AOL's New Pact Opens Up IM

Starting in June or July, business users with Antepo, Jabber, Omnipod or Parlano IM can link to 14 million business AOL Instant Messaging (AIM) or ICQ users, as well as tens of millions more consumer users, the companies said.

"Partners like Antepo or Jabber can potentially better compete with Microsoft in the federated IM space," said David Via, vice president of business development at The Wolcott Group, an e-mail integrator in Fairlawn, Ohio.

Microsoft had positioned its soon-to-ship Live Communications Server Connectivity Pack as the primary bridge from EIM—that is, its own EIM—to the public AOL and Yahoo networks.

Now what appeared to be a one-lane highway has more options. Business users on any of those four IM systems now also will be able to chat with friends and colleagues on AIM or ICQ securely, AOL said.

There will be tolls, however. AOL will be paid royalties from the IM networks accessing its user base, said Brian Curry, vice president of subscription services at the Dulles, Va.-based company.

AOL and Yahoo each pulled the plug last year on plans for their own business IM offerings, instead allying with partners such as IMLogic, Akonix Systems and FaceTime Communications.

IBM is noticeably absent from this agreement. Lotus Development, now part of IBM Software, was an EIM pioneer and the first to offer interoperability with AOL's networks, but that deal lapsed.

Microsoft's subsequent pact with AOL was seen as a huge advantage for the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant, which is trying to build its own enterprise-class IM. While these four companies don't have the huge installed base of the public networks, they claim to represent some 8 million business users.

Recent regulations have made secure IM a hot commodity for businesses, especially in financial services where all four of these IM players have customers.