WINNER: Lotus Instant Messaging 3.0 (3.1 now available). IBM Lotus, (800) 465-6887, (617) 577-8500. www.lotus.com
INSTANT MESSAGING IS MORE THAN an e-mail alternative. Good IM products offer collaboration features, such as chat rooms, conferences, screen sharing, whiteboards and online polling. Lotus Instant Messaging 3.0 delivers all these features more effectively than any other product we tested. Users can access a calendar of public meetings, "raise a hand" to ask questions without disrupting the conversation and let guests participate in IM meetings. And those meetings can be replayed with all the pauses and fervor of discussion intact. Lotus pulls user names, passwords and groups from an included Domino server or any LDAP-compatible directory, and integrates with AOL Instant Messenger.
FINALISTS: Sun ONE Portal Server: Instant Collaboration Pack 3.0.1 (now available as Sun Java System Instant Messaging 6.1). Sun Microsystems, (800) 555-9SUN, (650) 960-1300. www.sun.com
E/pop Professional 3.0. WiredRed Software, (888) 665-EPOP, (858) 715-0970. www.wiredred.com
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