software Trial to Companies for Real-Time Text, Video and Voice Collaboration

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a no charge, 90-day trial offer of its industry leading unified communications and collaboration platform, IBM Lotus Sametime 7.5.1. Lotus Sametime features business-ready instant messaging (IM), Web conferencing, point-to-point video capabilities, mobile device support and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) voice chat.

With this trial, businesses will be able to exchange instant messages via a computer or mobile device, take advantage of integrated VoIP and video conferencing capabilities, and conduct Web conferences. By bringing together different forms of communication into one security-rich and easy-to-use solution, IBM is continuing to redefine how organizations collaborate and work.

Lotus Sametime is leading a new stage in corporate collaboration by making Web 2.0 consumer technologies, such as social networking, relevant to businesses. For example, in Lotus Sametime a customer could combine or "mash-up" their IM contact list and location awareness capabilities with an online map to get a visual representation of where key business communities and specific contacts are located.

As the centerpiece of IBM's unified communication and collaboration (UC2) strategy, Lotus Sametime allows organizations to select the best collaboration method without opening multiple applications. In addition, Lotus Sametime is built on the open Eclipse framework, giving organizations the flexibility to expand and customize their platform without being locked into one proprietary software model.

The no charge trial version of Lotus Sametime can be evaluated for 90 days and includes popular features such as:

• IP telephony integration: enables businesses to integrate Lotus Sametime with their existing supported telephony system, adding features like the ability to initiate a traditional phone call from within LotusSametime.


• Integrated VoIP: enables users to speak with other Lotus Sametime users in their company session without having to pick up the phone.


• Integration with Microsoft Office and Outlook: enables users to take advantage of Lotus Sametime 7.5.1 features, such as sending an instant message, initiating a call, or sharing an application directly from within Microsoft Office and Outlook.


• Point-to-point video: enables Windows users to integrate a Webcam, enhancing their instant messaging or VoIP conversation with real-time video capabilities.


• Mobile device support: enables users to send and receive instant messages, including multi-person chats on supported mobile devices.


• Plugin and mash-up capabilities: enable users to add new capabilities to the Lotus Sametime environment quickly and easily. For example, users could pull information directly from a supported database into a LotusSametime instant messaging chat.

After customers have completed the 90-day trial, they can purchase a full Lotus Sametime license. This license includes the IBM Lotus Sametime Gateway, which allows users to send and receive instant messages with users of AIM, Google Talk and Yahoo! Messenger networks.
Businesses have a variety of purchasing options for Lotus Sametime including:

• An IBM sales representative


• An authorized IBM reseller


• IBM Global Services


• Online at www.ibm.com

Customers can also engage with IBM Business Partners that provide expertise on application integration, installation, and customization of Lotus Sametime.

For customers who want a deployment-ready installation of Lotus Sametime, IBM Global Services offers Applications On Demand (AoD). AoD is a robust portfolio of application management services for clients of all sizes packed as standardized offerings. The operational platform simplifies the management of enterprise applications and can help reduce clients' costs by as much as 50 percent. Enterprises and small and mid-sized businesses alike can delegate the management of their applications through a fully configurable set of application services. Since clients pay-as-they-go for these services, they are able to reduce up-front project and infrastructure costs, thereby speeding returns on investment. Full-scale implementation services are also available from IBM Global Services.

Lotus Sametime, and the 90-day trial version, is available for Windows, Linux and Macintosh clients and AIX, Linux, Windows, i5/OS and z/OS servers at Lotus Sametime is available at a suggested list price of $57.00 per user for a one-time software license.

Mobile devices supported by Lotus Sametime include RIM BlackBerry, Nokia and Windows Mobile. Lotus Sametime integrates with Microsoft Outlook 2000 and 2003 and Office XP.

The Lotus Sametime 90-day trial is available for download at: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/downloads/ls/lst

For information on Lotus offerings for small and medium business, product demos, special offers and purchasing options, visit www.ibm.com/lotus/smb

For more information on Lotus Sametime: www.ibm.com/lotus/sametime .