Diverse IM choices
Many IM technologies exist, ranging from AOL's two leading and incompatible technologies (AIM and ICQ) to IM clients from Yahoo, Lotus/IBM, and Prairie Group's Quick Conference. There's even an open source effort called Jabber, which allows developers to build IM applications. However, not every IM product is compatible with the others; most products have their own independent system, meaning that after a corporation chooses its IM software, employees and the individuals with whom they're communicating must be on that system. Costs for these products range from free for the AOL, and Yahoo products to a minimal per-user fee for some of the others.
Take Lotus's Sametime, for example. Lotus licenses AOL's IM software, so Sametime works with other Sametime users and with AIM users. But an AIM user can't send instant messages to a Yahoo user and vice versa.
IM incompatibilities may soon disappear, however. The FCC's AOL Time Warner merger approval comes with a mandate that AOL Time Warner must guarantee interoperability in its IM services before offering "advanced IM-based high-speed services," such as videoconferencing. And a group led by Microsoft and others called IMUnified is trying to establish standards for a message and directory exchange. In response to the approved AOL Time Warner merger, IMUnified is expected to release a formal statement saying that the FCC conditions for IM do not go far enough in promoting more interoperability among messaging programs.
Other companies are also attempting to bridge the IM compatibility gap. Bantu has a Java client that communicates with Microsoft, Yahoo, and ICQ users, although not AIM. Bantu licenses its server software to other companies, such as Sprint. And Everybuddy, a Linux IM client, can talk with those who use AIM, ICQ, and Yahoo. Still, incompatibility remains the outstanding issue where IM is concerned. But in the end, IM will probably be as universal as email.
