IBM Lotus Sametime is the commercial Instant Messaging service by the Lotus Software brand of IBM. It provides instant messaging(IM) and presence awareness capabilities as well as support for web conferencing. This product was originally a synthesis of two different acquistions of Lotus/IBM in 1998. Databeam a US company provided the architecture to host T.120 dataconferencing(IM) and H.323 Multi-Media Conferencing. Ubique an Israeli company provided the "presence" feature that allowed users to see who was on-line and available for conferencing. In the intervening years IBM has extended the product so that it may be more deeply integrated into a standard messaging environment. The product has gone through several marketing driven name changes. Intermittently being called Sametime, IBM Lotus Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing and IBM WebConferencing. A screenshot of PowWow, one of the first instant messengers with a graphical user interface Instant messaging is the act of instantly communicating between two or more people over a network such as the Internet. ... Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) is an American software company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) NYSE: IBM (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, NY, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, and services. ...

The product has a strong orientation toward utilizing standards based architecture support SIP, SIMPLE, T.120 and H.323

See also

• List of instant messengers
• Comparison of instant messengers

The following is a list of instant messenging clients. ... The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of instant messenging clients. ...

External links

• IBM Lotus Software website
• IBM Lotus Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing website