VoIP Toolkit

Will IM be the focus of convergence?

Tags:
VoIP,
AIM,
Triton

Stefanie Olsen CNET News

Published: 16 May 2005 12:00 BST

What we've done on top of that is we've added application-like features. So if you're used to Outlook, with features like drag and drop email to folders, you can do that using our email product. You'll also be able to un-send messages or check the status of email messages, to see if someone has read it. Lastly, we support IMAP and that allows us to give a rich experience through Outlook.

Are you expecting Google to rival AOL in the IM market?
I don't know.

What's the future of Triton, the instant chat technology you just started testing?
Our vision is that AIM can be the ubiquitous communication service for all consumers. It's powerful, it's free, it's robust. It can do everything you need from making a phone call over the PC, to participating in a video chat, to sending a text message to a mobile phone, to receiving an IM, and now, with AIM Mail, send and receive email from your Aim.com email address.

What we did with Triton — the technology preview of our upcoming AIM product, which we intend to roll out over the summer into the autumn — we took the chance to integrate all of these forms of communication and make it part of the core DNA of the client.

It's very modular, and that's AOL's new approach to building applications, this modular application rather than a monolithic approach. It allows us to be more efficient in developing products, and much quicker. And there's more flexibility in the user interface. For example, you can see some animations — it's a shower of smiley faces.

How does blogging fit in?
We believe blogging is also part of communicating. You can add a bot to your buddy list so you can update your blog via IM. You can also send a text message via a mobile device to your blog and update it that way.

Basically, when you think about communication on the Internet, we'd like you to think of AIM.

AIM is known for its popularity with young people. Who do you hope to win over with your new services?
Our audience has a broad penetration — from ages 13 to 100-plus. Basically, we dominate the under-25 segment. The features we've described, we think speak to the broad base we have. But the convenience of tying your screen name to your email address will be the killer feature for that audience.

And for the older audience, we believe the 2GB and spam protection and the ability to support IMAP so they can use it at work will be a huge win for them too.

How do you make money from AIM Mail?
This is an ad-supported product. You'll see our marketing partners be part of the chrome of the service. The service was built with simple ads in mind, but it can support rich media.

How are marketers responding to the new AIM?
When you look at our results, the ad market is healthy, and there's an opportunity for us to participate even more.

Right now we're drinking from a fire hose because there's so much interest [in AIM]. We've had a tremendous response from advertisers for AIM, because they recognise the difficulty in reaching the under-25 audience. That's why we're so excited, because we think mail will extend that for us.