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IBM Lotus recently released version 7.5.1 of their Sametime collaboration products. I've written articles on Sametime releases before, but never really went into the details of what the software can do for you as a whole, or how it can tie into your intranet. Sametime is a piece of your collaboration infrastructure that can prove invaluable.

Lotus Sametime consists of two distinct pieces: instant messaging and web conferencing.

Instant Messaging

The instant messaging piece of Sametime centers around IM and presence awareness built into the Lotus Notes client, or the more full-featured Sametime Connect client.

The functionality for basic instant messaging between users is included with your Lotus Notes client license at no additional charge. If all you want is the ability for your users to do simple real-time instant messaging and see who is online via buddy lists then this is all you need. However, you can get a load of additional functionality by purchasing licenses to use Sametime Connect.

Sametime Connect is a separate piece of client software that runs on Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux. This software expands on basic instant messaging by including rich text, emoticons, file transfers, multi-way video conferencing, screen captures, voice chat and the ability to view business cards with contact information and photos of other users.

If you add an IBM Lotus Sametime Gateway server, you can even have the Sametime Connect client talk with external services including AIM, ICQ, Apple iChat, Google Talk, and Yahoo! Messenger.

How the servers work

There are a couple things to know about the server pieces of Sametime. First, if all you are doing is utilizing the built-in messaging capabilities in the Lotus Notes client, you can install a limited Sametime server. The limited server software provides all of the basic IM capabilities without access to more advanced IM features, or web conferencing. The limited server is what you need to take advantage of the free IM capabilities of Notes.

Then there is the standard Sametime server software. This includes the basic IM that the limited server allows and includes all of the advanced capabilities that the Sametime Connect client uses, as well as the web conferencing piece. This is licensed on a per-user basis.

Lastly, you have the Sametime Gateway software. The Sametime Gateway ties your Sametime community to the public IM networks. Administrators have control of what goes in and out to the public networks and who has ability to access them.

Once you have the full blown Sametime server installed and you purchase the appropriate licenses, you are then allowed to jump into Web Conferencing.

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