By Melanie Turek, Nemertes Research
March 3, 2005

A new beta service from AOL (NYSE: TWX) propels users one step closer to IM/e-mail integration. AIM Sync by Intellisync lets AIM customers who also use Microsoft Outlook 2002 or 2003 integrate IM and its related presence-awareness into Outlook, so they can see when their Outlook contacts are online, then chat with a single click.

The tool combs through users’ Outlook address books and matches their e-mail addresses with the corresponding AIM screen names (AOL collects that information during its registration process). Users can also add screen names manually.

AOL also announced deals to integrate its buddy list information with corporate Web sites. On Thomson Financial’s site, for instance, brokers and sellers will be able to negotiate in real-time via AIM. At CareerBuilder.com, employers can IM job seekers.

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