HCL Sametime is a client–server application and middleware platform that provides real-time, unified communications and collaboration for enterprises. Those capabilities include presence information, enterprise instant messaging, web conferencing, community collaboration, and telephony capabilities and integration. Currently it is developed and sold by HCL Software, a division of Indian company HCL Technologies, until 2019 by the Lotus Software division of IBM. Because HCL Sametime is middleware, it supports enterprise software and business process integration, either through an HCL Sametime plugin or by surfacing IBM Sametime capabilities through third-party applications. IBM Sametime integrates with a wide variety of software, including Lotus collaboration products, Microsoft Office productivity software, and portal and Web applications.
Features
IBM Sametime is a client–server enterprise application that includes the IBM Sametime Connect client for end-users and the IBM Sametime Server for control and administration. IBM Sametime comes in 4 levels of functionality: IBM Sametime Limited Use provides basic presence and instant messaging. IBM Sametime Standard provides additional functionality to IBM Sametime Entry, including:
IBM Sametime Gateway provides server-to-server interoperability between disparate communities with conversion services for different protocols, presence information awareness, and instant messaging. IBM Sametime Gateway connects IBM Sametime instant messaging cooperate communities with external communities, including external IBM Sametime, and public instant messaging communities, such as: AOL, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Google Talk, and XMPP. IBM Sametime Gateway replaces the Sametime Session Initiation Protocol Gateway from earlier releases of IBM Sametime. The IBM Sametime Gateway platform is based on IBM WebSphere Application Server, which provides failover, clustering, and scalability for the IBM Sametime Gateway deployment. The product is shipped with the following connectors: Virtual Places, SIP, and XMPP. More protocol connectors may be added.
Platform support, APIs and application integration
Because IBM Sametime is middleware, it supports application and business process integration. When within the context of real-time communications, this is often referred to as Communications Enabled Business Processes. Sametime integrates in either of two ways:
by surfacing the application into an IBM Sametime plug-in
by surfacing IBM Sametime capabilities into the target application
Some examples of integration between IBM Sametime and applications include:
IBM Sametime became an IBM product in 1998 as the synthesis of technologies IBM acquired from two companies:
an American company called Databeam provided the architecture to host T.120 dataconferencing and H.323 Multi-Media Conferencing
Ubique, an Israeli company whose Virtual Places Chat software technology provided the "presence awareness" functionality that allows people to detect which of their contacts are online and available for messaging or conferencing
The Sametime v3.1 client was part of the standard platform loaded by the IBM Standard Software Installer for many years, enabling communications over the corporate intranet by hundreds of thousands of IBM employees. The next major release was the Sametime v7.5 client, built on the Eclipse platform, enabling the use of the plug-in framework. In 2008 Gartner positioned IBM for the first time as a "leader" in Gartner's Unified CommunicationsMagic Quadrant.
