Sametime 7.5 announcement today - MS Office, mobile integration

June 26 2006

Despite the suspiciously coincidental posting of this blog entry at 12:01 AM, I'm writing this live (as opposed to a "held" pre-blog).  The news is that good that I can't sleep :-)

Later today (Monday), IBM will be issuing a press release to announce more capabilities coming in soon-to-be-released Sametime 7.5.  These include:

  • Being able to send an IM, initiate a VoIP call, or share the current application from within Microsoft Office
  • A host of Microsoft Outlook integration features, including presence awareness and scheduling e-meetings from the Outlook calendar
  • Sametime 7.5 support for RIM Blackberry, Nokia devices, and Windows Mobile devices
The release says, "Mobile support for Lotus Sametime is expected to support RIM Blackberry, Nokia and Windows Mobile devices with expected availability in the fourth quarter of 2006.  Integration with Microsoft SharePoint, Outlook 2000 and above and Office XP and above is expected at the beginning of 2007."

The press release also emphasizes the open architecture of Sametime 7.5, including the ability to build plug-ins to extend awareness and real-time communication with other types of applications.  Specifically called out, too, is the location-based awareness that is in the Sametime 7.5 client -- where one can determine not just the online status of your contacts, but also where they are located.

This announcement is great news for Sametime's competitiveness in the overall marketplace.  Desktop integration tends to be one of the points that I've often heard favors our competition, whether our overall solution is better or not.  With the ability to provide these capabilities in an Office/Exchange/Outlook environment, IBM is one-upping the competition on their own turf.

Link to the press release >

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Sametime 7.5  Add/View Comments [24]

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  1. 1  Ted Stanton http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/InsideLotus | 6/25/2006 11:29:40 PM

    12:01 AM blog about the days news. Must be good and I look forward to your updated post with more information.

  1. 2  Sean Burgess http://www.phigsaidwhat.com/ | 6/26/2006 1:28:25 AM

    The Sametime team just keeps exceeding my expectations for this release. I hope you are keeping their fridge stocked with Mountain Dew and their pantry filled with Twinkies and Ho-Hos.

    Is all this integration possible because the new version is built upon the Eclipse framework? If so, will we expect to see the same type of integration with Hannover?

    Sean---

  1. 3  Paul Bunnell http://paulbunnell.wordpress.com/ | 6/26/2006 3:56:46 AM

    Ed

    But still no announcement on the SIP gateway connecting to MSN Messenger or LCS?

    Paul

  1. 4  Warren Elsmore www.elsmore.net | 6/26/2006 5:37:55 AM

    @3 - Seeing as a connector to MSN or LCS would (I assume) require agreement from Microsoft, I'm not holding my breath for this one.

    Real shame, though - and I would love to be proved wrong!

  1. 5  Adam Gartenberg  | 6/26/2006 5:54:35 AM

    Here's a link to the Press Release: { Link }

    @3/4 - This announcement is focused on how Sametime is being extended to Office/Outlook and mobile devices, and we're not announcing anything at this time around LCS or MSN Messenger interoperability.

  1. 6  Andres Gorostidi  | 6/26/2006 5:55:43 AM

    Blackberry and Windows Mobile support ? Great news!! What about PALM devices ?

    And.. How would be that integration be done ? Are we talking about a new release of Domino Sametime EveryPlace or similiar ?

  1. 7  Adam Gartenberg  | 6/26/2006 7:22:46 AM

    @6 - No announcement on Palm devices. We will be releasing a new mobile client that will be available as part of the core Sametime package - Sametime Everyplace won't be required.

  1. 8  Cesar Zavala  | 6/26/2006 8:04:04 AM

    I'm disappointed cause in Lotusphere I understood they said it was going to be released this month.

  1. 9  Charles Robinson  | 6/26/2006 9:12:20 AM

    I hate to be a killjoy but I don't think it is fair to portray some of the Sametime 7.5 features as direct out of the box functionality. Specifically, the click-to-call, SIP and public IM integration features require Websphere. Perhaps I'm an exception but to me that's a big deal and I would like for IBM to be more forthright about these requirements.

    Do any of these recently announced features also require Websphere? Could we get a list of the ones that do?

  1. 10  Carl http://www.iminstant.com | 6/26/2006 9:34:08 AM

    @9 since when has Click to call required Websphere, or the SIP gateway?

    These are not new features, and did not require Websphere previously, what gives the impression they do now?

  1. 11  Hynek Kobelka www.pylonware.com | 6/26/2006 9:36:15 AM

    This definitly shows that SameTime now receives much more attention (and developer-man-power) from IBM then several years ago. Way to go !!!

  1. 12  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 6/26/2006 9:53:01 AM

    @8 I think the statements were "summer 2006" (which extends a couple of months still in the US), or possibly, "mid-2006". At any rate, the Q3 ship date isn't a schedule slip, it's what the target has been since announcement AFAIK.

    @9 -- Updated comment -- Only the RTC gateway requires any component of WebSphere technology -- not click-to-call (except for something in in Cisco's implementation), not the MS integration, not the mobile client integration. And in the cases where WAS is required, it's included in the license (and, increasingly, in the install/deploy/admin technology). So it's not a separate thing, it's just a component. So, so what?

  1. 13  Charles Robinson  | 6/26/2006 10:23:43 AM

    @10 - Carl, I realize you're a guru on this and probably have much more access to information than I do. I don't mean to question your (or Ed's) expertise. I talked to the click to call people in the labs at Lotusphere and it was explained to me that the feature requires Websphere. This was also mentioned in the Sametime 7.5 VoIP Integration webcast a few weeks ago.

    One of the PDF's on the Sametime 7.5 website ftp://ftp.lotus.com/pub/lotusweb/product/sametime/Sametime_7.5_Detailed_View.pdf (slide 32) says of the New Multi-Protocol Gateway: "Extensible platform, built on IBM WebSphere software, that allows real-time collaboration (RTC) communities (such as Lotus Sametime, Workplace, SIP and public IM services) to share presence and interact with each other". "Built on IBM Websphere software" sounds to me like it requires WebSphere. Perhaps I'm misreading that.

    @12 - Admittedly I don't use WebSphere so all I know is what I have read or been told by by people who do. It has always been my understanding that WebSphere is installed and administered as its own service, then added on to. I was not aware that it was deployed any other way so if that is not the case I apologize for not knowing how the products integrate.

    Having said that, all I have ever heard is what a beast WebSphere is in terms of administration headaches and server resources. If I have to deploy and support WebSphere to run Sametime 7.5 that's a big deal. There hasn't been any discussion of how WebSphere fits in with Sametime 7.5 (possibly because it doesn't), so I don't know that it is installed and administered from a single management interface, all on the same box.

  1. 14  Steven Joseph  | 6/26/2006 10:33:17 AM

    See! I DIDN'T bring up Websphere or WorkPlace this time! See! I told you I would play nice!!!

  1. 15  Charles Robinson  | 6/26/2006 10:41:38 AM

    @12 - If does not require a separate WAS deployment, with the ensuing administrative burden, then it's not an issue. I have not heard that stated before so thanks for clarifying that point.

  1. 16  David Vasta david.davidandkelly.com | 6/26/2006 1:00:07 PM

    Just wish it were not $50 a seat! For a long timed Lotus Customer you would think there would be a discount of some type for sticking with you all these years!

    I will offer Lotus $17 a seat and that is my final offer. (in the voice of a middle eastern merchant.)

  1. 17  Mikkel Heisterberg http://lekkimworld.com | 6/27/2006 5:12:46 AM

    The word is spreading - there is a post on EclipseZone today on how both Sametime 7.5 and Hannover is going to be Eclipse based and which exciting possibilities it provides. Check it out via by blog @ { Link }

    /lekkim

  1. 18  Bill Brown  | 6/27/2006 12:32:33 PM

    @16, sorry, you ended up sounding like Eric Idle:

    HARRY THE HAGGLER: Seventeen. My last word. I won't take a penny less, or strike me dead.

  1. 19  Rob Wunderlich www.dominounplugged.com | 6/28/2006 9:02:44 PM

    @6 - Palm devices will NOT be supported. The Palm OS is single threaded - according to David Marshak virtually impossible to do 'presence' on a single threaded OS.

  1. 20  Chris Whisonant http://cwhisonant.blogspot.com | 6/29/2006 3:07:02 PM

    @19 - Sametime client for Palm OS:

    { Link }

    I've never used it, but it appears to be possible.