AOL and IBM to test compatibility of their messaging software

Associated Press

NEW YORK — In a new round of jockeying in the competitive instant messaging business, AOL Time Warner and IBM’s Lotus division have agreed to test the compatibility of their messaging software.

At the moment, users of the AOL Instant Messenger — popular with individuals — and Lotus’ Sametime messenger — mainly used by businesses — cannot share users across platforms.

But AOL is under pressure to make its market-leading Instant Messenger "talk" to other messaging platforms. Last July, the Federal Communications Commission ordered AOL to make future generations of its messenger work with competitors’ as a condition for approving the merger of AOL and Time Warner.

Instant messaging, which gives groups of users the capability to send instantaneous text messages to each other via the Internet, has emerged as a corporate battleground.

Four of the world’s largest Internet technology companies offer competing products, none of which can communicate fully with the other. Besides AOL and Lotus, the messaging systems include Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. Similar tools are available from ExciteAtHome, Odigo and AT&T.

The incompatible systems have forced some users to download two or more instant messaging clients to communicate with users on distinct platforms, while others have gravitated to AOL, which has more than twice the number of users as its nearest competitor.

AOL’s interoperability test with Lotus Sametime is the first attempt to make AIM fully compatible with another system, said AOL Time Warner spokeswoman Kathy McKiernan.

Since their products serve distinct markets, AOL and Lotus are not considered competitors. McKiernan said AOL has no immediate plans to conduct similar interoperability tests with its top competitors Yahoo and Microsoft.

"The next step would be to strike business agreements with other providers to address issues of privacy, security and system performance," said McKiernan.

In 1999 and 2000, several emerging instant messaging clients were briefly able to communicate with the AIM system, all were blocked by AOL, citing security and hacking concerns.

Microsoft’s messaging client was one of those stymied. Since then, Bob Visse, director of Microsoft’s MSN Internet service, said AOL has done nothing to further compatibility among users of instant messaging.

"We’re fully two years later, and we’re nowhere with AOL," Visse said. "Every single time someone tried to become interoperable with AOL, they blocked them. People have to run three or four separate IM programs just to talk to their various buddies."