IBM adds collaborative tools to Lotus

IBM's Lotus division has added new collaboration functionality to Lotus Notes and Domino, aimed at improving productivity and responsiveness.

Instant messaging (IM) and web conferencing functionality, new in Notes and Domino 6.5, are aimed at giving users online 'awareness'.

Users can initiate IM sessions directly from their in-box or from within a collaborative application.

IBM has also launched a special promotion package allowing up to 20 Lotus users to access IM, and another allowing 20 users to access IBM's WebSphere Portal Express at no extra cost.

Lotus Notes 6.5 is the first release to implement IBM's new Lotus Workplace strategy for integrating people and business processes, with a unified entry point to the collaborative tools.

"In today's corporate environment, businesses want their messaging solution to be part of a larger collaborative platform that will help drive down costs and enhance employee productivity," stated Ken Bisconti, IBM Lotus Workplace Products vice president.

Web conferencing, previously called Lotus Sametime, enables online chat without a separate application being launched. Developer tools can add IM and 'awareness' to an application without programming.

Other features for Notes and Domino include enhanced junk mail handling, allowing users to block unwanted email, sort email retained and flag email needing follow-up action.

Domino web access also includes multiple time-zone and offline email support, while increased security includes encrypted mail messages.

Notes and Domino now run on IBM zSeries on Linux, with Domino web access supported on the Mozilla open source browser.

Notes and Domino are available on 30 September.