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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/im/0,39024995,10006284,00.htm

Yahoo! boosts business IM
Integrates virtual meeting software with new launch

By silicon.com

Published: Monday 06 October 2003

Yahoo! has launched an instant-messaging product for corporations that integrates the popular WebEx virtual meeting software.

Yahoo! said the new Business Messenger IM product has been available since late last week, although it has been in beta testing with some users for months.

Corporate IM is a growing market, with companies like AOL and Microsoft working on products to meet the demand of businesses who want their employees to be able to communicate in real time without the security concerns of an open, public network.

The deal between Yahoo! and WebEx Communications was announced in mid-June. Companies that subscribe to the Yahoo! messaging product on a per-seat, per-year basis can also set up accounts that let their users launch per-minute meetings and application sharing windows with WebEx.

Steve Boom, Yahoo's senior vice president of enterprise services, told Reuters: "We both think of these as network-based services as opposed to software-based services. Among the first organisations to use the new product, he said, are BMC Software, Stanford University and the Screen Actors Guild."

As it looks beyond advertising as a way to grow revenue, Yahoo! has branched out into entertainment content, job searches, online dating, enhanced email, internet access, and other premium services for which it can charge monthly subscription fees.

Last week the company launched both a new product search engine and upgraded merchant services that offer small businesses an online storefront and web hosting.