IBM also will offer direct connectivity to Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Nokia Corp.'s mobile devices, as well as to mobile devices running Microsoft Windows Mobile operating systems. Business users will be able to access Sametime presence features to see who is available and where they are located, enabling communication through instant messages and voice chats directly from mobile devices. The mobile support will be ready by the end of this year, according to IBM.

"Our competitors in this space are really presenting a 'you have to buy it all from us and make it work' approach. IBM is letting customers choose" to use their existing applications without costly upgrades, Marshak said. "This kind of flexibility and choice is what our customers keep asking for."

Sametime 7.5 will also offer access to public IM networks at no extra charge, as well as audio and video integration through third-party communications providers, including Avaya Inc., Avistar Communicatinos Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., Nortel Networks Corp., Siemens AG, Premiere Global Services Inc., Polycom Inc. and Tandberg ASA. The Sametime client is available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems.

Analysts said IBM's moves are a good sign for Sametime users because the new features could reinvigorate a product line that shows great promise but has been virtually ignored by the company for some time.

"What's significant about Sametime Version 7.5 is that this is IBM's first significant purposeful reaction to what Microsoft's been doing for the last few years," said Mike Gotta, an analyst at Midvale, Utah-based Burton Group. Microsoft has been attacking several collaboration markets, including telephony and IM, in its product offerings over the past several years, while IBM has been letting them languish, he said.