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AOL tool links AIM buddies to Microsoft Outlook
By Scarlet Pruitt

America Online Inc. (AOL) is offering a beta tool which allows AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) users to see when contacts are online and available to chat through Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook e-mail application.

The new application was unveiled Monday along with a string of partnerships that seek to weave AIM into various online sites and applications from CareerBuilder.com Inc., Ruckus Network Inc. and Thomson Corp.

The Outlook integration is aimed directly at business users' desktops using technology from Intellisync Corp.

"This is a big deal," said IDC research manager of collaborative computing Robert Mahowald. "Outlook is a wildly popular client so it puts AIM front and center with users."

The program is available for free download from the Aim.com Web site for users of AIM version 5.9 or higher who use Outlook 2002 or 2003, offering a new level of integration between the two company's products. Microsoft already offers integrated messaging features in Outlook through its own IM services.

The new tool, called AIM Sync, allows users to add contacts from Outlook to their AIM buddy list and matches e-mail addresses with AIM screen names. It then shows the "presence," or availability of contacts to chat online, by placing the AOL "running man" icon in e-mail, address book and phone list views of Outlook. Users who click on an icon can launch a chat or access the buddy's phone number and send a text message to a mobile phone by SMS (Short Message Service).

The integration of presence into e-mail applications underscores the need for users to be able to easily switch between instant messaging (IM) and e-mail functions depending on the urgency of information, AOL said.

The beta tool is also a way for AOL to gain more users for its IM service, since users can invite Outlook contacts who do not have AIM to join up.

While the functionality could be seen as a threat to Microsoft's own MSN Messenger, Mahowald sees it as a minor concern.

"Microsoft's current push is into business IM and they have more eggs in that basket," he said. The company will soon be launching its enterprise IM client for Live Communications Server 2005 code-named "Istanbul," for example, which will allow users to exchange messages with contacts on public IM networks for Yahoo Inc., AOL and MSN.

Meanwhile, AOL is spreading its reach through partnerships with business sites and applications. This is good strategy given that roughly 30 percent of consumer IM accounts are used for business purposes, according to Mahowald.

Under the deal with jobs site CareerBuilder.com, AIM users will be able to link their screen names to their resumes, giving hiring managers and recruiters the opportunity to initiate a chat with prospective employees online.

College digital entertainment network Ruckus is integrating AIM across its services, allowing students to see and chat with online friends. Finally, financial information company Thomson has integrated AIM into its Thomson AutEx trading network.

While there are a variety of enterprise IM applications on the market, they still don't match the popularity of public IM networks. Consumer IM accounts are expected to reach some 240 million by 2008 with an increasing amount of services hooking into enterprise applications, according to a recent report from researcher IDC.

Seeing this opportunity, AOL is encouraging third-party software developers such as Intellisync to create ways to integrate AIM into even more applications and services.

Posted February 28, 2005 04:58 PM |