AIM Pro to Meld AOL and WebEx

AOL and WebEx are combining their collective talents and tools for
a new enterprise on demand IM offering code named AIM Pro.

AIM Pro builds on AOL’s recently
released Triton instant messaging client. Brian Curry, vice president,
premium and subscription services at AOL explained that AOL provided WebEx
with the core Triton SDK which is now being bolstered with
additional enterprise grade collaboration features from WebEx.

The AIM Pro version will add connections to users calendars and corporate
directory. It will also add WebEx’s on demand voice, video and web
collaboration features to the mix.

Pricing for AIM Pro has not yet been determined though it is expected that
there will be two versions of the offering: an individual or SMB offering
and
an enterprise offering with centralized administrative controls.

Non AIM Pro users will also potentially benefit as well as the service is
not restricted at both ends to paid subscribers.
v
“Though only pro users get the functionality to start and manage those
sessions, you’ll be able to reach out to a standard AIM user or for that
matter a user of an enterprise instant messaging product that is federating
to AOL,” Curry explained.

AOL’s AIM Clearinghouse service allow for instant messaging federation that
includes Microsoft and Jabber/XMPP based networks like that used by
GoogleTalk and others.

The new AIM Pro services are expected to hit the market in the second
quarter of this year.